O-ring Sealing for Disassemblable Stacked Flow Reactors
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing flow reactors with ceramic or glass plates face challenges in achieving reliable and cost-effective non-permanent sealing, as direct contact sealing imposes excessive stress, leading to mechanical breakage and high compression pressures that are sensitive to variations over time, and require frequent gasket replacement.
Innovation Solution
The use of O-ring sealing with strategically positioned O-rings in grooves on the plates, allowing for individual channel sealing and reducing bypass flows, with spacers to maintain clearance and distribute compression load, enabling lower compression forces and reduced stress on the plates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If direct contact sealing between ceramic or glass plates is used, then sealing tightness is improved, but mechanical stress on plates increases leading to breakage risk
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces O-ring gaskets as intermediary sealing elements between adjacent ceramic or glass plates. These O-rings are positioned in grooves on the plates and compressed to create seals, thereby preventing direct contact between plate surfaces and eliminating the high mechanical stress that would otherwise be required to achieve tight sealing between rigid ceramic or glass surfaces.
2Reliability
If high compression pressure is applied to seal plates, then sealing reliability is improved, but sensitivity to plate deviations and aging increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the sealing mechanism from direct plate-to-plate compression to O-ring compression within grooves. This parameter change allows the sealing function to be achieved at significantly lower compression pressures, making the system much less sensitive to plate deviations, warping, and aging effects while maintaining reliable sealing.
3Device complexity
If peripheral O-ring sealing is used, then sealing is simplified, but bypass flows between channels increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the sealing function by placing individual O-rings in grooves at specific locations around each fluid channel rather than using a single peripheral seal. This segmentation allows each O-ring to independently seal its respective channel, preventing bypass flows between adjacent channels while maintaining relatively simple overall device structure.
4Reliability
If flat gaskets are used to seal ceramic plates, then sealing is achieved, but compression pressure requirements increase five times higher than fluid pressure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses O-ring gaskets as intermediary sealing elements that can be compressed within grooves at much lower pressures than would be required for flat gaskets. The O-rings deform elastically to create seals, achieving reliable sealing at compression pressures only slightly higher than the fluid pressure, rather than five times higher as would be required with flat gaskets.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution effectively prevents significant bypass flows and reduces the risk of mechanical breakage, allowing for efficient and cost-effective operation with reduced sensitivity to plate deviations and aging, while enabling the use of a single O-ring size across multiple channels and accommodating complex fluidic designs.
Implementation Method 1
O-ring gaskets, made of an elastomeric material, are placed in grooves on the plates
Implementation Method 2
a flat gasket formed of resilient or compressible material to ensure the tightness between plates
Data Source
Figure 1~3
Figure 4~7
Figure 8~10
AI summary
A plate-type flow reactor device with a first plate (20) having first and second opposing surfaces (22, 24) and one or more through-holes (26); a second plate sealed against the first surface (22) by at least two first O-rings (50); a third plate (40) sealed against the second surface (24) by at least one second O-ring (60); two or more first elongated channels (70) defined between the first surface (22) and the second plate and one or more second elongated channels (80) defined between the second surface (24) and the third plate, wherein each first channel communicates with the at least one second channel (80) via one or more of the through-holes (26) through the first plate (20), and said one first channel (70a) communicates with another first channel (70b) of the two or more first channels (70) only via said at least one second channel (80), and each first channel (70) is individually surrounded by at least one of the first O-rings (50) and the at least one second is individually surrounded by the at least one second O-ring (60).