Small-scale fluidized-bed reactors are widely used by both industry and academy. Well-planned tests can generate useful information about commercial reactor operation. However, there are limitations to which results from laboratory-scale reactors can be applied to commerical-scale reactor operation. In this paper, fluidized-bed acrylonitrile reactors are used to demonstrate the similarities and differences between laboratory and commercial reactors. Laboratory reactor performance is compared with the performance of commercial reactors. For fluidized-bed reactors, it is recommended to study reaction kinetics and reactor hydrodynamics separately.