James F. Ryley

Chemical performance and high temperature characterization of micromachined chemical reactors

Chemical throughput, product distribution, and lifetime studies have been conducted in Si micromachined chemical reactors (microreactors) for catalytic partial oxidation reactions. Experiments using Pt-catalyzed NH/sub 3/ oxidation as model reaction show that conversion and selectivity behavior of conventional reactors can be reproduced in the microreactor. Highly flammable gases that explode in conventional reactors have been safely oxidized in the microreactor. Packaging and high-temperature materials degradation have been identified as technical challenges to commercial chemical production using microreactor systems.

Device Level Integration to form a Parallel Microfluidic Reactor System

This work demonstrates the integration of multiple microreactors operating in parallel with microvalves, micro-pressure sensors, and electronic circuitry to form a miniature reactor system. This system is equivalent to conventional laboratory reactor systems for catalyst testing but in one tenth of the space.