Reactors - Reactors general

A reactor is a confined space (container, vessel) that has been specially designed and manufactured to allow certain reactions to take place and be controlled under defined conditions. In the laboratory, we generally distinguish between bioreactors for biochemical processes and chemical reactors for chemical reactions. A bioreactor, often also referred to as a fermenter, is a container in which certain microorganisms, cells or small plants are cultivated (also: fermented) under the best possible conditions. The operation of a bioreactor is thus an application of biotechnology that uses or harnesses biological processes (bioconversion, biocatalysis) in technical facilities. A chemical reactor is a process engineering apparatus in which chemical reactions are used to produce products from raw materials or precursors. Often, however, the reactions do not achieve full conversion or give rise to by-products. For this reason, a reactor is usually followed by separation apparatus (e.g. rectification or extraction columns) in which the product is purified to the necessary purity. Separated components of the reaction mixture – unreacted reactants as well as solvents – can be returned to the reactor in so-called recycling streams. A chemical reactor is thus always only one – albeit central – component of a chemical production plant.