Abstract
An evaporator unit for use in microreactor systems was constructed. The unit consisted of a micropump driven by piezoelectricity and a microevaporator heated electrically by means of a Pt wire. The micropump was comprised of two tightly bonded plates; a silicon (100) plate having three diaphragms and a glass plate having valve and pump chambers. These flow conduits were patterned by photolithography and formed by wet-etching. The diaphragms, as well as the valve and pump chambers, were 7 mm in diameter, and were arranged triangularly. The discharge rates of the pumps were found to be dependent on the voltage and frequency applied to the piezo discs, the actuation pattern, the backpressure at the outlet, and the liquid viscosity. The pump assembled with an epoxy adhesive showed high discharge rates, while a similar one, assembled by anodic bonding, showed high discharge pressures. The flow rate of the former pump reached 60 mL/min for water. The microevaporator channel was wet-etched on a 10 mm × 40 mm silicon wafer, and a channel for a Pt wire heater was formed on the reverse side. Both sides of the silicon plate were covered with glass plates. Benzene, when pumped to the microevaporator, was evaporated to give a vapor flow rate of 6.8 cm3/min, which is sufficiently large as a feed rate for a gas-phase catalytic microreactor.
