Impact of flow regimes and chemical kinetics on the reaction progress in a T-shaped microreactor

Microreactors show very promising features for improving the sustainability of many pharmaceutical and fine-chemistry processes. Indeed, they enable continuous operation with unprecedented control over operating conditions thanks to the very high heat transfer rates stemming from the large surface-to-volume ratio.  With such characteristics, higher reaction yields than conventional batch processes may be typically obtained with less material and energy consumption. 

Fluid dynamics plays a key role as the microreactor design should improve the mixing of reactants despite the laminar flow conditions. However, little is known about the ultimate effect on the progress of a chemical reaction. 

This work aims at elucidating how the flow regimes and kinetics impact the reaction in a T-shaped reactor through the joint use of numerical simulations and experiments. The PIV technique is employed to characterize the velocity field while flow visualization is used to determine the reaction yield because the test reaction leads to discoloration.  Despite the basic geometry, very complex flow patterns occur and impact differently the reaction process; quantitative trends of the reaction yield with Reynolds and Damköhler numbers are proposed for the different flow regimes.