Term: pulse reactor https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.P04951 Definition: In a pulse reactor, a carrier gas, which may be inert or possibly one of the reactants, flows over the catalyst and small amounts of the other reactant or reactants are injected into the carrier gas at intervals. A pulse reactor is useful for exploratory work but kinetic results apply to a transient rather than to the steady state conditions of the catalyst. Related Terms: 1) carrier gas (http://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.C00863). 2) catalyst (http://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.C00876). 3) inert (http://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.I03026). Source: PAC, 1976, 46, 71. 'Manual of Symbols and Terminology for Physicochemical Quantities and Units - Appendix II. Definitions, Terminology and Symbols in Colloid and Surface Chemistry. Part II: Heterogeneous Catalysis' on page 80 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac197646010071) Citation: 'pulse reactor' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.P04951 License: The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) for individual terms. Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.