Engineering reactors for catalytic reactions

Abstract

Catalytic reactions are ubiquitous in chemical and allied industries. A homogeneous or heterogeneous catalyst which provides an alternative route of reaction with lower activation energy and better control on selectivity can make substantial impact to process viability and economics. Extensive studies have been conducted to establish sound basis for design and engineering of reactors for practising such catalytic reactions and for realizing improvements in reactor performance. In this article, application of recent (and not so recent) developments in engineering reactors for catalytic reactions is discussed. Some examples where performance enhancement was realized by catalyst design, appropriate choice of reactor, better injection and dispersion strategies and recent advances in process intensification/ multifunctional reactors are discussed to illustrate the approach. Catalytic reactions are ubiquitous in chemical and allied industries. Some aspects of engineering of catalytic reactors (which include evolving best possible hardware and operating protocol for transformation of raw materials into value added products) are discussed here along with some real life examples of performance enhancement.