Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01J—CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS
  • B01J19/00—Chemical, physical or physico-chemical processes in general; Their relevant apparatus
  • B01J19/0093—Microreactors, e.g. miniaturised or microfabricated reactors
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01J—CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS
  • B01J2219/00—Chemical, physical or physico-chemical processes in general; Their relevant apparatus
  • B01J2219/00002—Chemical plants
  • B01J2219/00004—Scale aspects
  • B01J2219/00015—Scale-up
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01J—CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS
  • B01J2219/00—Chemical, physical or physico-chemical processes in general; Their relevant apparatus
  • B01J2219/00781—Aspects relating to microreactors
  • B01J2219/00783—Laminate assemblies, i.e. the reactor comprising a stack of plates
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01J—CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS
  • B01J2219/00—Chemical, physical or physico-chemical processes in general; Their relevant apparatus
  • B01J2219/00781—Aspects relating to microreactors
  • B01J2219/00801—Means to assemble
  • B01J2219/00804—Plurality of plates
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01J—CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS
  • B01J2219/00—Chemical, physical or physico-chemical processes in general; Their relevant apparatus
  • B01J2219/00781—Aspects relating to microreactors
  • B01J2219/00851—Additional features
  • B01J2219/00858—Aspects relating to the size of the reactor
  • B01J2219/0086—Dimensions of the flow channels
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01J—CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS
  • B01J2219/00—Chemical, physical or physico-chemical processes in general; Their relevant apparatus
  • B01J2219/00781—Aspects relating to microreactors
  • B01J2219/00889—Mixing
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01J—CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS
  • B01J2219/00—Chemical, physical or physico-chemical processes in general; Their relevant apparatus
  • B01J2219/00781—Aspects relating to microreactors
  • B01J2219/00993—Design aspects
  • B01J2219/00995—Mathematical modeling

Definitions

• the present invention refers to a method of manufacturing a reactor, in particular a micro-reactor as disclosed in EP 1 839 739 A1 , and a set of reactors.
• a reactor is a reaction device provided for the reaction of one or more reactants or educts (typically including mixing of two or more reactants) and to some extent for controlling the reaction of said reactants via heating or cooling or thermal buffering said reactants before, during and/or after mixing.
• Other micro-reactors for performing chemical reactions within small areas are known from EP-A-0688242, EP-A-1031375, WO-A- 2004/045761 and US-A-2004/0109798, for example.
• a reactor to be manufactured following the method according to the present invention is preferably designed for carrying out so-called type B reactions.
• Type B reactions as for example Wittig reactions or acetoacylation of an aromatic amine with diktene, are rapid and temperature sensitive reactions with typical reaction times in the range of 1 s to 10 min. important for type B reactions is the reaction temperature or temperature regime.
• the volumes of mixing and residence zones must be adapted to the flow speed such that the process reactants remain within the micro-reactor for a well-defined time under well-defined conditions, i.e. temperature regimes.
• a suitable reactor such as a micro-reactor
• the desired volumetric flow-rate i. e. its output (per unit time)
• the desired volumetric flow-rate i. e. its output (per unit time)
• An object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a target reactor, especially a micro-reactor, achieving a target volumetric flow-rate of a desired product by a chemical reaction running within the target reactor of a plurality of reac- tants or educts flowing into the target reactor, starting from a standard reactor designed to produce the same product but with a volumetric flow-rate differing from the target volumetric flow-rate.
• the above object is solved by a method according to the features of claim 1.
• Advantageous modifications thereof are defined in the dependent claims.
• Claim 5 relates to a set of a standard reactor and a target reactor, the target reactor having been manufactured following the method of claim 1.
• the smallest hydraulic diameter dh 2 of the target reactor is calculated based on the relationship
• n is a non-integer number with 1 > n > 0, between the corresponding smallest hydraulic diameter dhi of a standard reactor having the fluidic same type of flow-channel system
• / 1 is a standard volumetric flow-rate of the standard reactor carrying out the same interconversion
• / 2 is the target volumetric flow-rate.
• Said smallest hydraulic diameter is located in the zone where the plurality of reactants are mixed (hereafter called "mixing zone").
