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ABSTRACT Consisting of two or three different layers of catalyst or adsorbent, the multilayer radial flow reactor is a novel radial reactor with compact structure and high performance. In this article, pressure profiles in the flow channels and layers of a three-layer radial flow reactor were measured and the properties of the fluids in the flow channels and layers were investigated. Results show that the uniformity of the pressure profiles in the distributing and collecting channels in the axial direction has a significant effect on the flow distribution of each layer. The uniformity of the flow distribution in multilayer Π-type radial flow reactors varies in the radial direction. It is better in the outer layer than in the inner layer when the pressure variation in the center channel is more significant than that in the annular channel. The main contributions of this work are helpful to the proper design and optimum operation of the multilayer radial reactor. Copyright © 2011 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]