Abstract
The idea of using microwave sensitive reactors is relatively new in chemistry and environmental areas. Applications in both areas might be different but the effects can be amazing. Flow through reactors coated with thin metallic films using a variety of deposition techniques have been used as vessels to conduct reactions in flow under microwave irradiation. The metal coating not only did not provide any impediment to the process, it served a two-fold purpose. Metallic coatings acted as catalysts for the flow through processes; in addition the flowed reactions were tremendously accelerated due to unusually high temperatures generated within reactors because of coupling of microwaves to metal films. The methodology of developing microwave active reactors has been successfully extended to environmental applications, transcending chemistry, such as distillation of saline/brackish waters for the purpose of generating potable water. The experimental distillation device described here as a proof of concept, will lay a foundation for a high throughput water sanitizing process, delivering potable water to large groups of people.
Highlights
Continuous flow systems based on microfluidic technology, known as microreactors, are becoming commonly employed in organic synthesis, both on the research scale and process development (Kirschning et al, 2006; Seeberger et al, 2007; Jas and Kirschning, 2003)
Are considerable amounts of time, materials and human labour involved in identifying the optimal reaction conditions for batch reactions on a small scale, oftentimes these conditions cannot be readily transferred to a scaled-up process
The majority of reactions conducted in continuous flow microstructured reactors involve homogeneous liquid solutions, as the design of such devices is best suited for handling liquids
Summary
Continuous flow systems based on microfluidic technology, known as microreactors, are becoming commonly employed in organic synthesis, both on the research scale and process development (Kirschning et al, 2006; Seeberger et al, 2007; Jas and Kirschning, 2003). Continuous flow systems do offer several advantages when compared to batch based protocols, such as: Process Reproducibility and Reliability (Jas and Kirschning, 2003; Geyer et al, 2006). Flow processes are characterized by constant mixture composition; the accumulation of unreacted reagents is avoided due to their fast removal from the reaction zone. Because of the small cross-sectional dimensions of the reactor, the heat and mass transfer efficiency is increased and the effects of erratic mixing and thermal gradients are largely avoided (Garcia-Edigo et al, 2003)
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