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Chemistry sets for grownups

September 18, 2003

The best thing about chemistry class in school was always the experiments. It stank, it smoked and best of all things exploded. The students were highly delighted when the teacher's own experiments ran out of control. But large-scale chemical accidents are no laughing matter. A reactor containing tons of chemicals can be a real danger. In microreactors, the same processes take place but in milliliter volumes. The risk is correspondingly lower. "Reactions involving highly toxic compounds or which generate a huge amount of heat are much easier to control on this small scale", explains Dr. Stefan Löbbecke, spokes-man for the Fraunhofer Alliance for Modular Microreaction Systems (FAMOS). "Since small reactors have a better surface-to-volume ratio than large reactors, the desired thermal and physicochemical reaction conditions can be more accurately controlled and maintained. What emerges are products with higher yields and purity."

The FAMOS alliance comprises six Fraunhofer institutes active in the fields of materials research, process technology, computer simulation and chemical engineering. The key aspect of the reaction system developed by the researchers is its flexibility and modularity. A variety of custom-fit modules are attached to the microreactor's hexagonal baseplate and connected via ultra-thin tubes transporting gases or liquids.

The modules are made of metal, plastics, ceramic or silicon depending on the application. "Our ceramic modules are particularly suitable for processes that demand high chemical and thermal stability", says Dr. Reinhard Lenk from the Fraunhofer Alliance for High-Performance Ceramics. "The modules can also be coated with various types of catalyst, for example. To perform a series of tests, the inlays merely have to be swapped." Depending on the type of reaction, the modules can be easily heated or cooled. The system also includes software that allows processes inside the microreactor to be simulated and analyzed. "In addition to industrial microproduction applications, we hope to establish the system as standard equipment in university and industrial laboratories", declares Löbbecke.

The researchers will be exhibiting their microreaction system at two concerted trade shows in Munich: at the MATERIALICA, September 16-18 (Hall B5, Stand 217) and the ceramitec trade show, September 16-20 (Hall A1, Stand 438).

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft