Biotechnical Micro-Flow Processing at the EDGE – Lessons to be learnt for a Young Discipline

V. Hessel, J. Tibhe, T. Noël and Q. Wang

Abstract
EDGE denotes “Explain, Demonstrate, Guide, Enable” and comes from a concept for youth leadership development training. Biotechnical and enzymatic micro-flow reactors are a young discipline. Here the enthusiasm level mirrors its technological growth and vice versa. Rather than being a linear function, enthusiasm first goes down after sudden realization of all bottlenecks and technological shortcomings which are to overcome in a Hercules task action. However, with increasing provision of technology and security in its performance, the enthusiasm level rises again. This “valley of death” needs to be crossed to bridge to a market. The enzymatic micro-flow reactors mirror the above depicted development of their counterparts – the chemical microreactors – which is already about 20 years old. This “Déjà vu” forms a feature story which encompasses a review about enzymatic microreactors and their synthetic applications which are shown in all their facets. This compilation is structured in chapters about reactor and enzyme support technology, transport intensification, chemical intensification, process-design intensification, and finally first steps into the bio-based economy.

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Keywords
microreactors, enzymes, enzymatic microreactors, chemical intensification, process-design intensification