5. Multifunctional heat exchangers

In the case of exchangers/reactors, the plates through which the reaction fluid flows ("process" plates) are placed alternately with the cooling (or heating, so-called "utility" plates, figure 21 ) plates.

The reaction path, whose characteristic dimensions are generally of the order of a few millimeters, is then either lined with inserts or structured to intensify transfers while maintaining sufficient residence time to achieve the required conversion rate.

There are several types of inserts: some come from the field of heat exchangers (perforated fins, staggered-pitch fins