Balances on Plug Flow Packed Bed Reactor (PFPBR)
Balances on Plug Flow Packed Bed Reactor (PFPBR)
vg
N N
F H
i 1
i gi Catalyst + F H i gi
W Gas phase i 1 W W
H W b S R z bVR VR Vg Vs
t VR Vg bVR Vs (1 b )VR
Molar balance of i species W mass of catalyst [kg]
NR b bulk density of the catalyst [kg/m3 ]
dFi
ki rM ,k z z + z VR total volume of reactor [m 3 ]
dW k 1
W Q W + W
Vg volume of the gas phase in reactor [m 3 ]
Vs volume of the catalyst in reactor [m3 ]
Overall enthalpy balance involved both gas and solid phase Vg
b bed porozity, b = [ ]
VR
H dP N N
VR Fi H gi Fi H gi Q
t VR dt i 1 W i 1 W W
in the steady state
N N N
d dQ
0= Fi H gi Fi H gi Q Fi H gi
i 1 W i 1 W W
dW i 1 dW
ideal mixture H gi (T , P, composition) hi (T )
N
dFi dhi (T ) N NR dhi (T ) dT
i 1
hi (T ) Fi ki rM ,k hi (T ) Fi
dW dW i 1 k 1 dT dW
NR
dT N dQ
r H k rV ,k i pi dW
F c
k 1 dW i 1
dFi NR N
dQ dS
ki rM ,k ki hi r H k (Te T ) t Circular cross
dW k 1 i 1 dW dW section
dT 1 NR 4 dSt d R dz 4
r H k rM ,k (Te T )
N
d R2 b d R
Fi c pi k 1
dW d dW
b R
b dz
i 1 4
Enthalpy balance
dT 1 NR 4 Initial conditions
r H k rM ,k (Te T )
N
W 0, Fi Fi o , T T o
Fi c pi k 1
dW d
b R
i 1
Molar balance of i species
dFi NR
ki rM ,k
dW k 1
One reaction, constant heat capacity of species.
Profiles of conversion and temperature are given by following
equations:
dFi dFj
i rM i
dT 1 4 j dW
( H ) r T T
dW
dW N y o
r M
d
e
Fjo Fj
F yi c p ,i
b R
o o j
c p X j Xj
Fjo
i 1 j
i
Fi Fi o Fj Fjo i Fjo X j
dX j j j j j
o rM ( X j , T ) o rM ( X j , T ) N N o i o
dW Fj Fj F c
i p ,i c p ,i F F X
i j j j
i 1 i 1
N y oj
W 0, T To , X j 0 F yi c p ,i
o o
c p X j
i 1 j
Limiting cases
[Link]
dT 4 4
reactor 0 (H r )rM Te T (H r )rM Te T
dW b d R b d R
T To
[Link] reactor
dT 1 Fjo (H r ) dX j
(H r )rM
dW N y o N y o dz
F yi c p ,i
o o
c p X j
j
j F yi c p ,i
o o
c p X j
j
i 1 j i 1 j
y oj r H o c p (T T o ) dX j
N
dz
j
i 1
y o
c
i p ,i y o
j c p X j
T Xj
dT dX j
y j r H c p (T T )
o o o
y c N
o
y oj c p X j
o 0
T
j i p ,i
i 1
y oj ( r H o ) X j
T T o
N
Cf. adiabatic BATCH, CSTR and PFR
j y c
i 1
o
i p ,i y oj c p X j
Catalytic PFR
Profile of pressure is calculated using Ergun equation:
f 1 b o f 1 b o 2
2
3 f
A1 f v f A2 f v f
dP 2
150 2 v f 1.75 v o o
dz dp b3
d p b
f fluid dynamic viscosity [Pa.s]
f fluid density [kg/m 3 ]
vof superficial fluid mean velocity [m/s]
vof 4m / ( f d R2 )
m mass flowrate [kg/s]
b bed porosity [-]
dp catalyst particle (equivalent) diameter [m]
Example
Oxidation of o-xylene to phthalic anhydride1
The gas phase oxidation is highly exothermic. The reaction is carried out in PFR
tube bundles with molten salt circulating as the heat transfer fluid. The o-xylene is
mixed with air before entering the PFR. The large excess of oxygen leads to a
pseudo-first order rate expression
E 1 1
rV k To exp c1 A1 = o-xylene
R T To
Calculate the temperature and composition profiles.
1. Rawlings, G.B., Ekerdt, J.G., Chemical Reactor Analysis and Design
Fundamentals, Nob Hill Publ., Madison, Wisc. 2002.
Data k(To), s -1 To, K Tm, K P, bar L, m dR, m
1922.6 625 625 1.01 1.5 0.025
Cp, kJ/kg/K y1o E/R, K rH, G, kg/s ,
kJ/mol kJ/m2/s/K
0.992 0.019 1.3636x -1.361x 2.6371x 0.373
104 103 10-3
F1(z) T(z)
kmol/s K