WO2009153115A1 - Apparatus and method for emulsion manufacture - Google Patents

Apparatus and method for emulsion manufacture Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO2009153115A1
WO2009153115A1 PCT/EP2009/056091 EP2009056091W WO2009153115A1 WO 2009153115 A1 WO2009153115 A1 WO 2009153115A1 EP 2009056091 W EP2009056091 W EP 2009056091W WO 2009153115 A1 WO2009153115 A1 WO 2009153115A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
microfluidic
manifold
liquid stream
conduit
drain
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/EP2009/056091
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Fabien Frederic Raymond Marie Jousse
Damiano Rossetti
Georgios Tetradis-Mairis
Original Assignee
Unilever Plc
Unilever N.V.
Hindustan Unilever Limited
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Unilever Plc, Unilever N.V., Hindustan Unilever Limited filed Critical Unilever Plc
Publication of WO2009153115A1 publication Critical patent/WO2009153115A1/en

Links

Classifications

    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B01PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
    • B01FMIXING, e.g. DISSOLVING, EMULSIFYING OR DISPERSING
    • B01F23/00Mixing according to the phases to be mixed, e.g. dispersing or emulsifying
    • B01F23/40Mixing liquids with liquids; Emulsifying
    • B01F23/41Emulsifying
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B01PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
    • B01FMIXING, e.g. DISSOLVING, EMULSIFYING OR DISPERSING
    • B01F33/00Other mixers; Mixing plants; Combinations of mixers
    • B01F33/30Micromixers
    • B01F33/301Micromixers using specific means for arranging the streams to be mixed, e.g. channel geometries or dispositions
    • B01F33/3011Micromixers using specific means for arranging the streams to be mixed, e.g. channel geometries or dispositions using a sheathing stream of a fluid surrounding a central stream of a different fluid, e.g. for reducing the cross-section of the central stream or to produce droplets from the central stream
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B01PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
    • B01FMIXING, e.g. DISSOLVING, EMULSIFYING OR DISPERSING
    • B01F33/00Other mixers; Mixing plants; Combinations of mixers
    • B01F33/80Mixing plants; Combinations of mixers
    • B01F33/81Combinations of similar mixers, e.g. with rotary stirring devices in two or more receptacles
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B01PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
    • B01FMIXING, e.g. DISSOLVING, EMULSIFYING OR DISPERSING
    • B01F33/00Other mixers; Mixing plants; Combinations of mixers
    • B01F33/80Mixing plants; Combinations of mixers
    • B01F33/81Combinations of similar mixers, e.g. with rotary stirring devices in two or more receptacles
    • B01F33/813Combinations of similar mixers, e.g. with rotary stirring devices in two or more receptacles mixing simultaneously in two or more mixing receptacles
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B01PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
    • B01FMIXING, e.g. DISSOLVING, EMULSIFYING OR DISPERSING
    • B01F35/00Accessories for mixers; Auxiliary operations or auxiliary devices; Parts or details of general application
    • B01F35/71Feed mechanisms
    • B01F35/712Feed mechanisms for feeding fluids

Landscapes

  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
  • Physical Or Chemical Processes And Apparatus (AREA)

Abstract

The drawbacks with existing commercial emulsion manufacture technology "are the lack of control over emulsion droplet size and the tendency towards polydisperse emulsion droplet size distributions. It is also very difficult to produce well-defined multiple emulsions. An apparatus is provided for manufacturing an emulsion product which overcomes, amongst other things, these problems comprising: (a) a plurality of elements (201), wherein each element (201) comprises a first microfluidic conduit (202) for carrying a first liquid stream and a second microfluidic conduit (203) for carrying a second liquid stream, the first microfluidic conduit (202) and second microfluidic conduit (203) intersecting at a junction (204) thereby to produce an emulsion product stream from the first liquid stream and the second liquid stream, and a microfluidic emulsion product conduit (205) for carrying the emulsion product stream away from the junction (204); (b) a non-microfluidic first manifold (301) in fluid communication with the plurality of first microfluidic conduits (202); and (c) a non-microfluidic second manifold (302) in fluid communication with the plurality of second microfluidic conduits (203); wherein the non-microfluidic first manifold (301) and the non-microfluidic second manifold (302) are in fluid communication with respectively a first closeable manifold drain (304) and a second closeable manifold drain (305). A method for manufacturing an emulsion product using the aforementioned apparatus is also provided.

