Jason Riordon

Fast Fluorescence-Based Microfluidic Method for Measuring Minimum Miscibility Pressure of CO2 in Crude Oils

Carbon capture, storage, and utilization has emerged as an essential technology for near-term CO2 emission control. The largest CO2 projects globally combine storage and oil recovery. The efficiency of this process relies critically on the miscibility of CO2 in crude oils at reservoir conditions. We present a microfluidic approach to quantify the minimum miscibility pressure (MMP) that leverages the inherent fluorescence of crude oils, is faster than conventional technologies, and provides quantitative, operator-independent measurements. To validate the approach, synthetic oil mixtures of known composition (pentane, hexadecane) are tested and MMP values are compared to reported values. Results differ by less than 0.5 MPa on average, in contrast to comparison between conventional methods with variations on the order of 1-2 MPa. In terms of speed, a pressure scan for a single MMP measurement required less than 30 min (with potential to be sub-10 min), in stark contrast to days or weeks with existing approaches. The method is applied to determine the MMP for Pennsylvania, West Texas, and Saudi crudes. Importantly, our fluorescence-based approach enables rapid, automated, operator-independent measurement of MMP as needed to inform the worlds largest CO2 projects.

Breathable waveguides for combined light and CO2 delivery to microalgae

Suboptimal light and chemical distribution (CO2, O2) in photobioreactors hinder phototrophic microalgal productivity and prevent economically scalable production of biofuels and bioproducts. Current strategies that improve illumination in reactors negatively impact chemical distribution, and vice versa. In this work, an integrated illumination and aeration approach is demonstrated using a gas-permeable planar waveguide that enables combined light and chemical distribution. An optically transparent cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB) slab is used to supply both light and CO2 at various source concentrations to cyanobacteria. The breathable waveguide architecture is capable of cultivating microalgae with over double the growth as achieved with impermeable waveguides.

Direct Measurement of the Fluid Phase Diagram

The thermodynamic phase of a fluid (liquid, vapor or supercritical) is fundamental to all chemical processes, and the critical point is particularly important for supercritical chemical extraction. Conventional phase measurement methods require hours to obtain a single datum on the pressure and temperature diagram. Here, we present the direct measurement of the full pressure-temperature phase diagram, with 10 000 microwells. Orthogonal, linear, pressure and temperature gradients are obtained with 100 parallel microchannels (spanning the pressure range), each with 100 microwells (spanning the temperature range). The phase-mapping approach is demonstrated with both a pure substance (CO2) and a mixture (95% CO2 + 5% N2). Liquid, vapor, and supercritical regions are clearly differentiated, and the critical pressure is measured at 1.2% error with respect to the NIST standard. This approach provides over 100-fold improvement in measurement speed over conventional methods.

Microfluidics for sperm analysis and selection

Infertility is a growing global health issue with far-reaching socioeconomic implications. A downward trend in male fertility highlights the acute need for affordable and accessible diagnosis and treatment. Assisted reproductive technologies are effective in treating male infertility, but their success rate has plateaued at ∼33% per cycle. Many emerging opportunities exist for microfluidics — a mature technology in other biomedical areas — in male infertility diagnosis and treatment, and promising microfluidic approaches are under investigation for addressing male infertility. Microfluidic approaches can improve our fundamental understanding of sperm motion, and developments in microfluidic devices that use microfabrication and sperm behaviour can aid semen analysis and sperm selection. Many burgeoning possibilities exist for engineers, biologists, and clinicians to improve current practices for infertility diagnosis and treatment. The most promising avenues have the potential to improve medical practice, moving innovations from research laboratories to clinics and patients in the near future.

Hydrothermal disruption of algae cells for astaxanthin extraction

We demonstrate a hydrothermal method of astaxanthin extraction from wet biomass using a high temperature and high pressure microfluidic platform. Haematococcus pluvialis cysts are trapped within the device and visualized in situ during the cell wall disruption and astaxanthin extraction processes. The device provides a highly controlled environment and enables direct comparison of chemical vs. hydrothermal processes at the cellular level. Hydrothermal disruption at a temperature of 200 °C was shown to be highly effective, resulting in near-complete astaxanthin extraction from wet biomass – a significant improvement over traditional methods.

Periodic harvesting of microalgae from calcium alginate hydrogels for sustained high-density production

High‐density biomass production is currently only realized in biofilm‐based photobioreactors. Harvest yields of whole biofilms are self‐limited by daughter‐upon‐parent cell growth that hinders light and leads to respiratory biomass losses. In this work, we demonstrate a sustainable multi‐harvest approach for prolonged generation of high‐density biomass. Calcium‐alginate hydrogel cultures loaded with Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 achieved production densities comparable to that of biofilms (109 cells/mL) and optimal total productivity in harvest periods of 2 or 3 days that allowed high‐density surface growth without self‐limiting cell buildup or surface death. Cross‐linking calcium concentration had a strong influence on surface growth and harvest yields, especially in the first harvests. Subsequent harvests achieved more uniform biomass yields and distributions, unaffected by bulk respiration or light penetration. Collectively, these results demonstrate the feasibility of sustained, high‐density biomass production by periodic harvesting within microalgal hydrogel cultures. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 2023–2031.

Capillary Condensation in 8 nm Deep Channels

Condensation on the nanoscale is essential to understand many natural and synthetic systems relevant to water, air, and energy. Despite its importance, the underlying physics of condensation initiation and propagation remain largely unknown at sub-10 nm, mainly due to the challenges of controlling and probing such small systems. Here we study the condensation of n-propane down to 8 nm confinement in a nanofluidic system, distinct from previous studies at ∼100 nm. The condensation initiates significantly earlier in the 8 nm channels, and it initiates from the entrance, in contrast to channels just 10 times larger. The condensate propagation is observed to be governed by two liquid-vapor interfaces with an interplay between film and bridging effects. We model the experimental results using classical theories and find good agreement, demonstrating that this 8 nm nonpolar fluid system can be treated as a continuum from a thermodynamic perspective, despite having only 10-20 molecular layers.

Deep Learning with Microfluidics for Biotechnology

Advances in high-throughput and multiplexed microfluidics have rewarded biotechnology researchers with vast amounts of data but not necessarily the ability to analyze complex data effectively. Over the past few years, deep artificial neural networks (ANNs) leveraging modern graphics processing units (GPUs) have enabled the rapid analysis of structured input data - sequences, images, videos - to predict complex outputs with unprecedented accuracy. While there have been early successes in flow cytometry, for example, the extensive potential of pairing microfluidics (to acquire data) and deep learning (to analyze data) to tackle biotechnology challenges remains largely untapped. Here we provide a roadmap to integrating deep learning and microfluidics in biotechnology laboratories that matches computational architectures to problem types, and provide an outlook on emerging opportunities.

The Full Pressure–Temperature Phase Envelope of a Mixture in 1000 Microfluidic Chambers

Knowing the thermodynamic state of complex mixtures-liquid, gas, supercritical or two-phase-is essential to industrial chemical processes. Traditionally, phase diagrams are compiled piecemeal from individual measurements in a pressure-volume-temperature cell performed in series, where each point is subject to a long fluid equilibrium time. Herein, 1000 microfluidic chambers, each isolated by a liquid piston and set to a different pressure and temperature combination, provide the complete pressure-temperature phase diagram of a hydrocarbon mixture at once, including the thermodynamic phase envelope. Measurements closely match modeled values, with a standard deviation of 0.13 MPa between measurement and model for the dew and bubble point lines, and a difference of 0.04 MPa and 0.25 °C between measurement and model for the critical point.