Electric field assisted multicomponent reaction in a microfluidic reactor for superior conversion and yield

Abstract

We explore the improvements in yield and conversion of a chemical reaction inside a two‐phase microfluidic reactor when subjected to an externally applied alternating current (AC) electric field. A computational fluid dynamic (CFD) framework has been developed to incorporate the descriptions of the two‐phase flow, multicomponent transport and reaction, and the Maxwell's stresses generated at oil‐water interface owing to the presence of the externally applied electric field. The CFD model ensures that the reactants are flown into a microchannel together with the oil and water phases before the reaction takes place at the interface and products diffuse back to the bulk phases. The study unveils that the variation in the intensity of the AC field helps in converting a two‐phase stratified flow into an oil‐in‐water microemulsion composed of oil slugs, plugs, or droplets. Importantly, the results also suggest that harnessing the vortices inside or outside these flow patterns helps in the improvement in mass transfer across the interface, which can be employed to improve the yield and conversion of a reaction. We have shown an example case of a pseudo‐first order reaction for which the variation in frequency and intensity of AC field is found to form higher surface‐to‐volume‐ratio flow patterns having a higher throughput. The convective recirculation in and around these miniaturized flow morphologies increase the rate of mass transfer, mixing of reactant and products, conversion of reactant, and yield of products. The results reported can be of significance in the design and development of future advanced‐flow rector technologies.