Molten Alkali Metal Reductant Reactor for Halocarbon Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for removing halocarbons and hydrocarbon impurities from chemical streams are costly and inefficient, particularly due to high temperature and pressure requirements in processes like hydrotreating, and often result in the production of additional waste streams that require further processing or disposal.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a reusable reactor with molten alkali metal reductants that react with halocarbons and other impurities, reducing or removing them through chemical reactions, thereby eliminating the need for scrubbers and incinerators, and achieving high efficiency in oxidant reduction and destruction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If high temperature incineration is used to destroy halocarbons, then the halocarbons are effectively removed from the chemical stream, but the process becomes expensive, consumes hydrocarbons, and emits CO2 and other pollutants
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using oxidation (incineration) to destroy halocarbons, the patent applies reduction using molten alkali metals. The alkali metal reductants donate electrons to reduce the halogenated compounds, breaking the carbon-halogen bonds through electron transfer rather than combustion, thereby eliminating CO2 and other oxidant-related pollutants while maintaining effective halocarbon destruction
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the chemical mechanism from oxidative combustion to reductive electron transfer. By using molten alkali metals (Na, K, Li) at elevated temperatures, the process transforms halocarbons through reduction reactions, altering the fundamental chemical pathway to avoid harmful oxidant emissions while achieving complete halocarbon removal
2Reliability
If activated carbon is used to capture halocarbons, then halocarbons are removed from the stream, but the carbon requires regeneration which produces additional halocarbon waste streams
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and destroys halocarbons directly in the reaction zone using molten alkali metals, rather than capturing them on activated carbon for later regeneration. The reductants directly contact and reduce halocarbons to elemental carbon and metal halides, eliminating the need for carbon regeneration and the associated waste production
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the harmful halocarbon compounds into beneficial or harmless products through reduction. The halocarbons are transformed into elemental carbon (which can be removed as solid particles) and metal halide salts, converting the harmful oxidant species into stable, non-hazardous substances that can be easily separated and disposed of
3Reliability
If hydrotreating is used to remove sulfur and nitrogen impurities, then impurity removal is achieved, but the process requires high temperature and pressure conditions that increase operational costs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical/thermal system of hydrotreating (high pressure and temperature hydrogen treatment) with a chemical reduction system using molten alkali metals. The alkali metals provide a different mechanism for impurity removal through electron transfer and direct chemical reaction, eliminating the need for high-pressure hydrogen compression and high-temperature heating while achieving equivalent or superior impurity removal
4Reliability
If conventional methods are used to reduce oxidants, then oxidation reactions occur, but the process generates additional waste streams requiring further processing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional oxidative approach by using reductive chemistry with molten alkali metals. Instead of adding oxidants to destroy contaminants, the process adds reductants that donate electrons to reduce and destroy oxidant species, fundamentally reversing the chemical mechanism to eliminate waste stream generation
Solution Approach 2:
The molten alkali metal reductants serve multiple functions simultaneously: they reduce oxidant species, provide a high-temperature reaction medium, and act as a source of electrons for bond breaking. This self-service approach eliminates the need for separate processing stages for reduction and waste treatment, as the reductant system handles all transformations in a single integrated process
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach allows for the efficient reduction and destruction of halocarbons and hydrocarbon impurities, achieving greater than 99% removal with reduced operational costs and minimal waste production, and is applicable to various chemical streams including industrial processes and waste treatment.
Implementation Method 1
reacting the one or more molten alkali metal reductants with the chemical stream, wherein the oxidant in the chemical stream is reduced by the one or more molten alkali metal reductants
Implementation Method 2
heating or maintaining the reactor at a temperature sufficient to melt or maintain the one or more molten alkali metal reductants in a molten state
Data Source
AI summary
The invention is a system and method of reducing, reacting, and/or removing an oxidant or unwanted chemical species from a chemical stream. Particularly, the system and method include the use of one or more reductants that react with the undesired chemical species. The reductant and the chemical stream are added to a reactor and allowed to react for a desired amount of time. The reductant will reduce, react with, and/or remove the chemical species from the stream. The excess reductant and reaction products are then removed from the reactor, as described in more detail herein below.