AbstractFixed‐bed, catalytic reactors in which gas and liquid phases flow concurrently downward, termed trickle beds, are becoming more widely used in chemical processing, particularly in the petrochemical industry. Shah (1979) has summarized the advantages of trickle‐bed reactors and mentioned some of the processes in which the reactors are used. Shah's monograph and earlier reviews (Satterfield, 1975; Goto et al., 1977; Hofmann, 1978; Gianetto et al., 1978) have discussed factors affecting reactor performance.In the last few years additional experimental and theoretical studies that contribute to improved design and scaleup of trickle‐bed reactors have been published. The scope of this paper is to review critically these improvements. Progress in understanding local rates of reaction is considered first. Then recent developments in reactor design are ana