Microreactors for Intensifying Gas-Liquid Transport Phenomena – MIGALI

The current project proposal addresses the intensification of gas-liquid transport phenomena using microreactors as innovative process equipment. In gas-liquid processes, hydrodynamics, heat and mass transfer and reaction can all be of importance, depending on the application. This project focuses on attaining fundamental understanding of the intensification of hydrodynamics and mass transfer of gas-liquid processes in microreactors and the dependency of these phenomena on equipment geometry. The global vision of the project responds to the current economic, environmental and societal requirements of the chemical process industries, which seek inherently safer, cleaner, flexible and economically efficient processes. These requirements can be provided by microreaction technology, which is an attractive alternative to traditional batch operations for process intensification. The concept of this technology is to carry out physical and chemical transformations in very small scale continuous intensified reactors in which the operating conditions can be tightly controlled. This project comprises two principal objectives: ? to investigate the role of the microreactor geometry (inlet contacting geometry, topographical geometry, cross-section, multi-channel geometries) and physical properties of the fluids (viscosity, density and surface tension) on hydrodynamics and mass transfer in gas-liquid Taylor flow ? to develop models for the prediction of bubble size and gas-liquid mass transfer in Taylor flow in microreactors. In order to reach these objectives, the project is composed of five tasks. Task 0 provides a structure for the general management of the project. Task 1 deals with the effects of microreactor inlet geometries and fluid properties on the hydrodynamic properties of the gas-liquid flow. Task 2 focuses on the interaction between local hydrodynamics and gas-liquid mass transfer in Taylor flow. Task 3 concentrates on the design (using a constructal approach) and characterisation of multichannel microreactor geometries for gas-liquid applications. Task 4 is dedicated to the dissemination of project results through scientific publications and conference papers. This international project involves six partners, including three French laboratories and three Chinese laboratories, all of which have previous experience in gas-liquid flow in micro or mini channel reactors. The expertise of the partners covers the experimental measurement of gas-liquid hydrodynamics (global and local) and mass transfer, numerical simulations of gas-liquid flow, and design of multiscale geometries using a constructal approach. These competentencies are complementary and will enable the project objectives to be met.