Microreactors to produce explosive materials

May 30, 2012


Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology ICT in Pfinztal have developed a method for safer production of nitroglycerine: a microreactor process, tailored to this specific reaction. What makes the process safer are the tiny quantities involved. If the quantities are smaller, less heat is generated. And because the surface is very expansive compared to the volume involved, the system is very easy to cool. Another benefit: the tiny reactor produces the explosive material considerably faster than in agitating vessels. Unlike a large agitating vessel filled before the slow reaction proceeds, the microreactor works continuously: the base materials flow through tiny channels into the reaction chamber in "assembly-line fashion". There, they react with one another for several seconds before flowing through other channels into a second microreactor for processing - meaning purification. This is because the interim product still contains impurities that need to be removed for safety reasons. Purification in the microreactor functions perfectly: the product produced meets pharmaceutical specifications and in a modified form can even be used in nitro capsules for patients with heart disease. "This marks the first use of microreactors in a process not only for synthesis of a material but also for its subsequent processing," observes Dr. Stefan Löbbecke, deputy division director at ICT. The microreactor process is already successfully in use in industry.


While microreactors suggest themselves for explosive materials, this is not the only conceivable application: researchers at ICT build reactors for every chemical reaction conceivable - and each is tailored to the particular reaction involved. Just one of numerous other examples is a microreactor that produces polymers for OLEDs. OLEDs are organic light-emitting diodes that are particularly common in displays and monitors. The polymers of which the OLEDs are made light up in colors. Still, when they are produced - synthesized - imperfections easily arise that rob the polymers of some of their luminosity. "Through precise process management, we are able to minimize the number of these imperfections," Löbbecke points out. To accomplish this, researchers first analyzed the reaction in minute detail: When do the polymers form? When do the imperfections arise? How fast does the process need to be? "As it turns out, many of the reaction protocol that people are familiar with from batch processes are unnecessary. Often, the base materials don't need to boil for hours at a time; in many cases all it takes is a few seconds," the researcher has found. Long periods spent boiling can cause the products to decompose or generate unwanted byproducts.



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