• the "flow-channel system" is, as a matter of course, the sum of the "sub-flow-channel systems" of each of the individual process plates that are interconnected with suitable joints as described below, and the first and the last of these sub-flow-channel systems is con- nected via appropriate joints with one or more pumps and a reception vessel, respectively.
• the flow-channel system mainly extends in two dimensions; (2) the flow-channel system comprises; (a) supply channels, at least one for each of the plurality of reactants, that merge the plurality of reactants for reaction, (b) meandered flow-channels (c) at least one discharge channel for discharging the product to be product to be produced, and (d) joints (ports) for internal and external connection, viz inlet ports between pumps and the plurality of supply channels of the micro-reactor, connection ports between pairs of a plurality of process plates in case there are more than one process plate and outlet ports between the at least one discharge channel of the micro-reactor and a product collecting device, e g a vessel or an after reaction retention volume, and (3) shape and size of the meandered structure is such that the meandered flow-channels comprises at least two zone-types, at least one turbulent-flow mixing zone, where chemical reactions and swirling between the plurality of reactants mainly take
• the "scale-up criteria for mixing” is the energy input per unit volume
• the calculated hydraulic diameter with respect to this energy input is represented by equation (1)
• Increased energy dissipation is ob- tamed by higher pressure drop
• the dominant factor for pressure drop is caused from the mixing zone and this is the main zone that must be addressed when operating a micro-reactor at high flow-rates
• the hydraulic diameter of the mixing zone should be increased by a factor of about 1 34
• the scale-up criteria for the residence zone is not the hydraulic d ⁇ amete r but to keep the channel geometry constant (as long as possible)
• the scale-up criteria for the residence zone is not the hydraulic d ⁇ amete r but to keep the channel geometry constant (as long as possible)
• the scale-up criteria for the residence zone is not the hydraulic d ⁇ amete r but to keep the channel geometry constant (as long as possible)
• the scale-up criteria for the residence zone is not the hydraulic d ⁇ amete r but to keep the channel geometry
• a target reactor is manufactured based on a physical quantity of a standard reactor as mentioned above and a target volumetric flow-rate that the target reactor shall desirably have.
• a target reactor results from a scale-up of the standard reactor where appropriate, ⁇ . e. the case / 2 > /i
• the inventive principle as a matter of course, being equally applicable to the case /i > / 2 (scale-down).
• the idea of the present invention is, alternatively formulated, to avoid parallelization of a plurality of reactors when the volumetric flow-rate is to be increased from / 1 of an available or known reactor to / 2 of the target reactor
• it is the pressure drop, given by the flow-rate and the geometry of the mixing zone, between the entrance and the exit of the mixing zone rather than the absolute vaiue of the inlet pressure, provided by means of the pumps promoting the flow of reactants, that is the decisive physical quantity determining the mixing efficacy between them
• this pressure drop comparable - physically as well as regards terminology - to the voltage drop at a resistor in electronics, that is a measure for the energy transferred to the system, here the fluid of reactants and, therefore, for the mixing efficacy.
• the energy transfer into the mixture of reactants according to the present invention is in the order of 70%, whereas a corresponding value for the retention zone is about 25 % or less.
• the remaining portion of energy is transferred to the joints (fittings).
• the pressure drop can be easily measured within the essential zones along the flow, i e the mixing zone(s)
• the standard reactor is not restricted; it may me a modular or a non-modular type of reactor.
• said flow-channel system may be formed of plate-shaped process modules in a micro-reactor disclosed in EP 1
• a channel herein is divided into mixing zones and laminar zones, intermittently arranged and having an individual length Lj, where each mixing zone is a concatenation of mixing elements (the locations of vortice) like pearls on a rope.
• the important effective hydraulic diameters d h are located in the parts of the channel within the mixing elements, below abbreviated as "channel within the mixing element". Since the hydraulic diameters d h, ⁇ are responsible for the generation of mixing and swirling and the energy loss associated thereby, an approximation is made in a sense that the laminar zones are neglected.
• Wi is a characteristic fluid velocity within the i th mixing element
• C f is a friction coefficient
• Re is the Reynolds number with an exponent n.
