Abstract
Limited applicability and scarce availability of analytical equipment for micro- and millifluidic applications, which are of high interest in research and development, complicate process development, control, and monitoring. The low-cost sensor presented in this work is a modular, fast, non-invasive, multi-purpose, and easy to apply solution for detecting phase changes and concentrations of optically absorbing substances in single and multi-phase capillary flow. It aims at generating deeper insight into existing processes in fields of (bio-)chemical and reaction engineering. The scope of this work includes the application of the sensor to residence time measurements in a heat exchanger, a tubular reactor for concentration measurements, a tubular crystallizer for suspension detection, and a pipetting robot for flow automation purposes. In all presented applications either the level of automation has been increased or more information on the investigated system has been gained. Further applications are explained to be realized in the near future.Article highlights• An affordable multipurpose sensor for phase differentiation, concentration measurements, and process automation has been developed and characterized• The sensor is easily modified and can be applied to various tubular reaction/process units for analytical and automation purposes• Simple integration into existing process control systems is possibleGraphical abstract
Highlights
In research and development of chemical and process engineering, continuous-flow processes have become more and more popular [1]
Effects that cause improved internal mixing accompanied with narrow residence time distributions (RTDs) are systematically made use of to achieve high product uniformity [10, 11]
light depending resistor (LDR) and light-emitting diode (LED) are fixed in the designated holes inside the housing parts using molten polylactic acid (PLA)
Summary
In research and development of chemical and process engineering, continuous-flow processes have become more and more popular [1]. Reactants are introduced at the inlet and after a desired hydrodynamic residence time the products can be collected at the outlet. These setups are Together with the growing interest in continuous processes, miniaturization and modularization of chemical reactors are on the rise [6]. Their large specific surface enables high mass and heat transfer rates [7], and they play a significant role in process intensification [8, 9]. Effects that cause improved internal mixing accompanied with narrow residence time distributions (RTDs) are systematically made use of to achieve high product uniformity [10, 11]
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