The gas–liquid vortex reactor (GLVR) has substantial process intensification potential for multiphase processes. Essential in this respect is the micromixing efficiency, which is of great importance in fast reaction systems such as crystallization, polymerization, and synthesis of nanomaterials. By creating a vortex flow and taking advantage of the centrifugal force field, the liquid micromixing process can be intensified in the GLVR. Results show that introducing a liquid into a gas‐only vortex unit results in suppression of primary and secondary gas flow. The Villermaux–Dushman protocol is applied to study the effects of the gas flow rate, liquid flow rate, and liquid viscosity based on a segregation index. Based on the incorporation model and reaction kinetics, the micromixing time of the GLVR is determined to be in the range of 10−4 ~ 10−3 s, which is comparable to the highly efficient rotating packed bed and substantially better than a static mixer.

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To develop cost-effective CO 2 capture technology process intensification will play a vital role. In this work, the capabilities of a gas-liquid vortex reactor (GLVR) as novel process intensification equipment are evaluated by studying its interphase mass transfer parameters to build up the fundamentals for its future application to for example, CO 2 capture. The NaOH-CO 2 chemisorption system and Danckwerts' model are applied to obtain the effective interfacial area and liquid-side mass transfer coefficient. Results show that the gas-liquid contact in the GLVR is capable of both generating a large interfacial area in a small reactor volume and creating a region with high-energy dissipation to improve mass transfer. A comparison of the volumetric mass transfer coefficients with data reported in literature for conventional and intensified reactor types confirms a superior mass transfer efficiency and, most importantly, a favorable energetic efficiency of the GLVR.

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The high gas−solid slip velocity and the resulting intensified heat and mass transfer make gas−solid vortex reactors (GSVR) a promising reactor technology for the oxidative coupling of methane (OCM). The short gas residence time and high solid velocity in the GSVR require a highly active catalyst with strong attrition resistance. Conventional Sr/La 2 O 3 catalysts possess sufficient activity; however, these materials lack mechanical strength. In this study, a novel active and mechanically strong catalyst is developed by supporting a conventional Sr/La 2 O 3 OCM catalyst on a porous SiC support. The Sr−La−O/SiC catalyst shows a very high activity for the OCM in a fixed-bed lab-scale reactor. More importantly, the Sr−La−O/SiC catalyst displays high attrition resistance in standardized attrition tests and forms a stable rotating fluidized bed in the GSVR during a hot flow experiment at 946 K for more than 1 h. Shape characterization of the catalyst particles collected from a hot flow experiment suggests friction rather than fragmentation as the dominant attrition mechanism. Finally, the Sr−La−O/SiC catalyst was successfully tested under reactive conditions in the GSVR at 1080 K, showing a methane conversion of around 6% and a C 2 yield of 2% for an estimated space-time of 0.25 kg cat s mol CH 4 −1 .