A sensitivity analysis of a numbered-up photomicroreactor system

Abstract

Limitations with regard to the scalability of photochemical reactions can be efficiently overcome by using numbered-up microreactor technology. Here, the robustness of such a numbered-up capillary photomicroreactor system is tested when subjected to potential disturbances, such as channel blockage and light source failure. Channel blockage leads to relatively large changes in both flow distribution and yield. However, we found that the performance can be accurately predicted thus making it possible to adjust the reaction parameters to obtain certain output targets. Light source failure did not lead to large variations in the mass flow distribution, highlighting the importance of the flow distributor section. Since the reaction is photocatalyzed, the impact on the reaction yield was significant in the reactor where the light failure occurred.