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Department of Biochemical and Chemical Engineering

March 2022

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  • Picture of the Month
The picture shows the grafical abstract of the multipurpose sensor for continuous capillary flow in microreactors. © AD​/​BCI

Multipurpose sensor for continuous capillary flow in microreactors

The limited applicability and scarce availability of analytical instruments for micro- and millifluidic applications, which are of great interest for research and development, complicate process development, control and monitoring. Therefore, a low-cost sensor was developed to provide a modular, fast, non-invasive, versatile, and easy-to-use solution for detecting phase changes and concentrations of optically absorbing substances in single- and multiphase capillary flows. It aims to gain deeper insights into existing processes in areas of (bio)chemistry and reaction engineering.
In addition to the measurement of concentrations and slug lengths in continuous two-phase liquid flows, the application of the sensor for residence time measurements in a heat a exchanger, a tubular reactor for concentration measurements, a tubular crystallizer for the detection of suspensions and a pipetting robot for the automation of flows was presented. In all applications, either the level of automation was increased or more information was obtained about the system under study. Further applications will be explained, which will be realized in the near future.

Höving, S., Bobers, J. & Kockmann, N. Open-source multi-purpose sensor for measurements in continuous capillary flow. J Flow Chem (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41981-021-00214-w