Nov 20 2006
In collaboration with the Heterogenous Catalysis Group of the Department of Applied Chemistry at the University of the Basque Country, the Institute of Materials Sciences of the University of Seville and the Chemical Reactors Group at the Public University of Navarre, TEKNIKER has recently agreed to supply the giant Brazilian oil tanker, Petrobras, with catalytic microreactors.
Microreactors devices are for use withchemical reactions where the ducts have a diameter less than 1 mm (submillimetric range).
A microreactor is basically made up hierarchically applied microstructures. The set of microcanals that are manufactured together are known as an element which, when conecction lines for fluids and a support are added, forms a unit. Units are grouped together in battery which, with the casing and connections, makes up a complete microreactor device. Finally, the interconnection of several devices, in parallel or in series, forms a whole plant or installation.
Microreactors have a series of advantages compared to conventional reactors, fundamentally related to the reduction of linear dimensions, the increase in the surface/volume ratio, and the reduction in the total volume they occupy. Precisely for these following qualities, microreactors are of increasingly great interest because they have:
- Faster transference of research results to production.
- Faster launching of production at lower costs.
- Easier escalation in production.
- A smaller plant size.
- Lower costs of materials, transport and energy.
- A greater flexibility to market demands.
The manufacture of a catalytic microreactor consists of various stages, concluding with the deposition of active agents (catalysers) onto the microcanals. TEKNIKER’s specific tasks in this recently-launched project are:
- To contribute to the design of microcanals.
- To micromachine the canals by means of micromilling and/or microelectroerosion.
- To weld microstructures together with the required water-tightness while maintaining the shape and structure of the microcanals.
- To make surfaces work, facilitating their catalytic capacity, by means of laser.
The most difficult task for TEKNIKER within this project is the welding of microstructures. It is necessary to develop adhesive techniques for welding metals and that are compatible with the performances required.
This project, with the guarantee of a large enterprise, a world leader in “off-shore” technologies at great depths (for the extraction of petroleum at the bottom of the ocean), is the continuation of a previous line of research that proved successful in the sphere of manufacture of heat microinterchangers, applied to the needs of devices for use in outer space and where efficient thermal evacuation is critical.