Mass Transport and Reactions in the Tube-in-Tube Reactor

The tube-in-tube reactor is a convenient method for implementing gas/liquid reactions on the microscale, in which pressurized gas permeates through a Teflon AF-2400 membrane and reacts with substrates in liquid phase. Here we present the first quantitative models for analytically and numerically computing gas and substrate concentration profiles within the tube-in-tube reactor. The model accurately predicts mass transfer performance in good agreement with experimental measurement. The scaling behavior and reaction limitations of the tube-in-tube reactor are predicted by modeling and compared with gas/liquid micro- and minireactors. The presented model yields new insights into the scalability and applicability of the tube-in-tube reactor.