• Each mixing element can be characterized by its characteristic hydraulic diameter d h and its length L. We found that the ratio of both length scales should be kept constant during scale up or scale down to achieve similar flow conditions and similar energy input into the flow system, which results in similar mixing efficiency in a similar mixing time.
• n of the Reynolds number Re in the denominator depends on the flow regime in the channel in the mixing zone.
• n is 1 and 0, respectively.
• a transition flow between straight laminar and fully turbulent flow is dominant, leading to a non-integer number of n, having a value between 0 and 1.
• the tolerance for deviations is higher than in the region near 1 (predominantly laminar).
• ⁇ means the kinematic viscosity [mV 3 ]
• / means the volumetric flow rate [mV 1 ]
• p means the density [kgrrf 3 ].
• the inventors of the present invention found that mixing efficiency strongly depends on the local energy dissipation rate, i.e. the loss of pressure energy which is converted during the mixing of at least two flows, and the geometry of the channel.
• the channel guides the flow and causes flow deflections. Besides shear forces, new flow- perpendicular forces act on the fluid and generate secondary flow structures, vortices, and recirculation zones.
• the primary flow structures are the hard coded flow structures worked out of the reactor material in the micro channels. A rapid change of such secondary flow vortices by alternating mixing elements or by repeatedly deflected flow leads to efficient flow mixing. To generate these secondary flow structures and vortices, the fluid needs mechanical energy consumed from the pressure of the fluid.
• we use the pressure drop per unit volume as a measure for mixing expressed in the energy dissipation rate ⁇ :
• the mixing coefficient C m was given by Bourne [J. R. Bourne, Org. Process Res.
• Suitable values of the exponent n in micro-reactors for industrial applications range from 0 (fully turbulent flow) over about 1/4 (transitional and low turbulent flow) to about 1/3 (laminar vortex flow). An entirely laminar flow having an exponent n of 1 is not considered here due to minor mixing efficiency.
• Consequences for optimal required hydraulic diameter at a 10-fold flow increase at suitable turbulent/transition flow ratios for examples 1/4 and 1/3 compared to a non- suitable ratio of 1 demonstrate dramatic changes when leaving the preferred n-ranges.
• a 10-fold flow increase at turbulent to transition flow regions 1/4 (75%) and 1/3 (approx. 66%) results in a 5.0% and 6.8% smaller optimal hydraulic diameter, respectively. This deviation can be neglected.
• a 10-fold flow increase at a 50% turbulent to transition flow ratio results in a 24.5% smaller optima! hydraulic diameter.
• Consequences for required pumping power when leaving the preferred ranges of n are also dramatic. For a 10-fold increased flow rate an approx. 7% smaller hydraulic diameter requires nearly doubled pumping power to achieve similar mixing times in the turbulent flow region. A 33% smaller hydraulic diameter requires nearly 10-fold pumping power. 10-fold increase of flow rate at a 22% too large diameter compared to value from equation 1 for turbulent flows corresponds to a 2-fold longer mixing time.
• the target reactor is a micro-reactor
• the micro-reactor here comprises at least one mixing zone having a plurality of mixing elements, as stated above, wherein there is an equal loss of energy during the passage of the mixture of reactants within each mixing element
• a set of a standard reactor and a target reactor which can be manufactured based on the standard reactor and the method described above maintaining the chemical reaction behavior of the standard reactor
• the method and the reactor manufactured according to the present invention are preferably but not exclusively for use during clinical phases I - IN in medical development, where, from phase I to phase III, the number of persons required in the test and, therewith, the quantity of medical substances to be tested ⁇ n- creases
• Fig 1 shows a spatial view of a known micro-reactor system assembly
• Fig 2 shows a spatial view rotated 180° of the micro-reactor system assembly shown in Fig 1
• Fig 3 shows a longitudinal section of a micro-reactor system shown in Fig 1 ,
• Fig 4 shows a frontal sectional view of a thermal adjusting module of the micro- reactor system assembly shown in Fig 1 ,
• Fig 5 shows the thermal adjusting module of Fig 4, seen from the left
• Fig 6 shows a frontal sectional view of a mixing module of the micro-reactor sys- tern assembly shown in Fig 1 ,
• Fig 7 shows an enlarged view of an upper left corner indicated "X" in Fig 6,
• Figs 8A and 8B show an example of a process / mixing module of a standard re- actor of size 2 (Fig 8A) and of a scaled-up target reactor of size 3 (Fig 8B),
• Fig 9 shows three differently shaped flow-channel portions of process modules of a standard reactor, scaled-down target reactors and a scaled-up target reactor, and
• Fig 10 shows schematically different mixer forms applied in the present invention
• the standard reactor may be any already available reactor that produces the desired product said reactor comprising at least one turbulent-flow regime and at least one laminar-flow regime, but has a different, that is larger or smaller, volumetric flow-rate of the desired product
• the standard reactor may be the result of a target-oriented process of development to produce the desired product, which process of development may constitute an initial step of the method according to the present invention.
