Ultrasound-Assisted Liquid-liquid Extraction in Microchannels

In the last decade ultrasound has been gaining popularity as an active method of improving mixing in micro structured devices. In most cases this is achieved by making use of an ultrasonic bath. But this method is accompanied by different disadvantages such as dissipation of power in the liquid medium, inhomogeneous ultrasonic field, non-reproducibility and dependence of the performance on the dimensions and type of the ultrasonic bath used. This research aims at an effective integration of ultrasound with microreactors, under conditions of reproducibility, good control of the ultrasound parameters and visibility of the process during the entire operation to better study the influence of ultrasound on two phase flow. The integration will be approached systematically examining the effects the various design parameters (material of construction, tubing diameter, mode of operation) have on the process. The process of interest to us is liquid-liquid extraction, as it a common unit operation in most chemical industries and also sonication of immiscible liquid-liquid systems may provide improved mass transfer effects as a result of emulsification. The effect of various operational parameters (frequency, power intensity, and temperature) and fluids properties (vapour pressure, viscosity, surface tension) on chemical reactions in immiscible liquid/liquid systems will be studied. This research also aims at studying the mechanism of emulsification by sonication of the two phase flow in microreactors.status: publishe