Micro reactors

Introduction

• A micro reactor or micro channel reactor is a device in which chemical

reactions take place in a confinement with typical lateral dimensions below
1 mm; the most typical form of such confinement are micro channels.
• Micro reactors are studied in the field of micro process engineering, together
with other devices (such as micro heat exchangers) in which physical processes
occur.
• The micro reactor is usually a continuous flow reactor (contrast with/to a batch
reactor).
 Introduction

• Micro-reactors, as the name suggests, are reactors with channel sizes of the order
of micro-meter, at which scale diffusion is the dominant mixing mechanism. They
typically consist of a series of plates with machined or etched channels less than
1 mm in width.
• The term ‘micro-reactor’, however, has come to refer to reactors with small
channels varying in size from catalytic plate gas phase reactors involving channel
dimensions of 1–2 mm, to liquid phase processors which may contain channels of
200 μm equivalent diameter.
Different designs of micro reactors
Steel falling film micro-reactor (64 channels, each 300 μm wide, 100 μm
deep and 65 mm long; surface area 20,000 m2/m3 )
Advantages and disadvantages

• The main advantages are the small size,

• improved energy efficiency,
• speed and yield
• the simple plant layout
• fast on-site installation,
• safety and reliability.
Advantages and disadvantages

• Micro reactors generally do not tolerate particulates well, clogging occurs

often.
• Mechanical pumping may generate a pulsating flow which can be
disadvantageous.
• The scale-up of production rates and leakage are quite challenging in case of
micro reactor
• Pressure drop increases with decrease in dia. of channels.
• Problem of fouling also increases with decrease in dia. of channels.
• the licensing process
• Corrosion imposes a bigger issue in micro reactors because area to volume
ratio is high
Applications

• Micro reactors are applied in combination with

• photochemistry
• Electro synthesis
• multicomponent reactions
• polymerization
 Used to generate electricity
Catalytic plate reactors
Catalytic plate reactors

• In a catalytic plate reactor (CPR), metal plates coated with a suitable catalyst
are arranged such that exothermic and endothermic reactions take place in
alternate channels.
• These channels typically have a width of the order of mms and a catalyst
thickness of the order of microns.
• The heat transfer mechanism within a CPR is conduction through the plates
separating alternate process channels and as such, is largely independent of
the process gas superficial velocity.
• The catalyst layers within a CPR are thin, which results in minimal diffusion
limitations and thus, high catalyst utilization. These advantages result in
reactors which are smaller, lighter and have a smaller associated pressure drop
than conventional alternatives.
 Applications

• The Fischer–Tropsch process is a collection of chemical reactions that

converts a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen or water gas
into liquid hydrocarbons. The hydrocarbon product spectrum
produced by a Fischer-Tropsch catalyst is highly dependent upon
catalyst temperature and rate of diffusion of reactants into the
catalyst matrix. The reaction is highly exothermic and, if rates of heat
removal from the catalyst are not sufficiently high, hot spots will form
which result in degradation of the product spectrum.
 Applications

• The feasibility of the concept of coupled endo- and exothermic reactions has
been investigated in silico for steam reforming of methane (Zanfir and Gavriilidis,
2003). This is a suitable reaction as it is fast and highly endothermic, and can be
matched to the catalytic oxidation of methane. The studies show that it should be
possible to reduce the size of steam reformers by two orders of magnitude.
• CPRs are also being investigated for methane reforming, using nickel-based
catalysts. The technique has been shown to strongly influence both the CO:H2
ratio and rate of carbon lay-down.
 Advantages

• Studies have revealed that thin catalyst coatings attached to heat transfer
surface areas within a CPR can greatly enhance the yield of desirable
products per unit volume as compared to conventional fixed-bed
technology.
• This volume saving, coupled with an overall lighter design, necessitates
less ancillary equipment and the low pressure drop makes the Fischer-
Tropsch CPR a potential reactor for the recovery of stranded gas reserves.
• The catalyst layers within a CPR are thin, which results in minimal
diffusion limitations and thus, high catalyst utilization. These advantages
result in reactors which are smaller, lighter and have a smaller associated
pressure drop than conventional alternative
 Disadvantages

