Process Intensification by Miniaturization

The progress of basic research in chemical engineering has led to a better understanding of elementary phenomena, and it is now possible to imagine new operating modes of equipment or design novel equipment based on scientific principles. Process intensification refers to complex technologies that replace large, expensive, energy‐intensive equipment or processes with smaller, less costly, more efficient plants, or plants that combine multiple operations into a single apparatus or into fewer devices. Process intensification refers to complex technologies that replace large, expensive, energy‐intensive equipment or processes with smaller, less costly, more efficient plants, or plants that combine multiple operations into a single apparatus or into fewer devices. Several new and widely applied technologies being developed for process intensification and the limits that must be overcome are reviewed in this paper.