Development of a low-cost, low-volume alternative for purification fraction collection

An essential aspect of chemical research is the ability to accurately and repeatably isolate and extract different compounds from a chemical mixture. In a lab setting, this process is often automated via benchtop devices that can breakdown a sample mixture and collect the individual compounds. However, these systems are often large, expensive, and difficult to customize. This research sets out to design, build, and test a small, low-cost system that can be deployed in a variety of lab settings as an alternative to a larger industrial system. This research focuses on the chemical process of separation and fraction collection, as well as the mechanical and computational development of the prototype system. Through trial experimentation, it was found that the prototype system performs comparatively to commercial platforms, and offers unique benefits such as reduced size, an accessible design, and ease of customization.

Name thesis:degree_name

Bachelor

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Piotti, John(John S.)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• John Hart.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/123271

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/123271