Integrated Microreactor System for Gas Phase Reactions

Microreactor technology and process miniaturization for catalytic reactions—A perspective on recent developments and emerging technologies

“…Demonstration of system module development using a commercial computer chassis as the platform Oxidation of NH 3 and CH 4 over Pt in a multi-layer Si-based microchannel reactor Quiram et al (2007) for environmental abatement, production of various chemical intermediates, and a variety of other emerging process applications (Groppi and Tronconi, 2005;Kreutzer et al, 2005). Examples of microreactor design challenges when operated in parallel include creating a uniform feed distribution at the reactor inlet (Rebrov et al, 2007), and controlling the thermal energy distribution throughout the three-dimensional reactor volume (Hardt and Baier, 2007).…”

“…If a small quantity of fluid was released by a device failure, it would not pose an environmental threat. For example, a failure of the gas-phase catalytic membrane microreactor described by Quiram et al (2007) over a period of 1 min would release ∼ 30 mg of the reaction fluid. A worst-case explosion for the scale-up microreactor system discussed in the same publication would release the equivalent energy of 0.00023 lb (0.1 g) of TNT.…”

“…In support of the improved safety aspects, this also avoids working with poorly understood reactions on the pilot scale. However, recent work on development of an integrated parallel system for gasphase catalyzed reactions (Quiram et al, 2007) suggests that numbering-up microreactors is not necessarily easier. Instead, it simply changes the nature of the engineering problems that must be solved when translating the technology to the next level of production.…”

“…Little quantitative information is also available on failure rates and related scenarios. Recent work by Quiram et al (2007) provide details on testing methods and situations that led to reactor failures during development of an integrated microreactor system for gasphase heterogeneous reactions. However, this represents a rare instance in the literature where failures are actually reported and details provided on the nature of the occurrence.…”

Monolithically Integrated Diffused Silicon Two-Zone Heaters for Silicon-Pyrex Glass Microreactors for Production of Nanoparticles: Heat Exchange Aspects

“…[ 8 ]) The synthesis of TiO 2 nanoparticles in microreactors takes place at elevated temperatures. Different types of heaters, made of different materials and with different designs, are met in literature [ 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 ]. Numerous types of high temperature microreactors have been reported so far.…”