Design and Scaling Up of Microchemical Systems: A Review

The past two decades have witnessed a rapid development of microreactors. A substantial number of reactions have been tested in microchemical systems, revealing the advantages of controlled residence time, enhanced transport efficiency, high product yield, and inherent safety. This review defines the microchemical system and describes its components and applications as well as the basic structures of micromixers. We focus on mixing, flow dynamics, and mass and heat transfer in microreactors along with three strategies for scaling up microreactors: parallel numbering-up, consecutive numbering-up, and scale-out. We also propose a possible methodology to design microchemical systems. Finally, we provide a summary and future prospects.