Editing Microreactor (section)

{{redirect|Micro reactor|Small nuclear reactors|Nuclear microreactor}}
[[Image:LLNL-microreactor.jpg|right|frame|Microreactor technologies developed at [[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory|LLNL]] use micromachining techniques to miniaturize the reactor design. Applications include fuel processors for generating [[hydrogen]], chemical synthesis, and bioreaction studies.]]

A '''microreactor''' or '''microstructured reactor''' or '''microchannel reactor''' is a device in which [[chemical reaction]]s take place in a confinement with typical lateral dimensions below 1&nbsp;mm;
the most typical form of such confinement are [[Micro heat exchanger|microchannel]]s.<ref name=Watts>{{cite journal |last1=Watts |first1=Paul |last2=Wiles |first2=Charlotte |title=Recent advances in synthetic micro reaction technology |journal=Chem. Commun. |date=2007 |issue=5 |pages=443–467 |doi=10.1039/b609428g |pmid=17252096 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1533/9780857097347.1.188 |chapter=Microreactors and membrane microreactors: Fabrication and applications |title=Handbook of Membrane Reactors |date=2013 |last1=Seelam |first1=P.K. |last2=Huuhtanen |first2=M. |last3=Keiski |first3=R.L. |pages=188–235 |isbn=978-0-85709-415-5 }}</ref> Microreactors are studied in the field of [[micro process engineering]], together with other devices (such as [[micro heat exchanger]]s) in which physical processes occur. The microreactor is usually a [[continuous flow reactor]]  (contrast with/to a [[batch reactor]]). Microreactors can offer many advantages over conventional scale reactors, including improvements in [[Efficient energy use|energy efficiency]], reaction speed and yield, safety, reliability, scalability, on-site/on-demand production, and a much finer degree of [[process control]].