title: Microfluidic distillation chip for methanol concentration detection.
abstract: An integrated microfluidic distillation system is proposed for separating a mixed ethanol-methanol-water solution into its constituent components. The microfluidic chip is fabricated using a CO2 laser system and comprises a serpentine channel, a boiling zone, a heating zone, and a cooled collection chamber filled with de-ionized (DI) water. In the proposed device, the ethanol-methanol-water solution is injected into the microfluidic chip and driven through the serpentine channel and into the collection chamber by means of a nitrogen carrier gas. Following the distillation process, the ethanol-methanol vapor flows into the collection chamber and condenses into the DI water. The resulting solution is removed from the collection tank and reacted with a mixed indicator. Finally, the methanol concentration is inversely derived from the absorbance measurements obtained using a spectrophotometer. The experimental results show the proposed microfluidic system achieves an average methanol distillation efficiency of 97%. The practicality of the proposed device is demonstrated by detecting the methanol concentrations of two commercial fruit wines. It is shown that the measured concentration values deviate by no more than 3% from those obtained using a conventional bench top system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Vehicle Engineering, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung 912, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yao-Nan
authors.initials: YN
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung 912, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chan-Chiung
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering Science, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ruey-Jen
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering Science, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wei-Jhong
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Ju
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Materials Engineering, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung 912, Taiwan; Department of Biomechatronics Engineering, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung 912, Taiwan. Electronic address: loudyfu@mail.npust.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Lung-Ming
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Fu
mesh_terms: D056656:Lab-On-A-Chip Devices; D057230:Limit of Detection; D000432:Methanol / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000432:Methanol
keywords: Distillation; Ethanol; Methanol; Microfluidic