Description

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR EMULSION MANUFACTURE
Emulsion technology is a key technology utilised in a variety of industrial products such as food, home care, personal care and laundry products. On a commercial scale, emulsions can be prepared by mixing all the required ingredients in a large, for example
10 ton, reactor fitted with an agitator thereby to produce a mixture and then passing the mixture through a homogeniser. The drawbacks with this method of manufacture are the lack of control over emulsion droplet size and the tendency towards polydisperse emulsion droplet size distributions. It is also very difficult to produce well-defined multiple emulsions.
The aforementioned drawbacks can be overcome by scaling down the manufacturing apparatus such that at least one of the dimensions of the apparatus is no more than 250 microns, preferably no more than 100 microns. The reason for this is that at this scale, it is possible to control the formation of each emulsion droplet in succession. The obvious drawback to operating manufacturing apparatus of this scale is that only small, noncommercial, quantities of product can be manufactured.
EP 1 81 0 746 A1 discloses a microscopic flow passage structure for generating microscopic liquid droplets, the microscopic flow passage comprising fluid introduction flow passages, a merged flow passage and a common outlet.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A solution to the foregoing problem, amongst others, is provided in a first aspect of the invention by an apparatus for manufacturing an emulsion product comprising:
(a) a plurality of elements, wherein each element comprises a first microfluidic conduit for carrying a first liquid stream and a second microfluidic conduit for carrying a second liquid stream, the first microfluidic conduit and second microfluidic conduit intersecting at a junction thereby to produce an emulsion product stream from the first liquid stream and the second liquid stream, and a microfluidic emulsion product conduit for carrying the emulsion product stream away from the junction;
(b) a non-microfluidic first manifold in fluid communication with the plurality of first microfluidic conduits; and
(c) a non-microfluidic second manifold in fluid communication with the plurality of second microfluidic conduits; wherein the non-microfluidic first manifold and the non-microfluidic second manifold are in fluid communication with respectively a first manifold drain and a second manifold drain.
For the purposes of this invention, by conduit is meant any pipe, tube and/or open gutter.
For the purposes of this invention, by microfluidic conduit is meant any conduit wherein at least one dimension is no more than 250 microns, preferably no more than 100 microns, more preferably no more than 50 microns, most desirably no more than 10 microns. Preferably the at least one dimension is greater than 5 microns.
For the purposes of this invention, by non-microfluidic manifold is meant any manifold wherein the smallest dimension is no smaller than 500 microns, preferably no smaller than 1000 microns, even more preferably no smaller than 2000 microns, most preferably no smaller than 5000 microns. Preferably the smallest dimension is no greater than 20 000 microns.
For the purposes of this invention, by emulsion is meant any emulsion whether is be oil- in-water or water-in-oil, or multiple emulsions such as oil-in-water-in-oil or water-in-oil-in- water.
For the purposes of this invention, by manifold is meant a conduit with at least three or more outlets.
It has been observed that simple parallelisation of the aforementioned elements results in an apparatus which, at best, takes a very long time to start producing an emulsion product stream with a monodisperse emulsion droplet size distribution, and at worst, may never produce an emulsion product stream with a monodisperse emulsion droplet size distribution. This is because of the issue of cross-contamination of the elements.
Specifically, after use the elements must be cleaned with an appropriate solvent otherwise the elements may become permanently blocked by the residue of, for example, the oil and/or aqueous phase. However traces of the solvent are also then left within the elements. Difficulties with flushing of these traces from the elements when the elements are next used can lead to the aforementioned problems of producing an emulsion product stream with a monodisperse emulsion droplet size distribution. These problems are solved through employing the first manifold drain and the second manifold drain. Preferably the apparatus for manufacturing an emulsion product comprises at least 10, preferably at least 100 elements and most preferably at least 500 elements.
