Continuous Reactor

Continuous Reactor

Continuous reactors (alternatively referred to as flow reactors) carry material as a flowing stream. Reactants are continuously fed into the reactor and emerge as continuous stream of product. Continuous reactors are used for a wide variety of chemical and biological processes within the food, chemical and pharmaceutical industries. A survey of the continuous reactor market will throw up a daunting variety of shapes and types of machine. Beneath this variation however lies a relatively small number of key design features which determine the capabilities of the reactor. When classifying continuous reactors, it can be more helpful to look at these design features rather than the whole system.

As with any type of process equipment, the purpose of classification is to ensure that the best tool is used for the job. It is therefore important to recognise that continuous reactors are part of a larger equipment group which also includes batch reactors. The merits of batch reactors should therefore not be ignored when looking for the optimum solution to a process problem. For this reason, the subject is introduced with a brief summary of the merits of both batch and continuous reactors.