6. Selection criteria

In the preceding paragraphs, we set out a number of selection criteria for each type of reactor: these were technical criteria. Very often, the final choice cannot be made on the basis of purely technical factors, but must take into account the overall economics of the process used industrially. For this overall study, the reactor cannot be isolated from its environment, made up of the other parts of the production unit, which, depending on the case, will be feed preparation sections, equipment for separating reaction products, and/or devices for recycling certain reagents.

The reactor is the core element of a chemical process, and its performance has a significant influence on the design and complexity of the rest of the unit. For example, the conversion rate of a reactant has a direct impact on the separation section and any recycling of unconverted compounds....