Flow Chemistry and Engineering with Microchemical Systems for Chemicals, Energy, Healthcare, and Sustainability

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, New York University

Flow chemistry, important to the global chemicals, energy, and healthcare segments, depends heavily on catalysis and reaction engineering. The design of microchemical systems for reactions in flow impacts a broad cross-section of societal issues. This two- part lecture will cover science and its application in chemicals and healthcare (Part I) and energy and the environment (Part II). Concepts related to fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals, organometallic C-N and C-C bond forming reactions, multi-step synthesis, novel unit operations, solids handling, and unconventional solvents will be presented in Part I. Part II will describe our recent work on integrated microsystems, high-pressure sub-cooled microsystems design, flow assurance, and reservoir engineering. Applied mathematics are essential in each area in order to derive predictive models that impact society. New research avenues in our laboratory, including methane activation catalysis and the design of microplasmatrons, will be also be highlighted.