New frontiers in sustainable process engineering with additive manufacturing for continuous-flow applications

• 3D printed reactors offer new avenues for the development of catalytic structured continuous-flow reactors. • Multiple technologies and examples have been developed in the last decade. • The performance of 3DP reactors is starting to surpass traditional packed bed reactors. • High-resolution, scalable technologies offer pathways towards scalable and sustainable continuous-flow catalytic reactors. Process engineering plays a crucial role in the chemical industry. Packed bed columns, known for their simplicity and efficiency, are widely used in separation, distillation, and catalytic reactors. However, traditional random packing in these columns faces challenges such as inadequate mass and heat transfer and high-pressure drops. The introduction of additive manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing (3DP), offers innovative solutions to these issues by enabling the creation of complex geometries optimized for improved performance. This perspective article highlights recent advances in AM techniques and their application in enhancing packed bed columns’ efficiency and selectivity. Notable improvements are observed in carbon capture and catalytic processes using 3D-printed structures compared to conventional packed bed devices. Additionally, the scalability of these technologies for industrial applications is discussed, along with examples of successful integrations into continuous-flow systems.