Microstructured heat evacuation

Most of the reported microstructured gas-liquid-solid reactors concern catalytic hydrogenations (Table 8.2). This is because hydrogenation reactions represent about 20% of all the reaction steps in a typical fine chemical synthesis. Catalytic hydrogenations are fast and highly exothermic reactions. Consequently, reactor performance and product selectivity are strongly influenced by mass transfer, and heat evacuation is an important issue. Both problems may be overcome using microstructured devices. 

In microstructured tubular reactors, the heat is generally evacuated or supphed by maintaining constant temperature of the cooling medium (T ). The heat transfer performance of the system depends on the overall heat transfer coefficient U) and exchange surface (A). 

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