W. Lee, K. Jensen
MIT, MA, USA
The chemical reactions used to generate solvents and certain pharmaceuticals rely on organic synthesis, a process of combining individual chemicals that can be accelerated through microwave heating. A microreactor system facilitates the direct, localized, and efficient temperature change necessary for successful synthesis. However, a uniform temperature distribution is crucial to the chemical process, and these reactions can be inhibited by unwanted temperature changes or heating that occurs too slowly. Wen-Hsuan Lee, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), fabricated a borosilicate glass microreactor to conduct this microwave organic synthesis, but when she tested her design in a microwave system, she discovered that the heating was uneven and below the desired temperature. Using COMSOL Multiphysics, she modeled the microreactor to investigate the effects of its geometry and orientation on the heating process. From her simulation results, she was able to redesign the microreactor and optimize its location and orientation in the microwave system to achieve successful organic synthesis.
Suggested Stories
Driving EV Development with a Twin-Battery Approach
IAV developed an approach for combining sodium-ion and solid-state lithium iron phosphate battery technologies to form ...
A 100-Fold Improvement in Lithography Resolution Realized with a 150-Year-Old “Perfect Imaging” System
The idea of "perfect imaging", that is a resolution less than the wavelength of light producing the image, was first ...
Music to Your Ears: New Transducers Meet Electrostatic Headphones
Electrostatic transducers offer enhanced clarity, less distortion, and a wider bandwidth than transducers in ...
Using Multiphysics Simulation to Prevent Building Damage
In addition to surviving normal winters, a strong building must be able to survive the worst winters expected in a 50 ...
