KU Leuven researchers use sound waves to prevent small chemical reactors from clogging up
(WorldNews Belgium)

The chemical industry conventionally produces in large batches, but this approach has drawbacks. From an environmental point of view, it uses a lot of energy and produces large volumes of waste solvent when the reactors are cleaned. Then there is the cost and inconvenience of storing the chemicals produced until they are needed, or transporting them to where they will be used. Smaller reactors that produce a continuous flow of the desired chemical product, when and where it is needed, are seen as a much smarter solution. But these miniature reactors, with internal volumes from a couple of microlitres to a...