Batch and continuous synthesis upscaling of powder and monolithic ordered mesoporous silica COK-12

COK-12 is an ordered mesoporous silica material (OMS) analogous to SBA-15, with hexagonally-packed cylindrical ordered pores of 5.5–6 nm in diameter. The synthesis of COK-12 takes place at room temperature under mild reaction conditions, and in comparison with the most widely known OMS materials syntheses, is more time efficient, inexpensive and environmentally friendly. This work encompasses investigations regarding the production of powder COK-12 in terms of upscaling of the synthesis in batch and continuous mode, as well as direct synthesis and upscaling of granular (monolithic) COK-12. Batch upscaling of the syntheses by a factor of 25 was carried out in a batch reactor at room temperature. In terms of upscaling in continuous mode, the installation and operation of a continuous powder COK-12 production unit was carried out and the influence of the flow rate of the feed streams on the properties of the material was studied. It was demonstrated that batch and continuous upscaling can be carried out, yielding up to 65 g or 330 g/run of powder COK-12, respectively. Upscaling of the direct synthesis of monolithic COK-12 granules was also carried out, yielding up to 60 g of material.