Manipulation of gas-liquid-liquid systems in continuous flow microreactors for efficient reaction processes

Abstract

AbstractGas-liquid-liquid flow in microreactors holds great potential towards process intensification of operation in multiphase systems, particularly by a precise control over the three-phase contact patterns and the associated mass transfer enhancement. This work reviews the manipulation of gas-liquid-liquid three-phase flow in microreactors for carrying out efficient reaction processes, including gas-liquid-liquid reactions with catalysts residing in either liquid phase, coupling of a gas-liquid reaction with the liquid-liquid extraction, inert gas assisted liquid-liquid reactions and particle synthesis under three-phase flow. Microreactors are shown to be able to provide well-defined flow patterns and enhanced gas-liquid/liquid-liquid mass transfer rates towards the optimized system performance. The interplay between hydrodynamics and mass transfer, as well as its influence on the overall microreactor system performance is discussed. Meanwhile, future perspectives regarding the scale-up of gas-liquid-liquid microreactors in order to meet the industrial needs and their potential applications especially in biobased chemicals and fuels synthesis are further addressed.