Commercial catalytic processes are often limited by heat and/or mass transfer resistances. This explains the vast multitude of different reactor configurations found in all sectors of the chemical industry. The microreactors at PNNL are not simply scaled-down versions of conventional systems. The governing heat and mass transfer processes on the microscale are intrinsically different, and our approach to reactor design exploits these differences. By removing or limiting the resistances to heat and mass transfer, our microreactors can take full advantage of more active catalyst formulations, which yield no benefits in conventional designs. This, in turn leads to smaller, more efficient reactors with no penalties on throughput capacity.
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