Thermographic Investigations of a Microstructured Thin Film Reactor for Gas/Liquid Contacting

A new microstructured thin film reactor that allows for thermographic imaging of the reaction through the thin metal foil along which the liquid flows has been studied with the exothermic absorption of CO2 into aqueous solutions of NaOH. The usefulness of the new method is demonstrated on the extreme differences in temperature obtained for reaction with dry CO2 compared to reaction with prehumidified CO2. The method is able to follow the reaction in a case where complete conversion is reached before the reactor's end, meaning that the reaction rate changes drastically from a fast beginning to zero at the end. Concentration and liquid transport coefficient profiles can be derived from the measurements obtained with this method. The information obtained indicates that this method can become a useful tool in the study of gas/liquid reactions because the measurements obtained along the length of the reactor allow for a better analysis than those obtained from an integral analysis of the reactor.