Evaluation of an improved epichlorohydrin synthesis from dichloropropanol using a microchemical system

Synthesizing epichlorohydrin (ECH) from dichloropropanol (DCP) is a complicated reaction due to the partial decomposition of ECH under harsh conditions. A microchemical system can provide a feasible platform for improving this process by conducting a separation once full conversion has been achieved. In this work, referring to a common DCP feed used in industry, the reaction performance of mixed DCP isomers with NaOH in the microchemical system on various time scales was investigated. The operating window for achieving high conversion and selectivity was on a time scale of seconds, while the side reactions normally occurred on a time scale of minutes. Plenty of Cl− ions together with a high temperature were proved to be critical factors for ECH hydrolysis. A kinetic study of alkaline mediated ECH hydrolysis was performed and the requirements for an improved ECH synthesis were proposed by combining quantitative analysis using a simplified reaction model with experimental results on the time scale of minutes. Compared with the conventional distillation process, this new strategy for ECH synthesis exploited microchemical system and decoupled the reaction and separation with potentials of higher productivity and better reliability in scaling up.