Processes

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Dear Colleagues,

Microreactors have proven indispensable to many fields of research ranging from catalysis to cellular biology and shown great potentials in intensifying reaction processes in comparison to conventional reactors. The improved mass transfer can lead to enhanced reaction rates (e.g., in the presence of multiphase fluids or solid catalysts). The heat transfer enhancement avoids the presence of temperature hot spots due to the local accumulation of reaction heat in the microreactor. Much less chemical waste or exposure to hazardous/toxic compounds is created at aggressive conditions. The modular, flexible, and compact microreactor design allows an easy upscaling from the laboratory to the industrial scale aiming at mass production, and from microreactor design to microreactor process design, a field that requires corresponding engineering skills. This technology, already having shown a broad variety of facets concerning different applications, has now reached the field of downstream processing to influence industrial pilot and even production processing. This Special Issue focuses on the original scientific papers describing new devices, methodologies and application, e.g., biotechnologies, to face the challenge in design, fabrication, process-specific standardization, and scalability up to the industrial level of microreactors.

Prof. Dr. Ho-Shing Wu
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Processes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Catalytic coating
Fabrication technology
Modelling
Multiphase reaction
Scale up
Temperature distribution

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

Jump to: Review

9 pages, 6502 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Batch Mode Reactor for 3,5-Dinitrosalicylic Acid Degradation by Phanerochaete chrysosporium

by Rafał Madaj, Witold Sroczyński, Michał Sójka, Tomasz P. Olejnik and Elżbieta Sobiecka

Processes 2021, 9(1), 105; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr9010105 - 6 Jan 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2244

Abstract

A new batch mode reactor was constructed to conduct continuous biodegradation of 3,5-dinitrosalicylic acid. Various types of matrices with immobilized Phanerochaete chrysosporium were immersed in a solution containing pollutant and mineral nutrients. Three parameters were chosen to optimize the process. The nitrate and nitrite ions concentrations and HPLC analysis were used to prove the biodegradation of 3,5-dinitrosalicylic acid, and the mixed effects model using one-factor ANOVA was used for statistical calculations. The results showed the correlation between the initial pH, a medium composition, and the process time. In pH = 6.5, the degradation effectiveness was estimated at 99% decrease in the substrate within 14 days, while an 80% decrease of acid concentration was indicated in pH = 3.5 after 28 days of the process duration. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Chemistry: Synthesis Process in Micro Reactors)

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Graphical abstract

16 pages, 3347 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Metal Chlorides Grafted on SAPO-5 (MCl_x/SAPO-5) as Reusable and Superior Catalysts for Acylation of 2-Methylfuran Under Non-Microwave Instant Heating Condition

by Ismail Alhassan Auwal, Ka-Lun Wong, Tau Chuan Ling, Boon Seng Ooi and Eng-Poh Ng

Processes 2020, 8(5), 603; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr8050603 - 19 May 2020

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3337

Abstract

Highly active metal chlorides grafted on silicoaluminophosphate number 5, MCl_x/SAPO-5 (M = Cu, Co, Sn, Fe and Zn) catalysts via simple grafting of respective metal chlorides (MCl_x) onto SAPO-5 are reported. The study shows that thermochemical treatment after grafting is essential to ensure the formation of chemical bondings between MCl_x and SAPO-5. In addition, the microscopy, XRD and nitrogen adsorption analyses reveal the homogeneous distribution of MCl_x species on the SAPO-5 surface. Furthermore, the elemental microanalysis confirms the formation of Si–O–M covalent bonds in ZnCl_x/SAPO-5, SnCl_x/SAPO-5 and FeCl_x/SAPO-5 whereas only dative bondings are formed in CoCl_x/SAPO-5 and CuCl_x/SAPO-5. The acidity of MCl_x/SAPO-5 is also affected by the type of metal chloride grafted. Thus, their catalytic behavior is evaluated in the acid-catalyzed acylation of 2-methylfuran under novel non-microwave instant heating conditions (90–110 °C, 0–20 min). ZnCl_x/SAPO-5, which has the largest amount of acidity (mainly Lewis acid sites), exhibits the best catalytic performance (94.5% conversion, 100% selective to 2-acetyl-5-methylfuran) among the MCl_x/SAPO-5 solids. Furthermore, the MCl_x/SAPO-5 solids, particularly SnCl_x/SAPO-5, FeCl_x/SAPO-5 and ZnCl_x/SAPO-5, also show more superior catalytic performance than common homogeneous acid catalysts (H₂SO₄, HNO₃, CH₃COOH, FeCl₃, ZnCl₂) with higher reactant conversion and catalyst reusability, thus offering a promising alternative for the replacement of hazardous homogeneous catalysts in Friedel–Crafts reactions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Chemistry: Synthesis Process in Micro Reactors)

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Review

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32 pages, 1942 KiB

Open AccessReview

Design, Fundamental Principles of Fabrication and Applications of Microreactors

by Adama A. Bojang and Ho-Shing Wu

Processes 2020, 8(8), 891; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr8080891 - 25 Jul 2020

Cited by 37 | Viewed by 10389

Abstract

This study highlights the development of small-scale reactors, in the form of microstructures with microchannel networking. Microreactors have achieved an impressive reputation, regarding chemical synthesis ability and their applications in the engineering, pharmaceutical, and biological fields. This review elaborates on the fabrication, construction, and schematic fundamentals in the design of the microreactors and microchannels. The materials used in the fabrication or construction of the microreactors include silicon, polymer, and glass. A general review of the application of microreactors in medical, biological, and engineering fields is carried out and significant improvements in these areas are reported. Finally, we highlight the flow patterns, mixing, and scaling-up of multiphase microreactor developments, with emphasis on the more significant industrial applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Chemistry: Synthesis Process in Micro Reactors)

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