Desktop Factory
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Micro Chemical Engineering
Molecular Machines
Factory Reputation
Gloomy Sky
Dirty Air
Discharged Sewage
Pungent Smell
In people’s minds
Chemical plants are always inseparable from these scenes
But if you jump out of these stereotypes
You will definitely feel refreshed
It turns out that
Micro Chemical Engineering has been thriving
For hundreds of years of reform
The strategy of large-scale development of chemical devices
Has shown the future of the chemical industry
Factors Leading to Micro Chemical Engineering
As early as last century, scientists realized that the single large-scale development model had severely restricted the innovation of chemical technology,The increase in the yield and quality of chemicals should come from improvements in production efficiency and product yield.Thus, the model of micro chemical engineering emerged.
Micro Chemical Engineering Systems
Micro chemical engineering systems consist of small, highly integrated chemical devices,Developed based on the basic principles of transfer enhancement in chemical engineering, promoted by precision processing technology.
And gradually replaced the large scale of chemical plants, the huge volume of chemical equipment, towering tower devices, dense material pipelines, and production workshops filled with lights like stars…
Desktop Factory
Desktop Factory
Desktop Factory
Desktop Factory
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Chemical Kingdom
Wide Machine Room
Towering Chimneys
Huge Storage Tanks
Roaring Machines
Scientists not only focus on building such huge objects
But also create a miniature kingdom for chemical processes
Transfer in Micro Chemical Engineering
An important term in micro chemical engineering is “transfer”. Daily transfer phenomena are mainly divided into momentum transfer, heat transfer, and mass transfer.
Humans have cleverly utilized the principles of momentum transfer to develop many technologies to serve production and life.
Micro Chemical Engineering | Microstructures
Transfer is widely present in chemical processes, such as crystallization, extraction, distillation, and other separation and purification processes.Scientists try to reduce the characteristic scale in traditional chemical processes from millimeters to meters down to micrometers, thereby significantly improving the production efficiency of equipment and reducing the size and footprint of chemical plants.
Taking microstructured heat exchangers as an example, although the heat transfer coefficient of fluid in flow channels with characteristic scales of tens of micrometers slightly decreases,due to the significant increase in the specific surface area of the channels, the overall heat transfer efficiency is still improved by 1 to 2 orders of magnitude compared to traditional heat exchangers.
Another keyword of microstructures is “precision manufacturing”. Common micro chemical equipment is made from materials such as metals, plastics, glass, silicon wafers, and ceramics, and the microfabrication technologies used for microstructured devices of different materials also vary.To conduct experiments and research more precisely, microfluidic chips represented by PMMA and PDMS have emerged.
Precision Manufacturing
Efficiency Improvement
Micro Chemical Engineering | Desktop Factory
Scientists have also discovered that the small size and high efficiency of micro chemical equipment make it possible to build small production workshops or small factories in laboratories. By connecting microreactors, micromixers, micro heat exchangers, and other equipment through micro pipelines according to production processes, combined with process control means such as delivery pumps, temperature control systems, and pressure instruments, a series of production-capable “chemical workshops” are constructed.Because these micro chemical devices are mainly arranged on desktops, they have been vividly referred to by scientists as “desktop factories”.
The work efficiency of these desktop factories is undoubtedly much higher than that of manual devices such as test tubes and beakers used in chemical experiments.
Using such desktop factories, chemical scientists have conducted in-depth research on the basic laws of many chemical reactions such as hydrogenation, oxidation, sulfonation, halogenation, and nitration,laying the foundation for the industrialization of micro chemical technology.
Micro Chemical Engineering | A Promising Future
By this point
Is the chemical plant in your mind
Still just the towering chimneys and tall towers
And oil tanks the size of buildings?
Is your impression of chemicals
Still synonymous with danger and pollution?
Today, with the emergence of microstructured chemical systems, a micro chemical system the size of a writing desk can safely and efficiently complete the tasks.
In the future, we can conduct some difficult and dangerous chemical experiments in desktop factories, just as simple and easy as operating a tablet computer, and chemicals will be labeled green and safe.。
Questions
&
Answers
Q&A
Click the blank to see the answer
Which of the following substances has the highest melting point?
A.Si
B.ZnS
C.CO2
D.Fe
B
The melting point of Si: 1414°C, the melting point of CO2: -78.5°C, the melting point of ZnS: 1700°C, the melting point of Fe: 1538°C
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Layout | Zhao Lian
Copywriting | Li Rong Wang Yinuo
Images | Liu Xingtong
Initial Review | Wang Yinuo
Final Review | Zhang Hongtu