Sulphonation Reactor: Sulfonator is the core equipment of a sulphonation plant, WEIXIAN Reactor adopts multi-tube falling film type. The organic raw materials entrances are between the Tube-sheet 1&2, the organic raw materials in the reaction tube form a uniform film, and reacts with SO3 gas (2.5- 7%). The reaction emits a large amount of heat which is removed by heat exchange of chilling water or cooling water in the shell process.   There are currently mainly 5 types of organic raw materials, which are: 1.  LAB/ alkyl benzene for LABSA 2.  AEO1, AEO2 or AEO3/ Fatty alcohol ether for SLES- 1EO/2EO/3EO 3.  AO/ α olefin for AOS 4.  FA/ fatty alcohol for SLS 5.  HAB/heavy alkyl benzene for HABSA The capacity range of WEIXIAN sulphonators is from 1 tube to 240 tubes (1 - 10t/h). So far, WEIXIAN has supplied hundreds reactors, including two world’s largest 7.5t/h 180-tube reactors.  The technical advantages of WEIXIAN sulfonator: Ø    The organic material distribution system 1.  The reactor calibration can easily reach ±1.5% deviation, which makes the first start up much simpler and results in better product quality. 2.  The distribution heads and nozzles are machined in a single clamping process in a CNC machining center to ensure that the tolerance of the main dimensions reaches ±0.01mm. Ø    High finish degree of each reaction tube surface Special manufacturing processes are applied, the reaction tubes are processed under a 1040℃ vacuum condition to remove inter- molecular stress after high-precision cold rolling , which makes sure the inner and outer surfaces’ finish degree of each reaction tube reaches Level Ra0.4 (like mirror) with high consistency, benefited from perfect surface finish, consistent molar ratio of the entire reaction can be ensured and side reaction can be reduced greatly, this is crucial in regards of minimizing dioxane content in SLES and reducing the organic acid content in exhaust gas. In addition, the tolerance of the inner diameter and outer diameter of the reaction tube is controlled within the range of ±0.04mm. Ø  Welding points and Pre-factory testing The welding points between the Reaction Tube and the Distribution Head are moved up to skip the reaction initial part, and butt welding is changed to fillet welding. Therefore there is no weld on the entire 6-meter Reaction Tube, shallow leakage at reaction initial part can be avoided, and the reliability is greatly improved. Each reaction tube is subjected to 0.6Mpa water pressure test and endoscopic probe to check the weld molding and inner tube precision before leaving the factory. Ø  Concentricity of the three tube sheets Three pieces of tube sheets must be machined with the same coordinates in the machining center. The concentricity tolerance of the processed pipe holes reaches ±0.01mm. After the completion of manufacturing, the three pieces of tube sheets are stacked and fixed together according to the installation position, and checked hole by hole with the concentricity deviation of less than ±0.02 inspection mandrel. Ø  Reliability of multiple seals in the sulfonator 1.    Cooling/chilling water sealing in shell process: cooling/chilling water is fed into two inlets and discharged through three outlets after heat exchanging; the upper section is strictly sealed to ensure that the upper section circulates the chilled water (15°C) separately without leakage. This is especially important in the production of AOS. 2.     The head of sulfonator adopts two-way sealing of SO3 sealing and organic material sealing: the compression screw head of the tube sheet 1 adopts a combination of screw head + three combination gaskets to form a reliable two-way sealing, which realizes 100% reliable isolation of oleum and elimination of rusting and leakage. 3.      Distribution head and shell process cooling water sealing: With the use of new sealing structure greatly improves the pressure resistance of the shell process, shell process test pressure reaches 0.6Mpa or more. All sealing parts are made of special fluorine rubber O-ring, with 100% sealing efficiency and lifetime without replacement. 4.      Lower section of reaction tube and shell process cooling water sealing: adopts Viton O-ring sealing, 100% sealing efficiency, lifetime without replacement.   Other advantages: 1.      Long extended washing interval: continuous production of LABSA can reach more than 40 days, more than 3 months for SLES production and more than 25 days for AOS production. 2.      Easy calibration of reactor: ±1.5% deviation of flow rate at the first start-up, and the range of gasket replacement is 1.8-2.2mm (base thickness is 2mm), which ensures the quality of sulfonated products and extends the cleaning cycle of the reactor. 3.     Yield Flexibility: Capacity adjustment range 55% ~ 115% for LABSA production; Capacity adjustment range 80% ~ 140% for SLES 70% production.    

  1. The sealing type of compression nut on reactor tube sheet 1:  increasing one V type Teflon gasket and Fluororubber O ring to isolate the leakage of SO3 and organic acid, so that no rust or leakage happen. The reliability is better than Italy reactor.(as below photo No.1 and 2) 2. The No.3 of photo change to flat Teflon gasket(Italy is two way gasket): This will bring better seal performance and can reduce 50% force to tube sheet 1, so that the transformation would greatly reduced and the organic material would not leak into reactor tube. The reactor washing times and operation period is highly improved.   3. Compared with Italian reactor, the thickness of WEIXIAN tube sheet 1/2/3 is 16% more and organic material chamber is 25% higher, that can make the transformation of tube sheet close to zero and distribution of organic material becomes more equal, this makes big capacity reactor be possible.   4. The welding point between reactor tube and distributor move up to avoid reaction segment and change from butt welding to fillet welding, so that there is no welding joint in reactor tube inside, compared with Italy reactor, WEIXIAN will not have leakage in this part, the reliability improved greatly.   5. The size and angle optimation of reactor tube, distributor and nozzle, make sure the organic material pressure drop 13% more when passing through gap , so the self balance performance is improved accordingly compared with Italy reactor, especially for α-olefin sulfonation.   6. The special manufacture process of reactor tube (without polishing) ,that can make sure the rough degree of tube inside and outside and each tube are highly consistency( Ra0.4), so the dioxane content will significantly superior to Italy’s when produce SLES.   7. One Fluororubber O ring and three Teflon gaskets were adopted between shell side and tube side of tube sheet 3, so WEIXIAN reactor will never leakage, and the cooling water can recycle under 0.5mpa pressure(pressure test is under 0.6mpa)   8. The material of reactor tube, distributor and nozzle are all booked from Bao steel (The biggest and best steel factory in china) and we ordered at least 5 tons one batch, so that the material source can traceable and the quality can be guaranteed.   9. WEIXIAN engineer will full time supervise the testing and assemble of reactor and its components. That will guarantee the fabrication and manufacturing quality.   Equipment Link: https://www.njweixian.com/sulphonationsulphation-reactor