Abstract

Development of Microreactor Technology: Multiphase Microdispersion, Mass Transfer and Separation Characteristics Under Complex Conditions

Guangsheng Luo, Professor, Tsinghua University

The microreactor technologies have provided very high promising capacities in many fields. But they are facing some challenges for their applications in complex conditions, such as high viscosity, high phase or high mixing ratio. New microreactor technologies are high required. This presentation will show some new developments with active microdispersion technology as an examples. The shear forces used for multiphase flow dispersion and enhanced mass transfer in traditional passive microreactors depend on the continuous phase flow rate, leading to significant limitations in their application under complex conditions such as high gas-liquid or liquid-liquid volume ratios and high viscosities. Therefore, we propose the introduction of a rotating flow field in microscale spaces, designing a novel active device—the miniaturized annular rotating device (m-ARD). The m-ARD utilizes a rotating flow field to provide shear forces instead of relying on continuous phase flow rates, achieving efficient mass transfer and separation under high viscosity or large gas-liquid or liquid-liquid volume ratio conditions.