Researchers from the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia) used customized microreactors from Micronit for the study of steroid extraction in microchannels.

The article was published in RSC's Lab-on-a-Chip on 8th June 2007. The abstract can be found below.

Steroid extraction in a microchannel system - mathematical modelling and experiments

Polona Znidarsic-Plazl and Igor Plazl
Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia (2007)
Lab-on-a-Chip, 2007, 7, 883-889

The continuous ethyl acetate extraction of progesterone and 11a-hydroxyprogesterone, a reactant and the product of the biotransformation step involved in corticosteroid production, was studied in a microchannel at different flow velocities. In addition, non-steady state batch extraction without mixing was performed and modelled in order to verify the theoretically predicted parameters. In order to analyze experimental data and to forecast microreactor performance, a three-dimensional mathematical model with convection and diffusion terms was developed considering the velocity profile for laminar flow of two parallel phases in a microchannel at steady-state conditions. For the numerical solution of a complex equation system, non-equidistant finite differences were used. Very good agreement between model calculations and experimental data was achieved without any fitting procedure. Due to the efficient phase separation and high extraction yields obtained, the micro scale extraction units were found to be a promising tool for the development of an integrated system of 11a-hydroxylation of progesterone by Rhizopus nigricans in the form of pellets.