Intensifying Multiphase Reactions and Reactors: Strategies and Examples

Abstract

Intensification is intrinsic to better chemical and process engineering and has always been used in practice. Multiphase reactions and reactors are ubiquitous in chemical and allied industries and are of great economic and ecological importance. There is a great scope for intensifying multiphase reactions and reactors for realizing productivity enhancements, which are crucial for sustainable manufacturing. These enhancements can be in terms of increased throughput; better yield, conversion, and selectivity; smaller environmental footprint; and intrinsically safer operations. The advances in intensified reactors, especially microreactors and microfluidic devices, have created significant awareness about intensification in recent decades. In this article, we discuss different strategies for intensifying multiphase reactions and reactors based on the published information. A variety of tools and examples are presented to showcase the potential of intensification. We have found the efforts toward intensification of multiphase reactions and reactors very rewarding academically as well as professionally. We hope that this article will further stimulate interest in this area and pave the way toward realizing next generation productivity for chemical and allied industries.