• Such a target-oriented process of development may start from the initial objective to produce the desired product and.
• a main aspect of such a target-oriented process is to arrive at a reactor prototype that enables to produce the desired chemical product rather than to produce a specific target volumetric flow-rate of the product, and that can be used as a standard reactor.
• a target reactor achieving a desired target volumetric flow-rate of a desired product is manufactured using a standard reactor comprising at Seast one turbulent-flow regime and at least one laminar-flow regime as an example that is able to produce any amount of the desired product.
• the method according to the present invention starts from an appropriate standard reactor that is able to produce the desired product of the same quality and the same chemical characteristic features but with a volumetric flow-rate that does not match the desired target volumetric flow-rate.
• FIG. 1 An example of a standard reactor developed by the applicant of the present invention for chemical reactions of the type B is a micro-reactor as it is disclosed in EP 1 839 739 Al Figs. 1 to 3 which correspond to Figs. 1 , 2, and 17 of EP 1 839 739 A1 show the overall modular construction of this known micro-reactor.
• Figs. 4 to 7, which correspond to Figs. 3 to 6 of EP 1 839 739 A1 show a temperature adjusting module 1 and a mixing module 2 as examples of various process modules of this known micro-reactor.
• the micro-reactor as shown in Figs. 1 , 2, and 3 comprises a first frame means 10, a first heat exchange module 7, a thermal adjusting module 1 as a process module, a second heat exchange module 8, a mixing module 2 as a further process module, an- other first heat exchange module 7, a retention module 3 as a further process module, another second heat exchange module 8, further retention modules 4, 5 and 6 respectively, each sandwiched between two heat exchange modules 7, 8 and a second frame means 9 in this sequence.
• first and second frame means 10 9 al- ternating a first or second heat exchange module 7 8 and a process module 1-6 are provided
• two tie-rods 13 push first and second frame means 10 9 towards each other thereby pressing the stacked heat exchange modules 7, 8 and process modules 1-6 against one another
• the temperature adjusting module 1 shown in Figs 5 and 6 is provided as a first process module Said temperature adjusting module 1 comprises a first reactive fluid passage 1A, communicating with a first reactive fluid inlet port 1 C and a first reactive fluid outlet port 1 F, and a second reactive fluid passage 1 B communicating with a second reactive fluid inlet port 1 D and a second reactive fluid outlet port 1 E A first reactive fluid is supplied to the first reactive fluid passage 1A through the first reactive fluid inlet port 1 C A second reactive fluid is supplied to the second reactive fluid passage 1 B through the second reactive fluid inlet port 1 D Further, said temperature adjusting module 1 comprises a first and second plate 1 M, 1 N (Fig 6), which are joined with one another by soldering or the like Into the contacting surfaces of the first and/or second plate 1 M 1 1 N the sinusoidal reactive fluid passages 1A, 1 B are cut by etching, milling or the like While flowing through said first reactive fluid passage 1A toward said first reactive fluid outlet port 1 F, said first reactive fluid's temperature is adjusted by the two heat
• the mixing module 2 shown in Figs 6 and 7 is provided as a second process module Although not shown in detail, said mixing module 2 comprises a first and second plate similar to the temperature adjusting module 1 described above
• a reactive fluid passage 2A is provided comprising a mixing section 2G and a first retention section 2I
• a first reaGtive fluid inlet port 2C communicating with said reac- tive fluid passage 2A is connected with the first reactive fluid outlet port 1 F of the temperature adjusting module 1 by an external connection (not shown).