Preferably the non-microfluidic first manifold has a smallest dimension which is at least five times greater than the at least one dimension of the first microfluidic conduit and the non-microfluidic second manifold has a smallest dimension which is at least five times greater than the smallest dimension of the second microfluidic conduit. More preferably, the non-microfluidic first manifold has a smallest dimension which is at least ten times greater than the smallest dimension of the first microfluidic conduit and the non- microfluidic second manifold has a smallest dimension which is at least ten times greater than the smallest dimension of the second microfluidic conduit.
In a second aspect of the invention, a method for manufacturing an emulsion product is provided, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing an apparatus according to the first aspect of this invention; then
(b) passing the first liquid stream along the non-microfluidic first manifold and through the first manifold drain at a first pressure and then closing the first manifold drain; and either simultaneously or sequentially passing the second liquid stream along the non-microfluidic second manifold and through the second manifold drain at a second pressure and then closing the second manifold drain; and then
(c) passing the first liquid stream along the first microfluidic conduit at a third pressure; and either simultaneously or sequentially passing the second liquid stream along the second microfluidic conduit at a fourth pressure; wherein the first liquid stream is at least partially immiscible in the second liquid stream; wherein the first pressure is lower than the third pressure; and wherein the second pressure is lower than the fourth pressure.
For the purposes of this invention, by partially immiscible is meant that the degree of immiscibility is sufficient to produce an emulsion from mixing of the first liquid stream and the second liquid stream.
The advantage of this two-step method is that it allows the non-microfluidic first manifold and the non-microfluidic second manifold to fill with reduced loss of the first liquid stream and the second liquid stream through the first manifold drain and the second manifold - A -
drain respectively before the pressure is raised to pump the first liquid stream and the second liquid stream at an appropriate rate through the microfluidic part of the apparatus.
An alternative arrangement to the inventive apparatus includes recycling of the waste first liquid stream and the second liquid stream from the first manifold drain and the second manifold drain back to the non-microfluidic first manifold and the non-microfluidic second manifold respectively. This would then mean that the apparatus could be operated at the pressures required to pump the first liquid stream and the second liquid stream at an appropriate rate through the microfluidic part of the apparatus from the start of operation.
Thus in a second embodiment of the inventive method, a method for manufacturing an emulsion product is provided, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) providing an apparatus according to the first aspect of this invention; then
(b) passing the first liquid stream along the non-microfluidic first manifold and through the first manifold drain and along the first microfluidic conduit at a fifth pressure; and either simultaneously or sequentially passing the second liquid stream along the non-microfluidic second manifold and through the second manifold drain and along the second microfluidic conduit at a sixth pressure; wherein the first liquid stream is at least partially immiscible in the second liquid stream.
DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
The invention is now be exemplified with reference to the figures which show in:
Figure 1 (a) a plan view of an apparatus according to the invention;
Figure 1 (b) a cross-section of the apparatus of figure 1 (a) illustrating that the apparatus comprises a 2mm wafer of SU8 photoresist (102) sandwiched by first (101 ) and second (103) 2mm poly(methyl methacrylate) wafers;
Figure 2 a plan view of the 2mm wafer of SU8 photoresist; and
