(436g) Commercial 3D Printed Microreactor for Chemical Analysis

Gas chromatography is a popular technique for determining the composition of chemicals in feed and effluent streams. Yet, this technique still requires the painstaking calibration of individual organic compounds due to the compound-specific response of the detectors used for analysis, including flame ionization detection (FID), mass spectrometry (MS) and thermal conductivity detection (TCD). In this talk, we present a new paradigm for the analysis of compounds using a chemical reactor that converts organic analytes to methane after their chromatographic separation. The microreactor technology is made possible by metal additive manufacturing, and when paired with an FID, yields the world’s first and only equimolar carbon detector. Here, we present the design and theory behind the Polyarc^® reactor, and discuss how an equimolar carbon response improves analysis accuracy, speed and capabilities, especially in the context of high throughput analysis and renewable fuel research. As the first commercial 3D printed metal microreactor, the Polyarc reactor is also an exciting case study on the future of reactor engineering and design using additive manufacturing.