Processes Webinar | Is Microkinetic Modeling the New Standard in Reaction Engineering? 6 May 2026

A welcome message from the webinar Chair:

It is my great pleasure to welcome you to this Processes webinar entitled “Is Microkinetic Modeling the New Standard in Reaction Engineering?”.

For decades, catalytic kinetics has often been described using empirical or semi-empirical rate expressions. Although these approaches remain useful for reactor design and process optimization, they provide limited insight into the molecular-level events that ultimately control activity, selectivity, and stability. Microkinetic modeling represents a profound shift: instead of assuming the rate-determining steps or the most abundant surface intermediates, it builds kinetics from elementary surface reactions, enforcing stoichiometric and thermodynamic consistency.

At its core, microkinetic modeling aims to bridge scales—from electronic structure and adsorption energetics to reactor performance. By integrating reaction networks, surface coverages, scaling relations, and increasingly data-driven or machine learning-based tools, MKM allows us to move from describing kinetics to predicting catalytic behavior. In this sense, it is not merely a modeling tool but a framework for rational catalyst design.

However, with this development comes challenges. The construction of reaction networks requires a careful balance between completeness and tractability. The choice of energetics, approximations such as mean-field treatments, uncertainty quantification, and transferability across catalysts and conditions remain active research questions. As highlighted in the recent literature, issues of stiffness, computational cost, and even the need for surrogate models continue to shape the field’s evolution. At the same time, scaling relations and sensitivity analyses reveal both the opportunities and intrinsic limitations imposed by thermodynamics and kinetics.

So, we may ask the following: Is microkinetic modeling simply a more detailed description of known kinetics? Or is it becoming an essential, predictive tool for the next generation of catalytic processes?

Today’s speakers bring complementary perspectives—from the fundamental kinetic modeling of catalytic reactions to state- and site-specific microkinetic frameworks, to applications in CO₂ and nitrogen reduction. Together, they illustrate both the maturity of the methodology and the open questions that still drive research in this area.

I hope this webinar will stimulate discussion on the true potential of microkinetic modeling: its power, its limitations, and its role in shaping the future of reaction engineering.

Date: 6 May 2026 at 02:00 p.m. CEST | 8:00 a.m. EDT | 8:00 p.m. CST Asia
Landing Page: https://sciforum.net/event/Processes-22?subscribe

Program:

Speaker	Presentation Title	Time in CEST	Time in EDT	Time in CST Asia
MDPI Speaker - Elena-Catalina Marin	Processes and Webinar introduction	2:00–2:05 p.m.	8:00–8:05 a.m.	8:00–8:05 p.m.
Prof. Sébastien Leveneur	Chair Introduction	2:05–2:10 p.m.	8:05–8:10 a.m.	8:05–8:10 p.m.
Prof. Dionisios G. Vlachos	State and Site-Specific Microkinetic Models	2:10–2:40 p.m.	8:10–8:40 a.m.	8:10–8:40 p.m.
Prof. Dmitry Yu. Murzin	Kinetic Modelling of Catalytic Reactions Over Zeolites: New Twists and Turns	2:40–3:10 p.m.	8:40–9:10 a.m.	8:40–9:10 p.m.
Prof. Dr. Blaž Likozar	Micro-kinetics of Catalytic CO₂ and Nitrogen Reduction Reactions Towards E-chemicals	3:10–3:50 p.m.	9:10–9:50 a.m.	9:10–9:50 p.m.
Q&A Session	3:50–4:05 p.m.	9:50–10:05 a.m.	9:50–10:05 p.m.
MDPI Speaker - Elena-Catalina Marin	Processes Journal Report	4:05–4:10 p.m.	10:05–10:10 a.m.	10:05–10:10 p.m.
Prof. Sébastien Leveneur	Closing of Webinar	4:10–4:15 p.m.	10:10–10:15 a.m.	10:10–10:15 p.m.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information on how to join the workshop. Registrations using academic institutional email addresses will be prioritized.

Unable to attend? Register anyway and we’ll let you know when the recording is available to watch.

Webinar Chair and Keynote Speakers:

Professor Sébastien Leveneur, Lyon 1 University, Villeurbanne, France;
Professor Dmitry Yu. Murzin, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland;
Prof. Dr. Blaž Likozar, National Institute of Chemistry, Ljubljana, Slovenia;
Professor Dionisios G. Vlachos, University of Delaware, Newark, USA.

Relevant Special Issue:
“Preparation, Characterization and Application of Heterogeneous Catalysts”
Guest Editor: Wladimir Reschetilowski
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 May 2026