Reactions at supercritical conditions: Applications and fundamentals

Phillip E. Savage, Sudhama Gopalan, Thamid I. Mizan, Christopher J. Martino, Eric E. Brock

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

904 Scopus citations

Abstract

Supercritical fluids posses properties that make them attractive as media for chemical reactions. Conducting chemical reactions at supercritical conditions affords opportunities to manipulate the reaction environment (solvent properties) by manipulating pressure, to enhance the solubilities of reactants and products, to eliminate interphase transport limitations on reaction rates, and to integrate reaction and separation unit operations. Supercritical conditions may be advantageous for reactions involved in fuels processing, biomass conversion, biocatalysis, homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis, environmental control, polymerization, materials synthesis, and chemical synthesis. Moreover, supercritical fluids can be used profitably in fundamental chemical investigations of intermolecular interactions and their influence on chemical processes. Work on chemical reactions in and with supercritical fluids is reviewed. We discuss both fundamental studies and applications of reactions at supercritical conditions, with focus on work published after 1985.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1723-1778
Number of pages56
JournalAIChE Journal
Volume41
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 1995

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Biotechnology
  • Environmental Engineering
  • Chemical Engineering(all)

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