(129b) Optical and Electrochemical Residence Time Characterization of Ltcc-Flow-through Microreactors

A modular microreactor system for reactions at elevated temperature and pressure was developed using the technology of low-temperature cofired ceramics (LTCC). The technology allows the integration of heating elements as well as electrochemical transducers. A set of microelectrode pairs was applied for the determination of the residence time behavior of different parts of the microreactor system. These electrochemical residence time measurments were compared with optical measurements using external optical sensors in the inlet and outlet channel (fig. a). The measurements reflect the strong differences in the gloabl and local residence times (fig. b).

Fig. Measurement of residence time behavior of a modular LTCC microreactor system: a) electrochemical and optical signals, b) residence time distribution for parts of the reactor system (detected amperometrimically) and the whole system (detected optically)