Multiphase monolith reactors: Chemical reaction engineering of segmented flow in microchannels

The use of segmented flow in capillaries, also known as Taylor flow, for reaction engineering purposes has soared in recent years. On the one hand, Taylor flow has been used in honeycomb monolith catalyst supports. On the other hand, Taylor flow is the common flow pattern in multiphase microchannel reactors. This contribution reviews the fluid mechanical aspects of this flow pattern in quite general terms, with an emphasis on the underlying principles. From very simple analysis, design estimates for mass transfer, pressure drop and residence time distribution may be obtained with relative ease and—for multiphase reactors—surprising accuracy.