• it is difficult to replace the catalyst when it is exhausted;

• since the rate of heat generation decreases as the fuel is depleted the last section
of the reactor contributes very little to the reaction.
Size Reduction using Catalytic Plate Reactors for the Fischer-Tropsch
Reaction

• Reactor Reactor Volume Yield of C5 + kg/m3/hr

• Sasol 432.1 29.98
Exxon 23.8 43.84
Catalytic plate reactor 1.0 163.12
CPR
CPR
HEX Reactors
 HEX Reactors

• Heat exchanger reactors (often referred to as a HEX-reactors) are essentially

compact heat exchangers used as reactors. The advantage conferred is, as in
their heat transfer duties, their large heat transfer surface areas per unit
volume, which when used as reactors allow them to accommodate highly
exothermic reactions.
• Generally HEX-reactors are advantageous for fast reactions with substantial
exo- or endotherms, with sizeable by-product formation. Industrial examples
include nitrations, polymerisations, hydrogenations, halogenations and
aminations. These processes provide the greatest opportunity for realizing
the benefits of HEX-reactors compared to stirred tank reactors. HEX-reactors
are usually derived from existing compact heat exchanger variants, e.g. the
printed circuit reactor (PCR) and Chart-knote units.
 Introduction

• The open plate reactor (OPR) is based upon the well-known Alfa Laval
Plate Heat Exchanger. The OPR is specifically designed to handle
highly exo or endothermic and fast reactions.
• Plate heat exchangers consist of a number of thin, rectangular
corrugated plates that are pressed together. To ensure tightness,
three technologies are available: gaskets, welding or brazing.
Gasketed plate heat exchangers are the most common in industry.
They can be easily dismantled for inspection, cleaning or maintenance
and expanded or adapted by adding or replacing plates when the
conditions change.
 Introduction

• Temperature up to 200◦ C and pressure up to 25 bars can be achieved.

However for some applications, gaskets are undesirable: high
pressure and temperature or very corrosive fluids. In these cases,
welded or brazed heat exchangers are available. The drawbacks of
theses technologies are that the apparatuses cannot be opened (and
thus cleaned, etc.) and fouling will limit the range of applications.
Reactor Plate view
Open Plate Reactor

• In Figure the OPR is shown from two different angles. The figure on the
left illustrates the first rows of the reactor plate. Each row is divided
into several cells. In the figure above, ten cells constitute one row. The
primary reactant, A, flows into the reactor from the inlet on the upper
left. Between the inlet and the outlet, the reactants are forced by
inserts to flow in horizontal channels of changing directions.
• The flow inserts are specifically designed to enhance the micro-mixing
and guarantee good heat transfer capacity, and are the subject of
patents. The dashed vertical lines represent the cooling water channels
on each side of the reactor plate. The figure on the right shows the OPR
from the side, with cooling plates on each side of the reactor plate.
Open Plate Reactor

• The design concept for the reactor allows for great flexibility in adapting the
process for new reaction schemes. The type of inserts and the number of
rows in the reactor plate can be adjusted to provide the desired residence
time.
• While the cooling plates on each side of the reactor plate have vertical flow
channels, the reactor channels are horizontal, giving a cross-flow heat
exchange pattern.
• However, the general flow direction of the reactor flow is vertical, so the heat
exchange pattern can be modelled as co-current. It is also possible to have
separate cooling flows with different temperatures to cool selected parts of
the reactor. For some reactions it may even be beneficial to heat the last
section of the OPR to further increase the conversion.
The internal structure of the Alfa Laval open plate reactor
 Advantages

• Heat transfer coefficients are higher and as a consequence the surface

area required for a given heat duty is one-half to one-third that of a
shell-and-tube heat exchanger.
• Thus, costs, overall volume and maintenance are reduced.
• Moreover, the high turbulence due to plates reduces fouling to 10–
25% compared with shell-and-tube heat exchangers and residence
time distribution is narrow.