Heat Transfer Limitations of Gas-Liquid Exothermic Reactions in Microchannels

Chemical reactions in gas-liquid systems are often occurring and embrace many issues, especially the contacting of the gas and liquid stream and generation of gas bubbles. Continuous mixing and generation of a large interface between the phases is very important for maintaining and intensifying a chemical reaction between the two phases. The generated heat from the chemical reaction has to be removed very quickly from the flowing stream, which is also a challenging task. Recent applications of microreactors at Lonza Ltd. are described with gas-liquid mass transfer and highly exothermic chemical reactions. The proper description and understanding of convective flow, heat transfer and reaction kinetics are essential for the successful application of microstructured devices.