3D-CAT was awarded a subsidy of Euro 19.920 from the Province of Noord Holland under the MIT program to investigate the feasibility of designing and producing tailor-made lab-reactors.
In many university laboratories (particularly chemistry and chemical technology departments, but also pharmaceuticals, for example), knowledge institutions and research laboratories of companies (particularly chemical industry and refineries, but also pharmaceutical industry, for example) worldwide work is done with reactor set-ups to control the course of chemical/physical processes a) analyze it in detail and b) improve it (eg in terms of efficiency and effectiveness).
Traditionally, the reactors in these setups have often been made of glass or precious quartz (because you can then see what is happening in the reactor), or made of steel (so that you can test at higher operating pressures). Glass/quartz is not always resistant to attack by the chemicals present in the reactor and steel can not only be affected but also disrupt chemical processes because it can react as a catalyst. Furthermore, standard lab reactors often lack essential facilities (e.g. correct locations for thermocouples to measure temperature at several locations, or a built-in mixing device for the reactants), or do not have the desired dimensions (volume, diameter, height), or are cumbersome to open and close.
Within this feasibility project, 3D-cat therefore aims to map out the technical and economic possibilities and risks of 3D-printed ceramic lab reactors that can be produced in a tailor-made manner, which, due to the use of ceramic material, are both more resistant to chemicals used and which maintain the integrity of chemical maintain processes within the reactor.