Catalytic hydrogenation of acetophenone via an intensified trickle bed reactor for efficient hydrogen storage

The utilization of liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC) based on acetophenone has been considered a promising approach for high energy density hydrogen storage, but its industrial application is limited by the low reaction and mass transfer rates observed in conventional reactors. Microreactors have the potential to promote hydrogen storage technology, and, in this study, we propose a tubular reactor coupled with a gas/liquid microdispersion module. Via generating microbubbles prior to the flow of gas and liquid reactants in the tubular reactor, our designed reactor facilitates enhanced gas/liquid interaction mass transfer, thereby improving hydrogenation reaction characteristics. To evaluate the performance of this intensified trickle bed reactor, we investigated the hydrogenation of acetophenone (AP) to 1-phenylethanolis. The results demonstrate that compared to traditional trickle bed reactors, the designed hydrogenation reactor exhibits superior performance under pressures below 2 MPa, with an absence of byproducts, increased conversion and selectivity of AP, and an achieved hydrogen storage rate reaching 0.095 molH₂/g_Pd/min.