Figure 3 a plan view of the second (103) 2mm poly(methyl methacrylate) wafer.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Apparatus Figure 1 (a) shows a plan view of an apparatus according to the invention. As shown in figure 1 (b), the apparatus comprises a 2mm wafer of SU8 (102) (an epoxy-based negative photoresist available from Microchem Corporation) sandwiched by first (101 ) and second (103) 2mm poly(methyl methacrylate) wafers. Figure 1 (b) also shows inlet/outlet ports (104) mounted on the upper surface of the first 2mm poly(methyl methacrylate) wafer.
Figure 2 shows a plan view of the 2mm wafer of SU8 photoresist (102) illustrating a plurality of (forty) elements (201 ) arranged according to the invention. Each element (201 ) comprises a first microfluidic conduit (202) for carrying a first liquid stream and a pair of second microfluidic conduits (203) for carrying a second liquid stream, the first microfluidic conduit (202) and the pair of second microfluidic conduits (203) intersecting at a junction (204) thereby to produce an emulsion product stream from the first liquid stream and the second liquid stream, and a microfluidic emulsion product conduit (205) for carrying the emulsion product stream away from the junction (204). This arrangement is characterised by opposing second microfluidic conduits (203). The microfluidic conduits are all 20 microns in diameter and prepared by ultra-violet etching of the surface of the SU8 wafer using techniques known in the art of photoresists.
Figure 3 shows a plan view of the second (103) 2mm poly(methyl methacrylate) wafer illustrating the routes of the non-microfluidic first manifold (301 ) and the first manifold drain (304), the non-microfluidic second manifold (302) and the second manifold drain (305), and a non-microfluidic third manifold (303) for carrying away the emulsion product stream. The non-microfluidic manifolds are all 500 microns in diameter and prepared by mechanical drilling.
Fluid communication between the microfluidic conduits of the SU8 photoresist wafer, the non-microfluidic manifolds of the second 2mm poly(methyl methacrylate) wafer and the inlet/outlet ports (104) mounted on the upper surface of the first 2mm poly(methyl methacrylate) wafer is accomplished by mechanically drilling holes through the wafers prior to assembly of the apparatus. The apparatus is assembled by adhesives and/or thermobonding techniques known in the art.
Such apparatus may be manufactured to order by Epigem Limited.
Method and Results In use, an aqueous solution of 7% w/w pullulan (a polysaccharide consisting of maltotriose units) (viscosity 40 mPas) was treated as the first liquid stream and a 4% w/w solution of Admul WoI (polyglycerol polyricinoleate available from Quest International) in sunflower oil (viscosity 63 mPas) was treated as the second liquid stream.
The viscosities of the first liquid stream and the second liquid stream were determined on a ThermoHaake RheoStress 1 rheometer operated at 20 degree Celsius with a cone (60mm diameter; 1 degree cone angle) and plate geometry in a controlled shear stress mode wherein the shear stress rose from 0.01 to 10 Pa in 0.345 Pa steps over four minutes.
Fouling of second liquid stream:
In order to mimic a potential mix up of the first and second liquid streams during use of the apparatus of the invention and to evaluate the ability of the apparatus illustrated in th figures to recover to normal operating conditions, the following protocol was adopted starting with a previously unused apparatus:
a) The first liquid stream was pumped along the non-microfluidic first manifold (301 ) and through the first manifold drain (304) at which point the first manifold drain (304) was closed; then
b) The second liquid stream was pumped along the non-microfluidic second manifold (302) and through the second manifold drain (305) at which point the second manifold drain (305) was closed; then
c) The apparatus was operated at higher pressures of for the first liquid stream of 41.3 kPa (6 psi) and for the second liquid stream of 82.7 kPa (12 psi) for 30 minutes whereupon droplets of the first liquid stream in the second liquid stream were formed at the junctions (204); then
d) The second manifold drain (305) was opened and the first liquid stream pumped along the non-microfluidic second manifold (302) and through the second manifold drain (305) at which point the second manifold drain (305) was closed; then
e) The pressure of the first liquid stream in the non-microfluidic second manifold (302) was increased to 344.7 kPa (50 psi) and maintained for 2.5 minutes at which point the first liquid stream had passed through the pair of second microfluidic conduits (203); then
