Historical PerspectiveEnabling intensification of multiphase chemical processes with additive manufacturing
Graphical abstract
Section snippets
Multiphase chemical processes
Many pharamaceutical, specialty, and fine chemical processes involve liquid phase reactions with reactants and catalysts present in other phases [1]. Fluid-fluid dispersions, specifically bubbles of gas in a liquid or liquid droplets dispersed in a second immiscible liquid, appear in numerous chemical manufacturing processes and a wide range of consumer and industrial products. Generally, these dispersions are characterized by the mean radius 〈a〉, distribution DSD, and volume fraction ϕ, of the
Process intensification in multiphase systems
Unit operations are single, basic steps in a chemical process where physical or chemical transformations take place. Recently, there has been an increased focus on process intensification targeting more efficient unit operation design [58]. A more efficient unit operation means any of combination of the following: reduced processing time, lower operating cost, increased production volumes, smaller footprint, consistent quality and uniformity, lower hazards, intrinsic safety, and less waste [59,
Additive manufacturing technologies
Additive manufacturing (AM) is a class of manufacturing that, in contrast to subtractive manufacturing, adds material in a layer by layer process to create the final product. It has dramatically increased in popularity in recent years due to commercial availability and the ability to rapidly produce custom prototypes or parts using a wide range of materials with complex internal geometries [100,101].
Broadly, AM is the process in which material is deposited and then joined or solidified to
Chemical process intensification of multiphase technologies with additive manufacturing
Process intensification objectives involve multiple scales and multiple functionalities spanning from the molecular environment to the macroscale processing and equipment. Additive manufacturing is a popular technology for designing equipment for process intensification because of the diversity of materials and ability to control the structure on many orders of length scale [137]. The geometric design space enables the realization of part geometries that optimize effective areas for driving
Case study: continuous emulsion polymerization
In traditional emulsion polymerization, chemical agents are typically used to control latex particle size. The process development procedure for this type of chemical control results in extremely large and discrete design spaces. Further, changing the end product characteristics (eg. particle size) may require entirely new formulations. However, by shifting to continuous manufacturing the average particle size can be controlled by process variables (eg. volumetric flow rate () and residence
Summary
Multiphase chemical systems are an integral part of the chemical industry, and further emphasis and activity in process intensification is necessary to lower the cost of consumer goods and medicine, as well as reduce the environmental impact. Research into additive manufacturing for chemical applications is still in its early stages, yet the potential has been demonstrated. AM technologies can control device geometries at multiple length scales, enabling researchers to create devices that
Declaration of Competing Interest
None.
Acknowledgements
Two of the authors (REM and JKF) gratefully acknowledge support from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Award 80NSSC18K0453).
References (176)
- et al.
Multiphase catalytic reactor engineering and design for pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals
Catal Today
(1997) - et al.
Computer aided chemical engineering
(2005) - et al.
Discrimination of active species in liquid-phase hydrogenation on supported noble metal catalyst: an operando spectroscopic study on the asymmetric hydrogenation of ketopantolactone on Pt/Al2O3 and Pt/C modified by cinchonidine
Catal Today
(2017) - et al.
Ruthenium containing hydrotalcite as a heterogeneous catalyst for hydrogenation of benzene to cyclohexane
J Mol Catal A Chem
(2011) - et al.
A porous structured reactor for hydrogenation reactions
Chem Eng Process Proc Intensif
(2015) - et al.
Tube-in-tube hollow fiber catalytic membrane microreactor for the hydrogenation of nitrobenzene
Chem Eng J
(2018) - et al.
Structure-dependent selective hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde over high-surface-area CeO2-ZrO2 composites supported Pt nanoparticles
Chem Eng J
(2017) - et al.
Dynamic optimization of a two-stage emulsion polymerization to obtain desired particle morphologies
Chem Eng J
(2019) - et al.
Continuous emulsion copolymerization processes at mild conditions in a 3D-printed tubular bended reactor
Chem Eng J
(2018) - et al.
Synthesis of monodisperse starch-polystyrene core-shell nanoparticles via seeded emulsion polymerization without stabilizer
Polymer
(2017)