Design of a mesh microreactor for even flow distribution and narrow residence time distribution

Abstract

Flow and residence time distributions are analysed in a microreactor where the reactant fluid phases come into contact through the microfabricated pores of a mesh. An analytical resistance network method that is based on the analogy of viscous flow to networks of electrical resistances, initially developed to analyse flow distribution in scale-out geometries, is applied to identify possible reactor plate geometries. The main assumptions of this method and the suggested reactor plate geometries are successfully validated via computational fluid dynamics simulations combined with a particle tracking methodology for the residence time distribution. The method is used to produce a reactor plate geometry that results in uniform residence time distribution within the active mesh region while minimising the non-active volume on the plate and the reactants’ collecting channel, which affect the overall residence time distribution as well as the time for flushing/emptying the reactor. Experimental tests carried out to visually assess flow distribution in different plate geometries qualitatively agree with the theoretical results.