Optimal design for split-and-recombine-type flow distributors of microreactors based on blockage detection

In order to increase the productivity of microreactors, the parallelization of the microreactors is required. The performances of flowdistributors can affect the product yield and fault detection abilitywhen blockage happens. In this research, an optimal design method to calculate the channel diameters and to determine the flow sensor location is derived based on mass balance and pressure balancemodels of split-and-recombine-type flow distributors (SRFDs). The model accuracy is verified by experiment data. The proposed method is applied to optimal design of SRFDs under constant flowrate operation conditions. The maximumangle difference between normal and blockage conditions at one sensor to those at the other sensors is set to be the objective function and the uniformity of flow distribution in microreactors under normal condition is also required. The diameters of each pipe in SRFDs are selected as the design variables. Simulated annealing algorithmis used to solve the optimization problem. The effectiveness of the optimal design results is demonstrated by fluid dynamics simulations. The results show that using the optimal channel diameters of SRFDs, the pressure drop in SRFD section is lower than that of the microreactor section. Meanwhile, in the case studies, only a few sensors that are located inside the SRFDs can easily detect the blockage abnormal condition in the parallelized microreactor system.