Catalytic Reaction and Reactor Engineering

Catalytic reaction and reactor engineering is a scientific discipline, which bridges the gap between the fundamentals of catalysis and its application in industrial processes [1]. Fig. 1 shows the interaction between these different disciplines. Starting from insight in reaction mechanisms provided by catalytic chemists and surface scientists, rate equations are developed which allow a quantitative description of the effects of the reaction conditions on reaction rates and on selectivities for desired products. Knowledge of these intrinsic reaction kinetics, i.e. those determined solely by chemical events, is the basis of catalytic reactor engineering. Another, intimately related, area is the study of the interactions between physical transport and chemical reaction. Such interactions can have pronounced effects on the rates and selectivities obtained in industrial reactors. They have to be accounted for explicitly when scaling up from laboratory to industrial dimensions.