3D printing as chemical reaction engineering booster

Abstract

Abstract 3D printing or additive manufacturing (AM) is a fast expanding technology with manifold possibilities regarding freedom of design and functional prototyping, which is beneficial also in the field of chemical reaction engineering. This review intends to summarize the most frequently applied 3D printing technologies in that regard, the applied printing materials and available equipment, and presents developments in the area. Polymeric materials play a dominant role due to their favorable processing and post-processing options and range of product properties. While the majority of 3D printed products are indeed made of polymeric materials, certain applications, such as heterogeneous catalyst design, require the use of ceramic materials. In chemical engineering, designed and printed objects are successfully applied in form of lab-scale reaction ware, operation units for scale-up approaches as well as to the optimization of reactors and reaction protocols. Significant progress has been made e.g. by coupling chemical functionality with 3D printing, designing smart reactors and exploiting synergetic effects of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and AM. Current research has demonstrated that developments in chemical engineering can be expanded into new regions as well as accelerated by the use of additive manufacturing technologies. Consequently, further applications and developments, especially involving smart materials and (simulation-assisted) innovative design of operation units and reactors can be expected for the future.