Design optimization of microfluidic-based solvent extraction systems for radionuclides detection

Abstract

The development of reliable and fast automated methodologies to detect and identify radionuclides during the decommissioning of nuclear power plants is of paramount importance. In this regard, process flowsheeting and computational simulations are useful tools to aid the design and testing of these advanced detection technologies. We implement an optimization based design procedure for the design of continuous analysis systems based on microfluidic solvent extraction and on-line measurement to detect radionuclides in nuclear waste. The optimization of such detection systems is treated as a design under uncertainty problem. The systems are based on thermal lens microscopy as the detection instrument. We demonstrate our approach on a flowsheet for the detection of trivalent lanthanides in organic and aqueous solutions. We highlight the importance of using computer-aided optimization based procedures to design microsystems comprising several chemical operations and their coupling with the detection step. It constitutes a proof of concept and a first step towards robust optimization based modelling approaches for the design of microfluidic lab-on-a-chip platforms for the detection of radionuclides in nuclear waste.