Reactor

A reactor is a vessel designed to contain a chemical reaction under controlled conditions. It is the central piece of equipment in any manufacturer offering synthesis or polymerisation, and its specification largely determines what chemistry that site can undertake.

Reactors are defined by several characteristics, all of which matter when establishing whether a manufacturer can make your product. Capacity sets the batch size. The material of construction determines what chemistry the vessel will tolerate. Pressure rating determines whether reactions above atmospheric pressure are possible. And the heating and cooling arrangement - usually a jacket - determines how much thermal energy can be added or removed, and how quickly.

That last capability is the one that constrains difficult chemistry. A reaction generating heat must have that heat removed at least as fast as it is produced, so cooling capacity often sets the practical limit on how quickly a batch can be run - see exothermic reaction.

Reactor specification is also the reason scale-up is not a formality. A larger reactor has proportionally less surface area relative to its volume, so heat transfer behaves differently and a process proven at small scale needs re-establishing at production scale. See stainless steel reactors and glass-lined reactors.

Ask for the reactor list rather than a general statement of capability: capacities, materials, pressure ratings and heating or cooling arrangements. A manufacturer who can produce that quickly is telling you something useful about how well they know their own plant.

Related Terms