f) The second liquid stream was pumped along the non-microfluidic second manifold (302) at a pressure of 82.7 kPa (12 psi) with the second manifold drain (305) remaining closed from step (d) and with the first liquid stream being pumped through the non-microfluidic first manifold (301 ) at 41.3 kPa (6 psi) with the first manifold drain (304) remaining closed from step (a); and then
g) The time was taken for droplet formation to resume from the moment step (f) was initiated using a camera and stop watch.
In order to evaluate the effects of the first manifold drain (304) and the second manifold drain (305), a second experiment was conducted repeating the above-mentioned steps (a) to (f) but wherein step (f) was replaced by repeating steps (b) and (c). The time taken for droplet formation to resume was determined from the moment that the second manifold drain (305) was closed in the repeat step (b) using a camera and stop watch. The results are summarised in table 1.
Table 1 : Time taken for droplet formation after fouling of second liquid stream
Figure imgf000009_0001
The time taken for the resumption of droplet formation is considerably lower when using the second manifold drain (305). It is also believed that when using the second manifold drain (305), resumption of droplet formation starts simultaneously from all the elements (201 ) because the one minute difference between observation of droplet formation at the 10th and 20th elements reported in table 1 can be attributed to the time taken to move and refocus the camera from element 10 to element 20 rather than to a physical delay in droplet formation. Fouling of first liquid stream:
The following protocol was adopted starting with a previously unused apparatus:
a) The first liquid stream was pumped along the non-microfluidic first manifold (301 ) and through the first manifold drain (304) at which point the first manifold drain (304) was closed; then
b) The second liquid stream was pumped along the non-microfluidic second manifold (302) and through the second manifold drain (305) at which point the second manifold drain (305) was closed; then
c) The apparatus was operated at higher pressures of for the first liquid stream of 41.3 kPa (6 psi) and for the second liquid stream of 82.7 kPa (12 psi) for 30 minutes whereupon droplets of the first liquid stream in the second liquid stream were formed at the junctions (204); then
d) The first manifold drain (304) was opened and the second liquid stream pumped along the non-microfluidic first manifold (301 ) and through the first manifold drain (304) at which point the first manifold drain (304) was closed; then
e) The pressure of the second liquid stream in the non-microfluidic first manifold (301 ) was increased to 344.7 kPa (50 psi) and maintained for 2.5 minutes at which point the second liquid stream had passed through the first microfluidic conduit (202); then
f) The first liquid stream was pumped along the non-microfluidic first manifold (301 ) at a pressure of 41.3 kPa (6 psi) with the first manifold drain (304) remaining closed from step (d) and with the second liquid stream being pumped through the non-microfluidic second manifold (302) at 82.7 kPa (12 psi) with the second manifold drain (305) remaining closed from step (b); and then
g) The time was taken for droplet formation to resume from the moment step (f) was initiated using a camera and stop watch. In order to evaluate the effects of the first manifold drain (304) and the second manifold drain (305), a second experiment was conducted repeating the above-mentioned steps (a) to (f) but wherein step (f) was replaced by repeating steps (a) and (c). The time taken for droplet formation to resume was determined from the moment that the first manifold drain (304) was closed in the repeat step (a) using a camera and stop watch. The results are summarised in table 2.
Table 2: Time taken for droplet formation after fouling of first liquid stream
Figure imgf000011_0001
The time taken for the resumption of droplet formation is considerably lower when using the first manifold drain (304). It is believed that the resumption of droplet formation when the apparatus was operated without using the first manifold drain (304) not being observed after more than 30 minutes is due to the fact that the pressure of the first liquid stream was low and thus takes a lot of time to push the second liquid stream from the first microfluidic conduit (202).

