Transparent and Inexpensive Microfluidic Device for Two-Phase Flow Systems with High-Pressure Performance

Macedo Portela da Silva Nayane (1) , Jean‐jacques Letourneau (1) , Fabienne Espitalier (1) , Laurent Prat (2)

1 RAPSODEE - Centre de recherche d'Albi en génie des procédés des solides divisés, de l'énergie et de l'environnement
2 LGC - Laboratoire de Génie Chimique

A design strategy allowing the development of an inexpensive microdevice with a cylindrical section able to work at high pressures is established. The setup combines good optical access, high-pressure resistance, homogeneous operation conditions, fast process control and detection, and the ability to generate a stable two-phase flow. The experiments are conducted in the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate and supercritical carbon dioxide flow under isothermal conditions. The two-phase flow system is observed with a high-speed camera. An image processing procedure is performed on the films in order to determine the global two-phase flow geometrical characterizations.

Mots clés: High-pressure performance; Two-phase flow; Supercritical CO2; Ionic liquid; Microdevice; Supercritical CO 2

Domaines: Sciences de l'ingénieur [physics]

Macedo Portela da Silva Nayane, Jean‐jacques Letourneau, Fabienne Espitalier, Laurent Prat. Transparent and Inexpensive Microfluidic Device for Two-Phase Flow Systems with High-Pressure Performance. Chemical Engineering and Technology, 2014, 37 (11, SI), p. 1929-1937. ⟨10.1002/ceat.201400028⟩. ⟨hal-01611991⟩