Stainless steel compact heat exchanger reactor with 66 mL catalyst loading was built and tested for synthesis of mixed alcohols. Compared to the fixed bed reactor, the compact heat exchanger reactor have much better heat and mass transfer due to the small particle sizes and miniaturized channels. Development of NiMO2C catalyst for synthesis of mixed alcohols is also reported. The compact reactor demonstrated two to four times process intensification. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.