Author(s): Caleb Jenkins, Joseph Tuft
Mentor(s): Brian Jensen, Anton Bowden
Institution BYU
Access to affordable chemical equipment, such as drip reactors, for educational and small-scale research applications is quite limited. Drip reactors are essential scientific instruments that create a controllable flow or drip of liquid onto a sample plate. The applications for our research involve dripping nutrients onto bacteria coated carbon infiltrated carbon nanotubes (CICNT) in order to simulate bacterial growth on CICNT in the human body. Commercially available drip reactors range from thousands to tens of thousands of dollars. Previous research on low cost drip reactors is limited and designs often sacrifice the precise and robust qualities required for research purposes. This research presents the development and optimization of an affordable, small-scale drip reactor designed to make research using such equipment more affordable. The design accommodates the testing of multiple samples simultaneously and features gravity driven flow action with precise, controllable flow rates and a modular, easily alterable setup. Other key features of the design include a transparent reservoir and reaction chamber for monitoring the processes, durable materials designed to withstand sterilization in an autoclave, and a versatile setup allowing for both batch and continuous flow processes. All components of the drip reactor can be easily purchased online or from typical medical supply and hardware stores. The design is low-cost while still maintaining precision and reliability, making it ideal for small scale research applications. With this design we aim to support other researchers by expanding their capacity to test samples and providing them access to affordable alternatives to commercially available drip reactors.