Tar Viscosity Reduction via Acetophenone Mixing
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Solution Overview
Problem
The high viscosity of tar by-products in the phenol preparation process hinders smooth transfer and storage, requiring heating or additional materials to reduce viscosity.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a decomposition reactor that integrates a reactor and distillation column, where tar is mixed with separated acetophenone to form a tar-acetophenone mixed stream, significantly reducing viscosity and enabling smooth transfer and storage at room temperature.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If tar is separated from the decomposition reaction product, then tar can be collected as a by-product, but the viscosity of tar increases making transfer and storage difficult
Solution Approach 1:
Acetophenone is introduced as an intermediary substance to mix with tar. This mediator reduces the viscosity of tar without requiring heating or additional processing steps, enabling smooth transfer and storage at room temperature.
Solution Approach 2:
The viscosity parameter of tar is changed by adding acetophenone, which modifies the physical properties of tar to achieve desirable flow characteristics for transfer and storage operations.
2Ease of operation
If heating is applied to reduce tar viscosity, then transferability improves, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
Acetophenone serves as a viscosity-reducing intermediary that eliminates the need for heating. The mixing of acetophenone with tar achieves the desired flow properties through chemical interaction rather than thermal energy input.
Solution Approach 2:
The thermal field (heating system) is replaced by a chemical field approach, where acetophenone chemically interacts with tar to reduce viscosity, substituting mechanical/thermal energy consumption with a chemical solution.
3Ease of operation
If additional materials are added to reduce tar viscosity, then transferability improves, but process complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Acetophenone serves multiple functions: it is a decomposition product of the main reaction, a viscosity reducer for tar, and a flowability enhancer. This multi-functionality simplifies the overall process by using an existing substance for multiple purposes rather than adding dedicated additives.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses its own decomposition product (acetophenone) to solve the viscosity problem of another decomposition product (tar). The process essentially self-regulates by utilizing internally generated substances rather than requiring external additives.
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
The tar-acetophenone mixed stream achieves a viscosity of 60 Pa.s or less at 80 °C, allowing for efficient transfer and storage without heating, and can be used as a fuel without additional processing.
Implementation Method 1
supplying a phenol by-product produced in a phenol and acetone preparation process to a decomposition reactor to perform a decomposition reaction
Implementation Method 2
separating an effective component and acetophenone from a decomposition reaction product, respectively
Data Source
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Figure 5
AI summary
A method of decomposing a phenol by-product produced in a phenol preparation process, in which acetophenone separated from a distillation column is mixed with tar separated and collected in a decomposition reactor, thereby significantly decreasing viscosity of tar. The decomposition method according to the present invention allows tar to have sufficient viscosity for flowability even at room temperature, whereby transfer and storage of tar may be more smoothly done without using any heating device for transfer of tar.