Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2005, 44, 9369
9369
Preface to CAMURE-5 & ISMR-4 Symposium This special issue of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research is a selection of papers presented at the joint 5th International Symposium on Catalysis in Multiphase Reactors (CAMURE-5) and 4th International Symposium on Multifunctional Reactors (ISMR-4). These two symposia were merged into a single event, which was held in Portorozˇ-Portorose, Slovenia, on June 15-18, 2005, under the sponsorship of the European Federation of Chemical Engineering (Event No. 649). The CAMURE-5 & ISMR-4 Symposium is grounded on the success of previous meetings on Catalysis in Multiphase Reactors (Lyon, France, 1994; Toulouse, France, 1998; Naples, Italy, 2000; Lausanne, Switzerland, 2002) and Multifunctional Reactors (Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1999; Nuremberg, Germany, 2001; Bath, U.K., 2003). The idea to merge the symposia was primarily driven by a desire to bring together experts from both areas of research activity and, thus, provide a platform for discussing the latest developments in the field of multiphase catalytic systems and multifunctional reactors. There is no doubt that these two fields will continue to take an active and responsible role for sustainable development and process intensification in chemical and related industries. The development of new catalysts during the last two decades has already introduced more environmentally accepted processes in the production of commodities, and many of these processes are taking place in multiphase systems. On the other hand, new multiphase reactions systems may call for new, more-efficient reactor concepts. Another reason for merging the symposia was to somehow limit the numerous and expensive international conferences that are organized in many sub-fields of chemical engineering and, therefore, are not easily attainable for many researchers, in particular younger ones. The topics of the event were covered by four plenary lectures and 123 oral and poster presentations. The authors came from 30 countries from all continents except Australia; among the presentations were 17 papers for a student contest. The presentations were grouped into 10 sections. The sections dealing with Kinetics and Modeling, and Heat and Mass Transfer Effects in Multiphase Systems were the strongest, according to the number of presentations; therefore, it is not surprising that these two sections constitute the major portion of this special issue, namely, 16% and 25%, respectively. In the New Catalysts and Reactor Concepts and Membrane Reactors sections, some new catalyst formulations, microreactor concepts, and new membrane reactor applications have been addressed. However, because of the rather low number of papers appearing in this issue that deal with these topics, it might be believed that the contributions presented at the event were still in the early stages of development and, thus, not yet appropriate for publication. The Structured Reactors and Catalytic Processes for Fuel Cell Application sections revealed that these two topics have been gaining in their importance. Finally, it is particularly encouraging that, in quite a few contributions, alternative solvents that are harmless for the environment have been employed in catalytic multiphase reactions. We are taking this opportunity to thank the editorial staff of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research for their patience and help in preparing this special issue.
Janez Levec Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Albin Pintar National Institute of Chemistry, Ljubljana, Slovenia IE058066W
10.1021/ie058066w CCC: $30.25 © 2005 American Chemical Society Published on Web 09/02/2005
