# US 9,752,831 B2 · Flow distribution channels to control flow in process channels

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- Number: US 9,752,831 B2
- Document ID: US9752831B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 14/523,952
- Filed: 2014-10-27
- Published: 2015-03-12
- Granted: 2017-09-05
- Earliest claimed: 2006-04-25
- Assignees: Velocys, Inc.
- Applicants: Velocys, Inc.
- Inventors: Anna Lee Tonkovich; Ravi Arora; David Kilanowski
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US9752831B2

## CPC

- F28D 1/0316: {Assemblies of conduits in parallel (F28D1/0325, F28D1/035 take precedence)}
- B01F 23/41: Emulsifying
- B01F 25/3142: {the conduit having a plurality of openings in the axial direction or in the circumferential direction}
- B01F 25/433: Mixing tubes wherein the shape of the tube influences the mixing, e.g. mixing tubes with varying cross-section or provided with inwardly extending profiles
- B01F 25/4331: {Mixers with bended, curved, coiled, wounded mixing tubes or comprising elements for bending the flow}
- B01F 25/4338: {Mixers with a succession of converging-diverging cross-sections, i.e. undulating cross-section}
- B01F 33/30: Micromixers
- B01F 33/3017: {Mixing chamber}
- B01F 33/305: {using mixing means not otherwise provided for (B01F25/00, B01F27/00, B01F29/00, B01F31/00, B01F33/301 - B01F33/3045, B01F33/40 and B01F33/45 take precedence)}
- B01J 19/0093: {Microreactors, e.g. miniaturised or microfabricated reactors (laboratory containers with capillary fluid transport in microfabricated channels or chambers B01L3/5027)}
- F28D 1/0341: {with U-flow or serpentine-flow inside the conduits}
- F28F 1/022: {with multiple channels}
- F28F 3/04: the means being integral with the element
- F28F 9/0275: {with multiple branch pipes}
- B01J 2219/00783: Laminate assemblies, i.e. the reactor comprising a stack of plates
- B01J 2219/00835: Comprising catalytically active material
- B01J 2219/0086: Dimensions of the flow channels
- B01J 2219/00869: Microreactors placed in parallel, on the same or on different supports
- B01J 2219/00873: Heat exchange
- B01J 2219/00889: Mixing
- B01J 2219/00891: Feeding or evacuation
- F28F 2260/02: having microchannels
- Y10T 137/0318: Processes
- Y10T 137/0329: Mixing of plural fluids of diverse characteristics or conditions
- Y10T 137/6579: Circulating fluid in heat exchange relationship
- Y10T 137/85938: Non-valved flow dividers
- Y10T 137/87571: Multiple inlet with single outlet
- Y10T 137/87652: With means to promote mixing or combining of plural fluids
- F28D: HEAT-EXCHANGE APPARATUS, NOT PROVIDED FOR IN ANOTHER SUBCLASS, IN WHICH THE HEAT-EXCHANGE MEDIA DO NOT COME INTO DIRECT CONTACT (fluid heaters having heat generating means and heat transferring means F24H; furnaces F27; details of heat-exchange apparatus of general)
- B01F: MIXING, e.g. DISSOLVING, EMULSIFYING OR DISPERSING (mixing paints B44D3/06)
- B01J: CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS
- F28F: DETAILS OF HEAT-EXCHANGE AND HEAT-TRANSFER APPARATUS, OF GENERAL APPLICATION (water and air traps, air venting F16)
- Y10T: TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION

## Abstract

The invention describes features that can be used to control flow to an array of microchannels. The invention also describes methods in which a process stream is distributed to plural microchannels.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A process of combining fluids, comprising:
passing a first fluid through a process channel, wherein the process channel is a channel in an array of parallel process channels in a layer;
passing a second fluid through a FDC and into the process channel where the first and second fluids combine, where the FDC comprises a series of turns, comprising at least four turns that are 90° or less, or comprising at least two turns that are greater than 90°;
wherein the first and second fluids are different; and wherein the FDC comprises at least two turns that have different angles.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The process of claim 1 wherein the mass flow rate of the first fluid into the process channel is 5% or less than the flow rate of the second fluid in the process channel.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The process of claim 1 where the process channels are straight and wherein flow in the process channel is non-Newtonian.

### Claim 4

A process of combining fluids, comprising:
passing a first fluid through a process channel, wherein the process channel is a channel in an array of parallel process channels in a layer;
passing a second fluid through a FDC and into the process channel where the first and second fluids combine, where the FDC comprises a series of turns, comprising at least four turns that are 90° or less, or comprising at least two turns that are greater than 90°;
wherein the first and second fluids are different; and
wherein the second fluid flows through channels in a second layer that is adjacent to the layer comprising the array of parallel process channels.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4 wherein the number of process channels is 5 to 100 times greater than the number of channels through which the second fluid flows in the second layer.

### Claim 6 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4 wherein the FDC has a height in the range of 0.05 mm to 10 mm.

### Claim 7 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4 wherein the channels in the second layer through which the second fluid flows are perpendicular to the array of parallel process channels.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The method of claim 7 wherein the channels in the second layer comprise a second array of parallel channels wherein each channel is connected through a FDC to a manifold in the second layer.

### Claim 9

A process of combining fluids, comprising:
passing a first fluid through a process channel, wherein the process channel is a channel in an array of parallel process channels in a layer;
passing a second fluid through a FDC and into the process channel where the first and second fluids combine, where the FDC comprises a series of turns, comprising at least four turns that are 90° or less, or comprising at least two turns that are greater than 90°;
wherein the first and second fluids are different; and
wherein an emulsion is formed by passing the first fluid through the array of parallel process channels that have channel walls with orifices and the second fluid, which is immiscible with the first fluid, passes through the orifices into the first fluid to form an emulsion.