Patent ID: 8129574

Claim:
A method for the hydrogenation of fluoro-olefins which comprises the steps of: (a) providing a reactor for effecting hydrogenation; said reactor consisting of a shell-and-tube reactor having a shell structure and plurality of reaction tubes within the shell structure, wherein each of the reaction tubes contains catalyst, and wherein one end of each reaction tubes includes a cone-shaped catalyst support member mounted on a catalyst support plate; wherein each conical shaped catalyst support member has a height that is greater than 0.87 times the tube diameter; (b) introducing one or more liquid or vaporized fluoro-olefins to the reactor; (c) introducing hydrogen gas and controlling the hydrogen feed rate to the reactor; (d) introducing heat transfer medium to the shell side of the reactor for heat removal and maintenance of reactor operation in an isothermal mode; (e) reacting in the vapor phase to produce a hydrogenated reaction product; and (f) recovering the reactor effluent and subjecting it to further purification if desired.