Patent ID: 6977063

Claim:
A reactor apparatus including a support element adapted to be rotatable about an axis, the support element having a surface and feed means associated therewith for supplying at least one reactant to the surface such that, upon rotation of the surface, the reactant flows freely, solely by way of centrifugal force generated by rotation of the surface, across the surface as a thin film and is thrown from the surface, wherein the surface is substantially planar and wherein there is further provided a shear member formed as a peripheral basal surface of a dome or canopy or cylindrical or tubular member, the shear member being disposed in close proximity to but not mounted on the surface so as, in use, to contact the thin film only where it passes between the peripheral basal surface and the surface and not at other locations on the surface, and to impart a shearing force to the reactant on the surface when the support element is rotated.