Novel manufacturing techniques for microstructured reactors in industrial dimensions

The results of the development of novel manufacturing techniques for microstructured reactors in the framework of the European project CoPIRIDE are reported. The work was aimed at promoting the application of microstructured chemical reactors in the chemical industry. This can be achieved by completely new ways of production of microstructured plates, as manufactured by the roll embossing technique. This opens the door to mass manufacturing capability, which is a common enabler for cost reduction and resource efficiency. Roll embossing is especially suited for automated mass production, particularly on the larger scale. A modular reactor concept and a novel microreactor design for such microstructured plates were developed. The stacked plate reactors are joined either by laser welding or vacuum brazing. In this way, microstructured reactors can be manufactured for a wide range of throughputs, pressures, temperatures, for single and multi-phase reactions as well as for non-catalytic, homogeneously or heterogeneously catalyzed reactions. Within the project, the suitability of the novel techniques for the manufacture of microreactors with a reaction volume of up to 2 l, which is already the lower production scale of the fine chemical industry, was demonstrated. Three different reactor types could be successfully applied in pilot plants.