Page 177 - CW E-Magazine (12-3-2024)

Special Report

Chemical reaction engineering and its role in the

transformation of industries

he transformation of the chemi- consider reaction technology: it deter- sign based on a fundamental under-
cal and pharmaceutical industry mines the reaction conditions, regulates standing of reactors and reactions;
Tis taking place in the industry’s what takes place where and when, Process diagnostics based on models,

reactors, fermenters and plants. Innova- ensures energy efficiency, and influences operando investigations and pro-
tion is therefore in demand. Chemical product properties. cess data; and
reaction engineering lies at the inter- Electrification of chemical con-
face between chemistry and process According to experts, three trends version processes and large-scale
engineering. Anyone talking about are currently making themselves parti- implementation of electrochemical
scaling up processes, electrification, or cularly felt in reaction technology: and chemical energy storage.
the use of hydrogen must automatically Integrated product and process de-
New diagnostic methods, a better
understanding of processes and the
customised production of reactors and
components, for example with the help
of 3D printing, make it possible to
provide new equipment that meets the
requirements arising from innovative
processes.

Increasingly, the most seamless
possible path from the initial idea to
the laboratory reactor to the large-
scale process is being sought in order
to avoid bottlenecks during scale-
up and quickly bring new processes
into application. Various diagnostic and
modelling methods help here. Even on a
AdobeStock/179268256/Ivan Traimak laboratory scale, the reactors are exten-
sively instrumented so that precise
control over reaction conditions such as
temperature, partial pressures, through-
put times, etc. is possible. In addition,
easily configurable process control
systems are available to automatically
operate today’s often parallelized reac-
tor systems over extended periods of
time. Automatic data acquisition and
processing facilitates the interpreta-
tion of experimental results and forms
the basis for the continuous scaling of
processes.

The more precisely stoichiometry,
thermodynamics, kinetics, transport
phenomena and relevant safety data
From laboratory to industrial process are known, the better the performance
AdobeStock/408311903/Sergey Ryzhov in the process in industrial scale can

Chemical Weekly March 12, 2024 177

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