Patent ID: 7837949

Claim:
A laboratory scale continuous flow hydrogenation apparatus ( 100 ; 200 , 300 ) for hydrogenating given samples below supercritical pressure values, comprising: a reservoir ( 104 ; 204 ), a feed pump ( 102 ; 202 ), a collecting element ( 108 ; 208 ) with two inlets and an outlet, a hydrogenation reactor ( 110 ; 210 , 310 - 1 , . . . , 310 -m), and a pressure-adjusting unit ( 112 ; 212 ), all connected into a flow path, a hydrogen source ( 126 ; 226 ), and a valve ( 120 ; 220 ) configured to transmit a gas stream only into a single direction and connected between the hydrogen source ( 126 ; 226 ) and the second inlet of the collecting element ( 108 ; 208 ), wherein the pressure-adjusting unit ( 112 ; 212 ) is connected into the flow path after the hydrogenation reactor ( 110 ; 210 , 310 - 1 , . . . , 310 -m), wherein said feed pump ( 102 ; 202 ) is a pump with a constant volume rate and the reservoir ( 104 ; 204 ) contains at least a solvent, as a base solution, of the sample to be hydrogenated, and wherein the hydrogenation reactor ( 110 ; 210 , 310 - 1 , . . . , 310 -m) is joined into the flow path via detachable connections and is formed as a replaceable cartridge with a packing in its inner space configured to increase the flow resistance and facilitate the mixing of liquid and gaseous components, and wherein the pressure-adjusting unit ( 112 ; 212 ) is provided with an electrically controlled regulator having a control range of a ratio of at least 1:6, the regulator being configured to maintain a given pressure in the flow path and for tuning said pressure in quasi-continuous steps, with the base solution flowing through the reactor ( 110 ; 210 , 310 - 1 , . . . , 310 -m) to a value that falls below supercritical pressure values of the base solution.