Pressure loss and transfer rates in microstructured devices with chemical reactions

Enhanced transport phenomena are essential for chemical reactions in continuous flow microstructured equipment. Flow regimes and heat transfer are governed by laminar and transitional conditions to turbulence. In channel curves and meandering channels, secondary flow structures appear, starting from Dean flow with a vortex pair to more chaotic flow structures at higher Re numbers. The geometry and cross-section of the smallest channel determine the pressure loss and energy dissipation of the entire system. Heat and mass transfer is greatly influenced by the flow regime, which leads to transport enhancement conjointly with miniaturization. It is shown that the pressure loss and energy dissipation can be used to determine heat transfer coefficients and mixing characteristics. Chemical reactions are characterized by their kinetics and stoichiometry. Rapid mixing depends on the pressure loss in the microchannel, where the time scales are important. Dimensionless numbers assist the appropriate and successful design of microreactors concerning mixing, residence time, and heat transfer.