The feasibility of internally finned monoliths (IFMs) as a packing for mult
ifunctional reactors, such as catalytic distillation (CD) columns, is inves
tigated by evaluating the most important design parameters. A comparison is
made with two commonly used packings, catalyst bales and open cross-flow s
tructures. The flexibility in design offers the possibility to optimize the
IFMs according to the process requirements. Hydraulic and mass transfer pr
operties of the IFMs are within the range of the conventional CD-packings.
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