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All About Flow Chemistry

 

Instead of batch production, flow chemistry is a type of chemical reaction that is basically running in continuous flow production. To make it simpler, pumps are moving the fluid into the tube and where the tube joins in one another, fluids get contact to each. If the fluids are reactive for instance, there is going to be a spike in reaction.

 

Flow chemistry is a known and proven technique to use for big scale projects especially when manufacturing big quantities of given material. On the other hand, the term has been coined just recently for the application on laboratory scale. Well most of the time, what is used is micro reactors.

 

In most instances, continuous reactors are tube-like and at the same time, manufactured from polymers, stainless steel as well as glass because they're known to be non reactive material. The mixing methods may include diffusion as well as static mixers. Continuous flow reactors are creating good control on fixed bed reactor condition that includes mixing, heat transfer and time.

 

Residence time for the reagent in the reactor or amount of time wherein the reaction is cooled or heated is checked from the volume of reactor and the flow rate through it. So to be able to achieve a longer residence time, the reagents are slowly pumped and at times, a bigger volume reactor is what used.

 

The production rates on the other hand will not be constant and it varies from liters per minute to nano-liters per minute.

 

Some examples of the flow reactors include the spinning tube reactors, spinning disk reactors, oscillatory flow reactors, multi cell flow reactors, aspirator reactors and hex reactors. In regards to aspirator reactor, a pump is used to propel one reagent that sucks in the reactant.

 

Smaller scale of the micro-flow reactors or micro reactors could be perfect for process development experiments. Even though, it is feasible to operate flow chemistry at ton scale, the synthetic efficiency benefits from the mass transfer and improved thermal as well as mass transport. To understand more about flow chemistry, visit https://www.reference.com/science/solution-chemistry-27beb9fa43808fb5.

 

Processes development is changing from serial approach to parallel. Now when talking about batch, the chemist is going to work first and then, they'll be followed by a chemical engineer. Now for flow chemistry, this changes to parallel approach to which both the chemical engineer and the chemist are working side by side. There is usually a plant setup in the lab to which the tool is meant for both. Be it non commercial or commercial setting, this set up can be useful.

 

It is possible to run experiments in flow chemistry by using complex techniques such as solid phase chemistries while solid phase reagents, scavengers or catalysts could be used in solution and then, pump it through glass columns.

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