Chapter 14: Integrated Microreaction Systems of Microdevices with Conventional Equipment

The microreaction technology for a continuous flow process has been evolving from a pure research tool in chemical engineering to a ubiquitously applicable technique in the field of chemical synthesis. For chemists, it is difficult to set up a laboratory-scale microreaction system because their focus is on chemistry rather than chemical engineering. The configuration of a laboratory-scale microreaction system as an initial mode connects chemistry and industrial design, therefore, it is vital to decide the final feasibility, complexity and cost of industrial microreaction system engineering. This chapter will describe four categories of microreaction systems according to physicochemical properties of chemical processes, elaborate in detail how to analyze the characteristics of chemical processes, and build integrated microreaction systems based on microreactors and conventional chemical equipment through four typical examples. Finally, a brief summary and perspectives on microreaction systems is also presented in this chapter. The content may provide some general references for the applications of microreaction technologies.