Recently, Beijing PerfectLight Technology Co., Ltd. has successfully developed the first multi-functional reaction device capable of independent and synergistic coupling of light, heat, and microwave — the Rapid-Heating Multi-Field Fixed-Bed Reactor. The fixed-bed reactor in this device breaks through the spatial structure coupling difficulties caused by different propagation characteristics of various energy forms. With its outstanding design concept and performance, it provides a brand-new tool for basic research and process development of multi-field coupled catalysis, and has obtained an invention patent.
Traditional catalytic reaction devices are often limited to the superposition of a single or two energy fields. Especially under multi-field coupling conditions, due to the different characteristics of various energy forms, the design at the catalytic reaction interface is often a mechanical and inefficient superposition, leading to trade-offs. On one hand, the power ratio of different energy sources reaching the reaction site is severely imbalanced; in particular, the energy of light irradiation (energy of effective wavelength) that plays a role is often much lower than the required matching thermal power. On the other hand, it is impossible to finely explore the synergy mechanism between various energy fields. PerfectLight's Rapid-Heating Multi-Field Fixed-Bed Reactor breaks this situation:
•Independent Control: The light field, thermal field, and microwave field can be independently turned on, turned off, and precisely regulated.
•Flexible Combination: Researchers can freely combine three energy fields — "light-heat", "microwave-heat", "light-microwave", and even "light-heat-microwave" — according to experimental needs, realizing seamless switching from dual-field synergy to three-field linkage.
• In particular, this device adopts flexibly replaceable LED light sources for the first time in the fixed-bed reaction system, instead of the xenon light sources that are almost 100% used in traditional solutions. This enables the key parameter of light wavelength to be decoupled in the photothermal fixed-bed reaction, making the activation of gas substrates more selective and precise.
This provides a brand-new and ideal platform for exploring many cutting-edge research directions such as "photoactivation + thermal catalysis", "microwave activation + thermal catalysis", and "light-plasmon effect".
The outstanding performance of the Rapid-Heating Multi-Field Fixed-Bed Reactor stems from important innovations in its multiple core technologies:
No.1 Patented Reactor Design, Perfect Unity of Light Efficiency and Thermal Efficiency
• It adopts a unique transparent pressure-resistant quartz tube reactor. Three rows of high-power LED light sources distributed at 120° are shaped into rectangular light spots through optical lenses from the outer side of the cylindrical surface, uniformly irradiating the surface of the catalyst carrier.
• The innovative "three-sided irradiation stitching" technology is like putting a seamless "light energy coat" on the catalyst surface. It solves the pain points of traditional furnace-opening light reactors, such as uneven light irradiation and large energy loss (especially that a large number of catalysts cannot receive sufficient light), and realizes an order-of-magnitude improvement in light energy utilization and irradiation uniformity.
•Actual measurement proves: With only LED light sources with a total power of several hundred watts turned on and no electric heating activated, the catalyst surface can be quickly heated to 500°C by virtue of LED light energy alone, realizing the instant activation of the "photothermal effect". The appropriate redundancy of light energy is precisely an important requirement for energy structure matching in photothermal catalysis.
No.2 Embedded Joule Heating, Realizing Ultra-Fast Programmed Temperature Rise
• The core of the reactor integrates porous conductive carriers (such as silicon carbide, titanium alloy), introducing the concept of high-efficiency Joule heating into the fixed bed.
• Compared with the traditional external heating method of muffle furnaces, this design realizes direct and uniform heating from the inside out. Its temperature rise rate is far higher than that of traditional devices, which can reach the target reaction temperature in minutes, greatly improving experimental efficiency and reducing the interference of thermal background effects during the heating process.
No.3 Vacuum Insulation and Microwave Shielding, Ensuring Low Power Consumption, Pure Energy Field and High Efficiency
• Outside the pressure-resistant quartz tube, a high-vacuum jacket cavity and an infrared reflector are designed. On one hand, it effectively prevents heat conduction dissipation of the internal reaction tube and improves thermal efficiency; on the other hand, the vacuum cavity provides an excellent channel for the penetration of the light field, and the design of the reflector does not affect the transmission of light energy.
• The lower end of the reactor is precisely equipped with 4 needle-shaped microwave feed sources to ensure efficient and uniform injection of microwave energy into the reaction system. The microwave shielding net covered outside the vacuum sleeve strictly restricts the microwave field, prevents energy leakage, and ensures the safety of experimental personnel and the independence of the field.
Application Site at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University
Multi-field coupled catalysis is one of the important directions in the development of catalytic science today. This three-field coupled reaction device developed by PerfectLight Technology is an "exclusive tool" tailored for this cutting-edge field.
•For "photothermal catalysis" research: The device can clearly distinguish the contributions of pure photocatalysis, pure thermal catalysis, and photothermal synergistic catalysis, and accurately reveal how "photogenerated carriers, photoactivation" and "thermal phonons" jointly reduce the reaction energy barrier.
•For "microwave thermal catalysis" research: Researchers can use the volume heating and selective heating characteristics of microwave, combined with the device's rapid temperature measurement capability, to explore the regulation mechanism of microwave on reaction processes and paths, and promote the development of efficient green synthesis and waste conversion processes.
•For "three-field linkage" exploration: It is even possible to boldly try to superimpose the directional activation of polar molecules or specific chemical bonds by the microwave field on the electron state excited by light, while using Joule heat to maintain the optimal catalytic reaction temperature. This is expected to discover brand-new catalytic phenomena and paths in "tough" reactions such as methane dry reforming and high-value utilization of CO₂.
PerfectLight's newly launched Rapid-Heating Multi-Field Fixed-Bed Reactor, with its characteristics of precision, flexibility, high efficiency, rapidity, and energy saving, will strongly promote original innovation and technological breakthroughs in fields such as catalytic science, energy chemical engineering, environmental governance, and fine synthesis.
