Design and engineering of microreactor and smart-scaled flow processes

This book is a reprint of the special issue that appeared in the online open access journal Processes (ISSN 2227-9717) in 2013 (available at: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/processes/special_issues/smart-scaled_flow_processes)

Green Process Engineering as the Key to Future Processes

Microreactors are small devices with sub-millimeter internals which have superb mass and heat transfer. Initially, they were used for reactions with very high demands on the latter, e.g. very exothermic reactions, gas-liquid reactions with interfacial transport issues, reactions with very fast kinetics which demands even faster mixing, and more. In this way, the processing window was opened widely and, also due to the minute volumes only present in the reaction zone, safe processing under otherwise hazardous conditions was enabled. This includes processing of reactions which are prone to thermal runaway and in the explosive regime. Scale-up of promising reactions and products which was hindered with conventional technology is now possible using the new equipment. This has widened the process development possibilities in chemical industry. In the last years, micro process technology was not only used for the very problematic synthetic issues which formerly had a dead-end position in industry’s process development. Rather, the scope of chemical reactions to be processed in microreactors was considerably widened by exploring new process conditions with regard to temperature, pressure, concentration, solvents, and more. This is commonly referred to as flow chemistry. This allowed to reduce the processing time-scale for many reactions to the minute range or even below which fits well to the residence times of microreactors. In addition, the process integration of several reactions in one flow to a multi-step synthesis has opened a new door in molecular diversity as well as system and process complexity. The same holds for the combination of reactions and separations in micro-flow. To achieve throughputs relevant for industrial production, smart scale-out to milli-flow units has established and supplemented the num­bering-up concept (parallelization of microchannels/-reactors operated under equal conditions). New innovations and enabling technologies need anyhow evaluation and benchmarking with conventional technology on the full-system level. Yet, microreactor technology has in the last years deepened so much into process intensification on a holistic scale that the focus increasingly is given towards the process dimension—to process design and automation, real-case applications, cost analysis, life-cycle assessment, and more. The impact on cost competitiveness and sustainability becomes well assessed. Facing this very recent scientific achievement, the special issue “Design and Engineering of Microreactor and Smart-Scaled Flow Processes” of the journal Processes aims to cover recent advances in the development of microreactor and smart-scaled flow processes towards the process level — in the sense as given above

Marshall Space Flight Center Research and Technology Report 2018

Many of NASAs missions would not be possible if it were not for the investments made in research advancements and technology development efforts. The technologies developed at Marshall Space Flight Center contribute to NASAs strategic array of missions through technology development and accomplishments. The scientists, researchers, and technologists of Marshall Space Flight Center who are working these enabling technology efforts are facilitating NASAs ability to fulfill the ambitious goals of innovation, exploration, and discovery

Glassy Materials Based Microdevices

Microtechnology has changed our world since the last century, when silicon microelectronics revolutionized sensor, control and communication areas, with applications extending from domotics to automotive, and from security to biomedicine. The present century, however, is also seeing an accelerating pace of innovation in glassy materials; as an example, glass-ceramics, which successfully combine the properties of an amorphous matrix with those of micro- or nano-crystals, offer a very high flexibility of design to chemists, physicists and engineers, who can conceive and implement advanced microdevices. In a very similar way, the synthesis of glassy polymers in a very wide range of chemical structures offers unprecedented potential of applications. The contemporary availability of microfabrication technologies, such as direct laser writing or 3D printing, which add to the most common processes (deposition, lithography and etching), facilitates the development of novel or advanced microdevices based on glassy materials. Biochemical and biomedical sensors, especially with the lab-on-a-chip target, are one of the most evident proofs of the success of this material platform. Other applications have also emerged in environment, food, and chemical industries. The present Special Issue of Micromachines aims at reviewing the current state-of-the-art and presenting perspectives of further development. Contributions related to the technologies, glassy materials, design and fabrication processes, characterization, and, eventually, applications are welcome

Continuous Hydrothermal Synthesis of Inorganic Nanoparticles: Applications and Future Directions

Nanomaterials are at the leading edge of the emerging field of nanotechnology. Their unique and tunable size-dependent properties (in the range 1-100 nm) make these materials indispensable in many modern technological applications. In this Review, we summarize the state-of-art in the manufacture and applications of inorganic nanoparticles made using continuous hydrothermal flow synthesis (CHFS) processes. First, we introduce ideal requirements of any flow process for nanoceramics production, outline different approaches to CHFS, and introduce the pertinent properties of supercritical water and issues around mixing in flow, to generate nanoparticles. This Review then gives comprehensive coverage of the current application space for CHFS-made nanomaterials including optical, healthcare, electronics (including sensors, information, and communication technologies), catalysis, devices (including energy harvesting/conversion/fuels), and energy storage applications. Thereafter, topics of precursor chemistry and products, as well as materials or structures, are discussed (surface-functionalized hybrids, nanocomposites, nanograined coatings and monoliths, and metal-organic frameworks). Later, this Review focuses on some of the key apparatus innovations in the field, such as in situ flow/rapid heating systems (to investigate kinetics and mechanisms), approaches to high throughput flow syntheses (for nanomaterials discovery), as well as recent developments in scale-up of hydrothermal flow processes. Finally, this Review covers environmental considerations, future directions and capabilities, along with the conclusions and outlook

EUROSENSORS XVII : book of abstracts

Fundação Calouste Gulbenkien (FCG).Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)