• a second reactive fluid inlet port 2D also communicating with the reactive fluid passage 2A, is connected with the second reactive fluid outlet port 1 E of the temperature adjusting module 1 s ⁇ mi- larly.
• the first and second reactive fluids respectively after having passed through said temperature adjusting module 1 , flow into the mixing section 2G of the passage 2A within the mixing module 2, wherein said both reactive fluids are mixed with one another.
• the geometry of the mixing section 2G as shown in enlarged view in Fig. 7, can be chosen appropriately to mix the reactive fluids in an optimal way.
• the resulting process fluid flows into the first retention section 21 of the reactive fluid passage 2A which basically is formed as a flat channel, thus providing an substantially laminar flow of the process fluids.
• the chemical reaction can be temperature controlled by the two heat exchange modules 8, 7 sandwiching said mixing module 2.
• the process fluid leaving the reactive fluid passage 2A through a reactive fluid outlet port 2E, enters various retention modules 3-6 in which the process fluid is temperature controlled by two heat exchange modules 7, 8 adjacent to each of the retention modules as described for the temperature adjusting module 1 and mixing module 2 be- fore. In this manner the reactive fluid can flow through all subsequent retention modules 4-6 before leaving the micro-reactor system assembly through a last process module's outlet port 6D.
• the residence time within each retention module 3-6 is defined by the retention volume, i.e. the section (width x height) x length of the passage 3A-6A accommodating the process fluid, divided by the flow-rate.
• the residence time can nearly arbitrarily be chosen.
• the reactive fluid passages in the process modules 1-6 are micro-structured by etching, milling or the like. Since the heat exchange modules 7, 8 are manufactured separately, they may be manufactured without the micro-structuring, thus reducing costs. Furthermore, since said heat exchange modules 7, 8 do not come into contact with the reactants, they do not need to be resistant to corrosion or high process pressures, thus allowing the use of materials optimised for heat transfer,
• the above described micro-reactor provides due to its modular structure high flexibility and allows combining different mixing channel geometries with different retention modules, thereby providing arbitrarily chosen residence times, in particular for type B reactions.
• Each of said process modules 1-6 is temperature controlled by two adjacent heat exchange modules 7, 8. Since heat transfer only is realised by heat conduc- tion through the plates 1 M-8M, 1 N-8N of the heat exchange modules 7, 8 and process modules 1-6 no sealing or the like is necessary.
• the process modules 1-6 may be optimised with respect to the reactants accommodated therein, for example being resistant to corrosion and/or pressure, while at the same time the heat exchange modules 7,8 not coming into contact with the reactants, can be opti- mised with respect to heat transfer and/or sealing characteristics.
• a DIN A5 size micro-reactor that is a micro-reactor with a surface area of its plates corresponding approximately to DIN A5, with a given flow-rate of for example 100 ml/min, a process module's passage length of about 1844 mm, a passage height of 10 mm and a passage width of 0.5-2 mm residence times of 6-22 sec per module have been realised in an example testing. Thus overall residence times of up to 30 min can be realised.
• a DIN A4 size micro-reactor can be simulated with the original DIN A5 size micro-reactor, i. e. with an unamended length of the edge.
• EP 1 839 739 A1 With respect to other technical details concerning the construction and way of operation of the above described micro-reactor it is referred to EP 1 839 739 A1.
• the standard reactor to be used as a starting point for the manufacturing of a target reactor achieving a target volumetric flow-rate of a desired product has a flow-channel system in which a plurality of reactants continuously flowing into the standard reactor are mixed and interconvert to form a volumetric flow-rate /i of a desired product continuously flowing out of the standard reactor.
• the (maximum) volumetric flow-rate / 1 depends on several flow-related characteristic features of both the flow-channel system (smallest hydraulic diameter, length of the flow-channel system, pressure, temperature regime) and the reactants (viscosity, reactivity).
• such a flow-channel system would include, for example, fluid passages IA and 1 B of the temperature adjusting module 1 shown in Figs. 4 and 5, and fluid passages 2G, 2A, and 2I of the mixing module 2 shown in Figs. 6 and 7.
• a target reactor shall be manufactured that is able to produce the target volumetric flow-rate f 2 of the same product.
