Flow Chemistry System
Designing a Flow System for Sustainable Chemistry
Eden Detmer | Zaivy Gonzalez Valencia | Shravan Suresh | Nhat Tang
Sponsored by: Professor Haim Weizman
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering | Jacobs School of Engineering| University of California, San Diego
Flow chemistry experiment with blue food coloring.
About Flow Chemistry System
Flow chemistry was invented in order to modernize and advance the practice of synthesizing chemicals. In flow chemistry reactions are conducted continuously as reagents are pumped through tubing and mix to form a product.
Flow chemistry makes producing chemicals efficient, safe, and environmentally friendly. However, most systems in the market today are too expensive to be used by other than professionals in well-funded labs. Affordable solutions to these expensive commercial pumps already exist with do-it-yourself (DIY) syringe pump systems, but a majority of these systems do not have a dedicated user interface to allow one to easily control it. Another problem with these systems is that some have no way of refilling a syringe once it has been emptied. Overall, existing DIY syringe pump design solutions are underdeveloped.
Objectives
Our team seeks to improve upon the existing DIY syringe pump design solution created by the Croatt Research Group. These improvements will make the system more user friendly, easy to assemble, and provide added safety. This is done by doing the following:
- Implementing an intuitive user interface to control the system
- Designing a modular syringe holder to hold syringes of various sizes
- Providing a way to refill the syringes automatically
- Enhancing the resistance to corrosion of the system's key components
Another project objective is to document the entire process for building the new design so that our team's DIY system can be easily replicated by anyone interested in doing so. Therefore, a user manual containing all the relevant information, from how to assemble the system to how control it with the new graphical user interface, was created.
Syringe Pump System: Lead Screw Mechanism
Final Design
The final design of the system makes significant improvements on the existing design solutions by implementing the following components:
A Nextion graphical user interface, to make controlling every aspect of the syringe pump system user friendly.
A servo motor refill mechanism, which automatically refills the syringes and makes the pump safer to operate.
A modular syringe holder, to eliminate the need to switch syringe holders for different syringe sizes.
A corrosion resistant threaded rod, to prevent corrosive chemicals from corroding the threaded rod and impacting performance of the system.
Summary of Results
The system exhibits below 10% error in the flow rate when operated below its maximum limits. Additionally, the stoichiometric ratios between two pumps track closely with the desired ratio, exhibiting less than 6% error. The system can be operated for extended periods of time to complete reactions requiring volumes of product.