Modular micro-mixers for nanoparticles and nano-emulsion synthesis

Confined Impinging Jets mixers (CIJs) are highly efficient mixers. The design is inspired from a simple T mixer which is generally used to drive two opposing liquid stream at high velocity. Recently, the popularity of this mixing principle drastically increased thanks to the process develop by Pfizer to produce their mRNA vaccine to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

The solution used by Pfizer is based in impinging jet principle consisting of :

‘the impingement jet mixer, also known as the tea stirrer, works by simply pumping lipids in one side and mRNA in the other, forcing them together with 400 pounds of pressure. That's what creates the lipid nanoparticle which is essentially the vaccine.’

This mixing principle is also used for many other mixing or synthesis applications for the production of particles or emulsions at nanometer scale at a highly controlled size distribution. Depending on the type of application, very different designs can be required: optimal product parameters like particles size or sharp size distribution can be reached with optimal liquid velocities ratio.

Mecasoft and Manetco combined their micromechanics technology and know-how to design continuous mixers for the medical and pharmaceutical industry. They offer a range of standard off-the-shelf and customized continuous mixers for the most diverse microfluidics applications.

 

Our technologies allow creating mixers compatible with standard connectors (eg Swagelok), with inner diameters down to few 100 of microns and below with a very low surface roughness adapted to (bio)pharma applications. We can adapt to specific applications design: shape, inner diameter, complex inner structure and/or progressive channel reduction to avoid high pressure drop.