Digital image processing of gas-liquid reactions in coiled capillaries

Abstract

In the course of the investigation of biocatalytic gas-liquid reactions with color change in straight and coiled capillaries, a non-invasive evaluation method is needed to determine reaction progress and selectivity. Correlations between hydrodynamics, mass transfer phenomena, and reaction kinetics are in the focus of our work. For this purpose, it is necessary to investigate the flow and evaluate the reaction progress without disturbing the flow. Digital image processing (DIP) is presented as a suitable optical evaluation method for reactions with color change in capillary reactor designs. The developed DIP program is independent from the capillary reactor design, applicable to differently colored systems, and can analyze up to three different species simultaneously.