Software-guided microscale flow calorimeter for efficient acquisition of thermokinetic data

Abstract

Fast chemical process development is inevitably linked to an optimized determination of thermokinetic data of chemical reactions. A miniaturized flow calorimeter enables increased sensitivity when examining small amounts of reactants in a short time compared to traditional batch equipment. Therefore, a methodology to determine optimal reaction conditions for calorimetric measurement experiments was developed and is presented in this contribution. Within the methodology, short-cut calculations are supplemented by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations for a better representation of the hydrodynamics within the microreactor. This approach leads to the effective design of experiments. Unfavourable experimental conditions for kinetics experiments are determined in advance and therefore, need not to be considered during design of experiments. The methodology is tested for an instantaneous acid-base reaction. Good agreement of simulations was obtained with experimental data. Thus, the prediction of the hydrodynamics is enabled and the first steps towards a digital twin of the calorimeter are performed. The flow rates proposed by the methodology are tested for the determination of reaction enthalpy and showed that reasonable experimental settings resulted.