| Microwave reactors are important tools in chemical synthesis, as they can lead to unprecedented reductions in reaction times and improved reaction yields. In order to scale-up the technology for greater throughput and industrial application, reactor types are moving from batch to continuous flow reactors. This research designed, built, verified and modeled a continuous flow microwave reactor. The reactor could operate under high temperature/high pressure conditions, and was connected to in-line gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, for real time sample analysis.;Specifically, a pressure device was developed to enable the reactor to run under high pressure conditions (less than 1100 psi) without the use of a conventional back-pressure device. The reactor design was verified using two chemical reactions, and an in-line analytic apparatus was developed to assess the potential for reactor operation with in-line GC/MS. Additionally, a computational fluid dynamic model was developed to better understand the heat and mass transfer inside the reactor. |
