Patent ID: 6869578

Claim:
An apparatus for contacting reactants with a catalyst in a reaction zone while indirectly cooling the reaction zone by indirectly heating a reactant stream, the apparatus comprising: a plurality of reaction channels defined by a plurality of plates having heated reactant inlets at one end of the reaction channels and reacted stream outlets at an opposite end of the reaction channels; a solid catalyst in the reaction channels; a plurality of heated channels defined by a plurality of plates in an indirect heat exchange relationship with the reaction channels, the heated channels having cold reactant fluid inlets at one end of the heated channels and heated reactant outlets at an opposite end of the heated channels; a solid catalyst for the promotion of one of an exothermic process and an endothermic process in the heated channels and the solid catalyst in the reaction channels is for the promotion of the other of an exothermic process and an endothermic process; a containment vessel for housing the plurality of plates; a chamber defined by the containment vessel for communicating the heated reactant outlets with the heated reactant inlets; and a support structure for supporting one end of the plates from the top or the bottom of the containment vessel.