Method for Carrying Out Chemical Reactions with the Aid of an Inductively Heated Heating Medium

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for carrying out a chemical reaction for producing a target compound by heating in a reactor a reaction medium containing at least one first reactant, such that a chemical bond inside the first reactant or between the first and a second reactant is formed or modified. The reaction medium is brought into contact with a solid heating medium that can be warmed by electromagnetic induction and that is inside the reactor and is surrounded by the reaction medium. Said heating medium is heated by electromagnetic induction with the aid of an inductor and the target bond is formed from the first reactant or from the first and a second reactant and said target bond is separated from the heating medium.

1 . A process for carrying out a chemical reaction for producing a target compound by heating a reaction medium comprising at least one first reactant in a reactor, whereby a chemical bond within the first reactant or between the first and a second reactant is formed or modified, wherein the reaction medium is brought into contact with a solid heating medium that can be heated by electromagnetic induction and that is inside the reactor and is surrounded by the reaction medium, and said heating medium is heated by electromagnetic induction with the aid of an inductor, wherein the target compound is formed from the first reactant or from the first and a second reactant and wherein said target compound is separated from the heating medium, wherein the reaction medium in the reactor is present as a liquid and the inductor generates an alternating field with a frequency in the range of 1 to 100 kHz. 
   
   
       2 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein the heating medium is selected from particles of electrically conductive and/or magnetizable solids, wherein the mean particle size of the particles is between 1 and 1000 nm. 
   
   
       3 . The process according to  claim 2 , wherein the heating medium is selected from particles of magnetizable solids, wherein each particle comprises at least one core of a magnetizable material that is encapsulated by a non-magnetic material. 
   
   
       4 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein the heating medium is selected from particles of magnetizable solids, and wherein these are present in a mixture with additional particles that are not able to be heated by electromagnetic induction. 
   
   
       5 . The process according to  claim 3 , wherein the heating medium is selected from particles of magnetizable solids, and wherein these are present in a mixture with additional particles that are not able to be heated by electromagnetic induction 
   
   
       6 . The process according to claim I, wherein the solid heating medium is surface coated with a substance that is catalytically active for the chemical reaction. 
   
   
       7 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein the chemical reaction is carried out batch-wise, wherein the reaction medium and the solid heating medium move relative to each other during the reaction. 
   
   
       8 . The process according to  claim 7 , wherein the reaction medium is present together with particles of the heating medium in a reaction vessel, and is moved with the help of a moving element located in the reaction medium, wherein the moving element is arranged as an inductor, by which the particles of the heating medium are heated. 
   
   
       9 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein the chemical reaction is carried out in a flow-through reactor that is at least partially filled with the solid heating medium and thereby possesses at least one heating zone that can be heated by electromagnetic induction, wherein the reaction medium flows through the flow-through reactor and wherein the inductor is located outside the reactor. 
   
   
       10 . The process according to  claim 9 , wherein the reaction medium flows once or a plurality of times through the flow-though reactor with a speed such that the total contact time of the reaction medium with the heating medium is in the range of one second to 2 hours. 
   
   
       11 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein the reactor is configured as a pressure reactor and the chemical reaction is carried out at a pressure greater than atmospheric pressure, preferably under at least 1.5 bar. 
   
   
       12 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein the heating medium is ferromagnetic and exhibits a Curie temperature in the range of 40 to 250° C., and is selected such that the Curie Temperature does not differ by more than 20 ° C. from the selected reaction temperature. 
   
   
       13 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein a chemical bond is formed between two carbon atoms or between a carbon atom and an atom X in the chemical reaction, wherein X is selected from: H, B, O, N, S, P, Si, Ge, Sn, Pb, As, Sb, Bi and halogen.