March is being a busy month. Between 20 and 23 March 2023, James Bolton (IRIS) visited the University of Potsdam (Sebastian Zimmermann and Marvin MÞnzberg) to conduct TUS measurements in silica syntheses on a 6 L scale. During his stay, IRIS and UP teams were able to perform four syntheses (2 different recipes) with the TUS sensor inside the 6 L reactor, running additionally DLS as a reference method for the measurements. This work is aligned with Case Study 2 âSilicaâ.
For the first time, they used both PAT technologies for the same process, depending on the process phase â TUS (before gelation, i.e., low turbidity of the mixture) and PDW (after gelation, i.e., high turbidity of the mixture) â allowing them to get measurement values/data from the same synthesis batch, at different stages, for both technologies.
Some highlights of the visit:
Reaction in the 6L reactor of the University of Potsdam with the TUS device in the centre. The photos were taken at different times after the start of the reaction: At minute 8, the suspension is clear. At minute 17, the suspension is cloudier (higher turbidity) as particles have formed. For this time period TUS can provide measurements. At minute 24, the suspension is cloudy and very turbid and TUS no longer works under these conditions. PDW can be used under these high turbidity conditions of the mixture.
