Patent ID: 8080215

Claim:
A flow reactor comprising: (i) a plurality of walled conduits each having an outer surface disposed for contact with a heat-transfer medium, (ii) an inlet distribution manifold in flow communication with a downstream manifold through channels formed by heterogeneous catalytic material disposed within each conduit during operation, (iii) a sequence of zones comprising at least two zones, said zones comprising said walled conduits, wherein (a) the walled conduits within each zone have the same or different length measured along a longitudinal coordinate of the zone, (b) the walled conduits within each zone have essentially uniform cross-section measured in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal coordinate thereby defining volume of the zone, and (c) in the sequence of zones, the total cross-sectional area of the conduits in each downstream zone varies from the prior upstream zone, (iv) at least one crossover chamber in flow communication with the plurality of walled conduits of a downstream zone and the plurality of walled conduits of the prior upstream zone, (v) a shell for maintaining during operation the outer surface of the plurality of walled conduits of each zone predominantly in contact with a heat transfer medium, and (vi) the shell having an inlet in flow communication with an outlet for flow of the heat-transfer medium.