CH3840E
Kinetics and Reactor Design
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vu Dinh Tien
Dept. of Chemical Process Equiment –
School of Chemical Engineering
Topic 2 - Theory
Conversion and Multiple Reactors
Fogler, Chapter 2
• Conversion, X
• Levenspiel Plots
• Conversion for Reactors in Series
Slide 2
Conversion, XA
moles A reacted
XA conversion based on A
moles A fed
BATCH
SYSTEM: “Moles A fed” is the amount of A at the start of the reactor (t=0)
FLOW
SYSTEM: “Moles A fed” is the amount of A entering the reactor
Usually pick the basis to be the limiting reagent
Slide 3
Expressing other Components in
Terms of Conversion of A (XA)
moles A reacted
XA
moles A fed
Longer reactant is in reactor, more reactant is converted to product
BATCH
(until reactant is consumed or the reaction reaches equilibrium)
SYSTEM:
Conversion (Xj) is a function of time (t) in the batch reactor
NA NA0 NA0 XA
Moles A in Moles Moles A
= -
reactor at time t A fed consumed
Slide 5
Expressing other Components in
Terms of Conversion of A (XA)
Total moles in Total + total moles products formed
=
reactor at time t moles fed minus reactants consumed
j≡ stoichiometric coefficient; positive for products, negative for reactants
B b A 1 c c d d
a a a
Nj Nj0 jNA0XA
Slide 6
Batch Reactor Design Equation with Xj
Slide 7
Flow and Conversion
For a given flow rate, the larger the reactor, the more time it takes
FLOW
the reactant to pass through the reactor, the more time to react
SYSTEM:
Conversion (Xj) is a function of reactor volume (V)
FA FA0 FA0 XA
Molar flow
Molar flow rate that A Molar rate A is
leaves the reactor
= rate A is fed - consumed in reactor
to reactor
FA FA0 1 XA
Slide 8
PFR Design Equation & Xj
dFA
Ideal SS PRF:
d
FA FA0 FA0 XA
Want to determine the reactor volume required to achieve a desired amount
of conversion → take derivative of “FA“ expression with respect to volume
XA
dXA
Ideal SS PFR dXA V FA0
Design Eq with Xj: FA0 dV
rA
0 rA
Applies for no pressure drop down PFR!
Slide 10
PBR Design Equation & Xj
dFA
Ideal SS PBF:
dW
FA FA0 FA0 XA
Want to determine the weight of catalyst that is required to achieve a desired
amount of conversion→ take derivative of FA expression with respect to W
d dFA dX
FA d F A0 FA0 XA 0 FA0 A
dW dW dW dW
← Substitute into PBR design eq
X A dX
Ideal SS PBR dX A A
W F
Design Eq with Xj: FA0 dW rA ' A0
0 rA '
Applies for no pressure drop down PBR!
Slide 11
Reactor Mole Balances Summary
• The General Mole Balance in terms of conversion applied to the
four major reactor types (and the general reaction A B )
Reactor Differential Algebraic Integral
dX X
dX X
Batch
N r V t N A0
A0
dt A
0
rV
A
t
FA 0 X
CSTR V
rA
X
F dX X
dX
PFR
F r V A0
A0
dV A
0 rA
X V
dX FA0 dX X
F r W
PBR rA
A0
dW A
0
The University of Adelaide Slide 12
Numerical Evaluation of Integrals
(Appendix A.4 Fogler)
Slide 18
Sizing a PFR with a Levenspiel Plot
Slide 19
Reactors in Series
In practice, reactors are usually connected so the exit stream of one
reactor is the feed stream for the next reactor
Slide 20
Reactors in Series
Vone PFR VPFR(i) VCSTR(j) Vone CSTR
i j
for any combination of PFRs & CSTRs in series
In general, 1 PFR = any number of PFRs in series
1 PFR = ∞ number of CSTRs in series
Definitions:
Space time (): time necessary to process one reactor volume,
also called mean residence time or holding time 0
Space velocity (SV): inverse of space time, but vo may be 0
measured under different conditions than the space time
𝜐0|𝑙𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑑 @ 15°C 𝑜𝑟 25°C
Liquid-hourly 𝐿𝐻𝑆𝑉 = Gas-hourly 0
space velocity 𝑉 space velocity
0| is the volumetric flow rate measured at specified condition
Slide 26
Topic 2 – Theory: Summary
• From this lecture you should be able to:
1. Define the parameter conversion and rewrite the mole
balances in terms of conversion;
2. Size a number of reactors and reaction systems if given
–rA as a function of conversion X;
3. Arrange reactors in series to achieve the maximum
conversion for a given Levenspiel plot.
Slide 28