Systems and methods for synthesizing chemical products, including active pharmaceutical ingredients, are provided. Certain of the systems and methods described herein are capable of manufacturing multiple chemical products without the need to fluidically connect or disconnect unit operations when switching from one making chemical product to making another chemical product.

The invention discloses a glass lined metal micro-reactor with enhanced heat transfer efficiency in continuous flow operation. More particularly, the invention discloses a glass lined micro-reactor that can be reassembled. The invention provides a novel glass lined metal micro-reactor with micro fluidic channels that provide a better mixing, better heat exchange, and better temperature control. The micro fluidic channels machined in the glass lined metal reactor/mixer may be straight, curved, lamellar, flower shaped, or spiral such that the cross sectional area of the micro fluidic channel is configured to suit the cross sectional area of the micro-reactor.

A reactor containing a heat exchanger is disclosed, which can be operated with co-current or counter-current flow. Also disclosed is a system that includes a reactor having a reformer and a vaporizer, a fuel supply, and a water supply. The reactor includes a source of combustion gas, a reformer operative to receive reformate, and a vaporizer operative to receive water. The reformer and vaporizer each include a stack assembly formed by a combination of separator shims and channel shims. The separator shims and channel shims are stacked in a regular pattern to form two sets of channels within the stack assembly. One set of channels will have vertical passageways at either end and a horizontal flowpath between them, while the other set of channels has only a horizontal flowpath.

The invention provides methods of making laminated devices (especially microchannel devices) in which plates are assembled and welded together. Unlike conventional microchannel devices, the inventive laminated devices can be made without brazing or diffusion bonding; thus providing significant advantages for manufacturing. Features such as expansion joints and external welded supports are also described. Laminated devices and methods of conducting unit operations in laminated devices are also described.

Disclosed are a heat exchange reactor and a method of manufacturing the same, and a method of manufacturing a heat exchange reactor includes: preparing lateral plates provided with a plurality of slits formed in parallel in a longitudinal direction; disposing two lateral plates to be spaced apart from each other while facing each other in a vertical direction; forming a plurality of flow path channels by inserting flow path partition plates into one or more slits of the two lateral plates in a horizontal direction; forming a plurality of flow path channels by inserting printed circuit heat exchange plates, which autonomously include one or more heat exchange flow paths therein, into one or more slits of the two lateral plates in a horizontal direction; and bonding the lateral plates, the flow path partition plates, and the printed circuit heat exchange plates.

According to some aspects, described herein is an automated droplet-based reactor that utilizes oscillatory motion of a droplet in a tubular reactor under inert atmosphere. In some cases, such a reactor may address current shortcomings of continuous multi-phase flow platforms.

This invention relates to an apparatus, comprising: a plurality of plates in a stack defining at least one process layer and at least one heat exchange layer, each plate having a peripheral edge, the peripheral edge of each plate being welded to the peripheral edge of the next adjacent plate to provide a perimeter seal for the stack, the ratio of the average surface area of each of the adjacent plates to the average penetration of the weld between the adjacent plates being at least about 100 cm.sup.2/mm. The stack may be used as the core assembly for a microchannel processor. The microchannel processor may be used for conducting one or more unit operations, including chemical reactions such as SMR reactions.

A plurality of microfluidic chips are prepared in which a main chip having a minute space into which a liquid is introduced is held in a guide. These microfluidic chips are connected in a row, and the minute spaces provided in two adjacent main chips are connected by a joint chip. The joint chip is held half each by the respective guides so as to straddle the two adjacent main chips to form a portion of a flow channel including the minute spaces provided in the two main chips. The minute spaces included in the two adjacent main chips and a communication flow path built into the joint chip are connected by a main communication hole of the main chip and a joint communication hole of the joint chip to form a flow channel.