• the volumetric flow-rate /i of the standard reactor can be determined e.g. by way of measurement or calculation.
• the standard reactor is, for example, a modular reactor as it is disclosed in EP 1 839 739 A1 , which is formed of a combination of several process modules each containing a sub flow channel system
• the method according to the present invention would have to be followed for the complete flow channel system which is a sum of the sub flow channel systems, where there is only one smallest hydraulic diameter in the complete flow channel system.
• the method according to the present invention provides that the smallest hydraulic diameter dhi of the flow-channel system of the standard reactor (smallest standard hydraulic diameter) is determined, e.g. by way of measurement or calculation, and that the corresponding smallest hydraulic diameter dh 2 of the target reactor (smallest target hy- draulic diameter) is calculated based on a well-defined relationship between the smallest hydraulic diameter dhi of the standard reactor, the standard volumetric flow-rate j ⁇ of the standard reactor, and the target volumetric flow-rate / 2 of the target reactor.
• the remaining design parameters of flow-channel system of the target reactor such as the length, the shape, etc can be easily defined and adapted by the competent person skilled in the art according to the respective needs Having de- fined and adapted the remaining design parameters of the flow-channel system the outer dimensions of the target reactor may vary as compared to the standard reactor
• Figs 8A and 8B reflect the idea underlying the method according to the present invention Specifically, Figs 8A and 8B, show as examples of plate-shaped process modules of a standard reactor and a target reactor two mixing modules which are of different size (outer dimensions) and which differ from each other basically in the shape, e g the course and length, of the corresponding flow-channel systems and their respective scale-up or scale-down While the mixing module shown in Fig 8A may be considered to represent a standard reactor, the mixing module shown in Fig 8B may be con- sidered to represent a target reactor Despite the differences in the shape of the corresponding flow-channel systems and in the outer dimensions of the plate-shaped process modules, the general principle of construction underlying these process modules is the same As described above with respect to Figs 4 to 6, each of the modules shown in Figs 8A and 8B is formed of two plate members having a flow-channel system - or in the terminology above "sub-flow-channel system" - incorporated therein Figs 8A and 8B reveal that
• Figs 8A and 8B show the micro-reactors of size 2 and size 3 respectively, in correct dimensional relationship (however, not to scale which is about DIN 6 DIN 5 equivalent area)
• a turbulent-flow mixing zone 10 and a laminar-flow retention zone 20
• the principle design of the flow-channel system comprising the turbulent-flow mixing zone 10 and the laminar-flow retention zone 20 is identical, although the number of windings 30 and the size of amplitudes 40 of the meandered structure are different
• Fig 9 shows portions of mixing zones of different sub-flow-channel systems, where the circles in each case are cross-sections of turboid mixing units
• the examples of the first column comprises only turboid mixing elements, the second column a mixture of turboid and SL-mixing elements, and the last column a mixture of turboid and SZ-mixing elements
• Figs a) to f) are called a T- contacter, an Y-contacter, a tangential mixer, a bend, a SZ mixer and a LZ mixer, respectively
• Fig 9 shows example structures of flow-channel portions of process modules of various micro-reactors of size 1 , size 2, size 3, and size 4 in the first to fourth row, respectively, with the parameters "mixing width”, “mixing height”, “resi- dence height”, and "residence depth” according to table 1
• the target reactor can be manufactured using the standard reactor as an example concerning the overall principle of construction
• the target reactor differs from the standard reactor basically only in the geometry of the mixing zone based on the specific smallest hydraulic diameter, the geometry of the retention zone may be adapted As seen from Figs 8A and 8B or Fig 9, when manufacturing a target reactor starting from a standard reactor, although the basic principle of construction remains the same, not only the hydraulic diameter will change but the length of the flow-channel system may change, too
• other structural parameters of the flow channel system of the target reactor such as the length, the number of windings, all other diameters except the smallest hydraulic diameter, etc may be defined and adapted in order to establish suitable flow characteristics of the target reactor
• the final outer dimensions, that is the size of the target reactor is the result of the definition and adaptation of all

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• 2010
  • 2010-05-12 EP EP10718999A patent/EP2429695A1/de not_active Ceased

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