Reactor for the synthesis of urea

A reactor for the synthesis of urea comprising a vertical shell and at least one internal perforated baffle arranged to define compartments of the reactor, wherein said at least one internal perforated baffle comprises an array of individual perforated tiles wherein each tile comprises side walls and a top face, at least one of the side walls having first perforations and said top face having second perforations, wherein said second perforations are smaller than said first perforations, and the tiles are distributed over the at least one internal perforated baffle with a two-dimensional pattern and adjacent tiles are separated by gaps wherein the first perforations provide a preferential route for a liquid phase and the second perforations provide a preferential route for a vapor phase in the reactor;

• wherein the at least one internal perforated baffle includes self-supporting structures wherein each of said self-supporting structures includes a plurality of tiles aligned in a row from one end to the opposite end of the at least one internal perforated baffle, and the structures are arranged parallel to each other to form said two-dimensional pattern.