CONTINUOUS SYNTHESIS OF MONODISPERSED SILICA PARTICLES USING COUETTE-TAYLOR VORTEX FLOW

A novel continuous reactor was developed for industrial production of monodispersed powders via alkoxide route, Couette-Taylor vortex flow was used for solution mixing. Each of Taylor vortices can be worked as a batch reaction vessel, Monodispersed silica powders were prepared by the hydrolysis of ethyl silicate with water and ammonia in ethanol using this reactor, The results were comparable to those obtained using batch process, The effect of Taylor number and residence time on the particle size, particle size distribution, yield, and particle number density of monodispersed silica powders was investigated, Monodispersed silica powders could be continuously produced for 5h using this reactor.