Design for Optimum Selectivity in Simultaneous Reactions

Comparison of plug flow and perfectly mixed flow reactor volumes. 

In many cases the reactor volume is not the main factor in the choice of the reactor type. Most reactions of industrial importance are actually complex and the selectivity is far more important than the reactor size. Therefore, it is important that a judicious choice of reactor type permits one to influence the selectivity, which may depend on the concentration levels and, therefore, on the degree of mixing in the reactor. This is discussed in the next section. 

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