Multifunctional reactor with integrated

Fuel cells present another widely investigated type of multifunctional reactors, in which chemical reaction is integrated with the generation of electric power (73). Simultaneous gas-solid reaction and comminution in a multifunctional reactor has also been investigated (74). 

Multifunctional reactors. Apart from the applications exclusively in the reaction engineering field, fixed beds can also be found integrated in apparatus with separation purposes. Two major classes can be identified membrane [16, 17] and chromatographic (adsorptive) reactors [18]. In both cases, a familiar configuration involves a packed bed with a permeable, selective wall and/or packed with a catalyst/ adsorbent. The latter is found in simulated moving bed reactors [19, 20], which can be seen as an arrangement of several of these beds. The overall effect from the coexistence of reaction and separation functionalities is the increase of conversion in equilibrium-limited systems, which are shifted due to the simultaneous separation of the products. 

Several authors have shown the industrial profit in the development of chemical engineering equipment based on the integration of different functions in a single device (Taylor et al., 2000 Stankiewicz et al, 2000). Multifunctional reactors are processes that combine reaction with other operations like heat exchange or separation in order to enhance chemical conversion. Reactive distillation is certainly one of the most significant example. It presents several benefits (such as reduction of energy consumption, overcome of the limitation of the thermodynamic chemical equilibrium, limitation of side reactions, decrease of waste production) and it is applied in various... 

Current state-of-the-art technology for the production of MIBK involves one-step liquid phase processes in trickle bed reactors at 100-160°C and 1 to 10 MPa utilizing various multifunctional catalysts including Pd, Pt, Ni or Cu supported on, metal oxides, cation exchange resins, modified ZSM5 and other zeolites with lull energy integration (2,3,4). However, the MIBK... 

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