The SO3/air
stream and the organic raw materials (Linear Alchil Benzene,
ethoxilated alcohols, fatty alcohols) are fed concurrently to
the sulph(on)ation reactor.
The heart of
the sulph(on)ation plant is the reactor wich in principle is
a shell-and-tube heat exchanger vertically installed. The organic
material is flowing along the inner surface of each tube as a
continuous thin film, with which the SO3,
moving concurrently in the same tube, reacts.
As the reaction is exothermic with a significant temperature
increase of the product, immediate cooling takes places by the
water circulating in the shell side of the reactor.
Both the sulph(on)ated
products and the spent gas exit the reactor from the bottom side
and are separated in a liquid-gas separator.
