Patent ID: 7722833

Claim:
A microchannel reactor, comprising: a microchannel reactor core; a reactant header; a product footer; a heat exchange header; a heat exchange footer; a plurality of process microchannels positioned in the microchannel reactor core, each process microchannel having an entrance and an exit; and at least one heat exchange zone adjacent to each process microchannel, the heat exchange zone extending lengthwise in the same direction as the process microchannel and being positioned at or near the entrance to said process microchannel; the length of each heat exchange zone being equal to or less than the length of the process microchannel adjacent to it; the width of each process microchannel at or near the process microchannel exit being greater than the width of the process microchannel at or near the process microchannel entrance; the reactant header providing a passageway for fluid to flow into the process microchannels; the process footer providing a passageway for fluid to flow out of the process microchannels; the heat exchange header providing a passageway for fluid to flow into the heat exchange zones; the heat exchange footer providing a passageway for fluid to flow out of the heat exchange zones.