Claims

1. An apparatus for manufacturing an emulsion product comprising:
(a) a plurality of elements (201 ), wherein each element (201 ) comprises a first microfluidic conduit (202) for carrying a first liquid stream and a second microfluidic conduit (203) for carrying a second liquid stream, the first microfluidic conduit (202) and second microfluidic conduit (203) intersecting at a junction (204) thereby to produce an emulsion product stream from the first liquid stream and the second liquid stream, and a microfluidic emulsion product conduit (205) for carrying the emulsion product stream away from the junction (204);
(b) a non-microfluidic first manifold (301 ) in fluid communication with the plurality of first microfluidic conduits(202); and
(c) a non-microfluidic second manifold (302) in fluid communication with the plurality of second microfluidic conduits (203); wherein the non-microfluidic first manifold (301 ) and the non-microfluidic second manifold (302) are in fluid communication with respectively a first closeable manifold drain (304) and a second closeable manifold drain (305).
2. An apparatus for manufacturing an emulsion product according to claim 1 additionally comprising a first recycling conduit providing fluid communication with the closeable first manifold drain (301 ) and the non-microfluidic first manifold (301 ), and a second recycling conduit providing fluid communication with the closeable second manifold drain (305) and the non-microfluidic second manifold (302).
3. An apparatus for manufacturing an emulsion product according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the non-microfluidic first manifold (301 ) has a smallest dimension which is at least five times greater than an at least one dimension of the first microfluidic conduit (202) and the non-microfluidic second manifold (302) has a smallest dimension which is at least five times greater than an at least one dimension of the second microfluidic conduit (203).
4. A method for manufacturing an emulsion product, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) providing an apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims; then (b) passing the first liquid stream along the non-microfluidic first manifold (301 ) and through the closeable first manifold drain (304) at a first pressure thereby to fill the first manifold (301 ) with the first liquid stream and then closing the closeable first manifold drain (304); and either simultaneously or sequentially passing the second liquid stream along the non-microfluidic second manifold (302) and through the closeable second manifold drain (305) at a second pressure thereby to fill the second manifold (302) with the second liquid stream and then closing the closeable second manifold drain (305); and then
(c) passing the first liquid stream along the first microfluidic conduit (202) at a third pressure thereby to fill the first microfluidic conduit (202) with the first liquid stream; and either simultaneously or sequentially passing the second liquid stream along the second microfluidic conduit (203) at a fourth pressure thereby to fill the second microfluidic conduit
(203) with the second liquid stream; wherein the first liquid stream is at least partially immiscible in the second liquid stream; wherein the first pressure is lower than the third pressure; and wherein the second pressure is lower than the fourth pressure.
5. A method for manufacturing an emulsion product, the method comprising the steps of:
(d) providing an apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3; then (e) passing the first liquid stream along the non-microfluidic first manifold (301 ) and through the first closeable manifold drain (304) and along the first microfluidic conduit (202) at a fifth pressure thereby to fill the first manifold (301 ) and the first microfluidic conduit (202); and either simultaneously or sequentially passing the second liquid stream along the non-microfluidic second manifold (302) and through the closeable second manifold drain (305) and along the second microfluidic conduit (203) at a sixth pressure thereby to fill the second manifold (302) and the second microfluidic conduit (203); wherein the first liquid stream is at least partially immiscible in the second liquid stream.
6. A method for manufacturing an emulsion product according to claims 5, the method composing the additional steps of recycling the first liquid stream from the closeable first manifold drain (302) to the non-microfluidic first manifold (301 ), and recycling the second liquid stream from the closeable second manifold drain (305) to the non-microfluidic second manifold (302).
PCT/EP2009/056091 2008-06-20 2009-05-19 Apparatus and method for emulsion manufacture WO2009153115A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP08158692 2008-06-20
EP08158692.7 2008-06-20

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2009153115A1 true WO2009153115A1 (en) 2009-12-23

Family

ID=39962898

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/EP2009/056091 WO2009153115A1 (en) 2008-06-20 2009-05-19 Apparatus and method for emulsion manufacture

Country Status (1)

Country Link
WO (1) WO2009153115A1 (en)

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20110046243A1 (en) * 2009-08-24 2011-02-24 Hitachi Plant Technologies, Ltd. Machine and method for emulsification
US9056299B2 (en) 2009-03-13 2015-06-16 President And Fellows Of Harvard College Scale-up of flow-focusing microfluidic devices
CN114307831A (en) * 2022-01-11 2022-04-12 泰州科聚新材料技术研究院有限公司 Water based paint stirring control feeding device

Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP1810746A1 (en) * 2006-01-18 2007-07-25 Ricoh Company, Ltd. Microscopic flow passage structure, microscopic liquid droplet generating method, microscopic liquid droplet generating system, particles, and microcapsules

Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP1810746A1 (en) * 2006-01-18 2007-07-25 Ricoh Company, Ltd. Microscopic flow passage structure, microscopic liquid droplet generating method, microscopic liquid droplet generating system, particles, and microcapsules

Cited By (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US9056299B2 (en) 2009-03-13 2015-06-16 President And Fellows Of Harvard College Scale-up of flow-focusing microfluidic devices
US9486757B2 (en) 2009-03-13 2016-11-08 President And Fellows Of Harvard College Scale-up of microfluidic devices
US10518230B2 (en) 2009-03-13 2019-12-31 President And Fellows Of Harvard College Scale-up of microfluidic devices
US11517864B2 (en) 2009-03-13 2022-12-06 President And Fellows Of Harvard College Scale-up of microfluidic devices
US20110046243A1 (en) * 2009-08-24 2011-02-24 Hitachi Plant Technologies, Ltd. Machine and method for emulsification
EP2289613A3 (en) * 2009-08-24 2012-06-06 Hitachi Plant Technologies, Ltd. Machine and method for emulsification
CN114307831A (en) * 2022-01-11 2022-04-12 泰州科聚新材料技术研究院有限公司 Water based paint stirring control feeding device

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
Vladisavljević et al. Production of uniform droplets using membrane, microchannel and microfluidic emulsification devices
Benson et al. An “off-the-shelf” capillary microfluidic device that enables tuning of the droplet breakup regime at constant flow rates
Seo et al. Microfluidic consecutive flow-focusing droplet generators
CN108671970B (en) Method for generating double-size micro-droplets based on micro-fluidic chip
EP3359293B1 (en) Microfluidic droplet generator with controlled break-up mechanism
EP2289613B1 (en) Machine and method for emulsification
CN103386333A (en) Micro-fluidic liquid drop production chip
US10632479B2 (en) Droplet generator based on high aspect ratio induced droplet self-breakup
US20140377145A1 (en) Microfluidic mixing device
EP1931453A1 (en) Apparatus and method for producing a mixture of two phases that are insoluble in each other
WO2007134120A3 (en) Microfluidic device for forming monodisperse lipoplexes
JP2004081924A (en) Micro-emulsifier and emulsification method
Xu et al. High aspect ratio induced spontaneous generation of monodisperse picolitre droplets for digital PCR
Lin et al. On-demand liquid-in-liquid droplet metering and fusion utilizing pneumatically actuated membrane valves
Chang et al. Controlled double emulsification utilizing 3D PDMS microchannels
WO2009153115A1 (en) Apparatus and method for emulsion manufacture
JP4346893B2 (en) Chemical reactor
CN105921188A (en) Microfluidic device capable of rapidly preparing emulsion in multiple dimensions
JP4381670B2 (en) Reactor
CN104741023A (en) Micro-structural device for preparing mono-dispersed liquid drops and bubbles and use method of micro-structural device
US10478755B2 (en) System for providing homogeneous polymer-sludge composition to dewatering equipment
CN102686309B (en) Microchannel structure and method for manufacturing emulsion and solid spherical grain
Lin et al. On-demand double emulsification utilizing pneumatically actuated, selectively surface-modified PDMS micro-devices
WO2008155327A1 (en) Microfluidics system for mixing at least two starting materials
EP3389839B1 (en) Arrangement for intermixing

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
121 Ep: the epo has been informed by wipo that ep was designated in this application

Ref document number: 09765695

Country of ref document: EP

Kind code of ref document: A1

DPE1 Request for preliminary examination filed after expiration of 19th month from priority date (pct application filed from 20040101)
NENP Non-entry into the national phase

Ref country code: DE

122 Ep: pct application non-entry in european phase

Ref document number: 09765695

Country of ref document: EP

Kind code of ref document: A1