Water Gas Shift Reaction in a glass microreactor

A micro scale glass reactor was designed, fabricated and characterized with Water Gas Shift Reaction (WGSR). The fabrication procedure was quick, uncomplicated, template-free and inexpensive and did not require any special clean room facility, making it ideal for first generation prototyping. The fabricated unit was able to withstand pressure and temperature of 1.65 MPa and 260 °C respectively. An important reaction in micro scale fuel processing, namely WGSR, was carried out in this microreactor using a packed bed of 50–75 μm commercial catalyst particles at 185–250 °C. The design sizing was based on a CO flow of 0.06 mol/h. Experimental results were used to develop a kinetic model of the reaction.