From complex feedstocks to new processes: The role of the newly developed micro-reactors

New microreactors equipped with different mixing techniques and unconventional heating methods have been developed. The first microreactor is the Fluidized Bed Thermogravimetric Analyzer (FB-TGA), which is conventionally heated up to 1200 °C and can perfectly mix 5 g of complex feedstock while instantaneously measuring weight loss. The second microreactor is the induction heating fluidized bed reactor (IHFBR), which is composed of a lift tube and a reaction zone that relies on the electromagnetic irradiation heating method facilitating fast heating rates of up to 200 °C/s and operation up to 1500 °C. The lift tube helps precisely inject a mass of feedstock in less than one second to the reaction zone. To take advantage of the microwave heating technique, the Microwave Thermogravimetric Analyzer (MW-TGA-1) was developed. It measures a payload mass as low as 300 mg, and uses a custom-made infrared thermometer equipped with a set of optical filters. To overcome the drawbacks of MW-TGA-1 related to collecting products for analytical purposes, the MW-TGA-2 was built. It accepts a payload mass of a gram scale and can record the instantaneous yield of the products. The outlet of the above-mentioned reactors is connected to several analytical techniques to analyse the gas product.