Page 178 - CW E-Magazine (12-3-2024)

Special Report

be predicted. These parameters can help of a good model, the process can duced in microfluidic reactors with
be used to calculate reaction times be transferred directly to the produc- precisely defined properties. Such
and heat or electricity consumption or tion plant scale. In practice, however, a reactors also enable better heat and
production. If transport processes are pilot plant is often interposed in order to mass transfer. Microstructured reactors
taken into account, the reactor can be further reduce the risks during scale-up. are characterised by internal structures
designed in such a way that the reaction of ten to several thousand micrometres.
can be carried out safely and with high However, the goal is not always the In such structures, liquids can be heated
yields. Mini-plant studies are essential largest possible reactor. This is demon- or cooled within milliseconds.
for this, as recycling flows and opera- strated by another important research
tion under partial load and during start- trend, flow chemistry. It opens up new Microstructured production plants
up and shut-down of the reaction must avenues for catalytic reactors and pro- are also currently being developed, for
also be taken into account when design- duction techniques. Nanoparticles and example, to produce synthetic hydro-
ing and analysing the process. With the other functional materials can be pro- carbons or high-quality power-to-X
chemicals using renewable energy.
Thanks to their excellent heat transfer,
they enable high space-time yields with
high selectivity, precisely controlled
product quality and a long catalyst
service life. If they have a modular
design and can be ramped up and down
quickly, they are particularly interest-
ing for decentralised use at the point
of energy generation. Several compa-
nies, including Ineratec, are therefore
already thinking ahead: they not only
want to use microstructured reactors
in development, but also expand them
into commercial production plants.

Developments in microstructured
Big process in small structures? reactors in recent years have shown
AdobeStock/261545234/Grispb that the intensification of heat exchange
in production processes was initially
primarily limited to, but also driven
by, single-phase systems. In principle,
microstructured reactors can also be
used for multi-phase systems. Effects
such as surface tension, wetting or
non-uniform flow behaviour in parallel
channels complicate the industrial
application of microreactors.

For large-scale production, an inte-
grated scale-up concept is required to
ensure the necessary flow rate, while
only minimally increasing the diameter
of the channels. This preserves the
advantages of microreaction technology,
such as the high mixing rate, excel-

Between stirred tanks and hybrid processes lent heat transfer and targeted process
AdobeStock/394872322/gen_A control. The desired throughput can be

178 Chemical Weekly March 12, 2024

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