1.
A non-ideal, continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) has a normalized
response to a step function input of a trace shown in the figure below
Q1 below. The step input starts at t=0.
(a). Develop a compartment model of this no-ideal reactor. The
model can consist of ideal reactors, recycle, bypass and hold-up
(Dead zones).
answer
(b). The total volume of the non-ideal reactor is 1.5 L and the inlet
volumetric feed rate is 0.10 L/min. Determine the values of the
parameters of the model
(8 marks)
(c) Sketch the exit age distribution (normalized response to a pulse
input) for the non-ideal reactor
(5 marks)
Figure Q1
answer
2. A plug flow reactor (PFR), operating isothermally at 320 K, carries out
the irreversible reaction
The feed to the reactor contains equal concentrations of A, CA0 and B,
CB0 of 0.0313 mol/dm3 at a volumetric flow rate, Q. The mean
residence time in the reactor is, and it may be assumed that the
density of the inlet and product streams is the same.
(a) Show that the rate of change of conversion of A, XA with volume is
given by
Hence express the conversion of A as a function of CB0, k and .
answer
(b) Calculate the conversion of A, XA if the PFR is assumed to behave
Ideally.
(6 marks)
answer
(c) A pulse experiment was carried out in the reactor in order to find the
residence time distribution (RTD) function, E (t), for the reactor. The
effluent concentration C(t) and the RTD function, E(t), are given
below. Assuming that the mixing of liquid in the PFR gives a collection
of non-intermixing globules which act as separate batch reactors with
a distribution of residence times.
Show that the conversion of A on each batch reactor is given
by
1
𝑋𝐴 = 1 − √1+2𝑘𝐶 2
𝐵𝑜 𝑡
answer
(4 marks)
3. (a) The residence time distribution (RTD) of a series of N equal-sized
CSTRs connected in series is given by:
where τ is the residence time associated with the complete cascade.
The corresponding transfer function is
where s is the Laplace variable and
is the Laplace transform of E (t)
Show that the variance (σ2) of the distribution E (t) for a cascade
of N equal-sized CSTR is τ2/N.
answer
4. a) A commonly used reactor model is the “cascade of CSTRs”. Briefly
outline the assumptions of the “cascade of CSTRs” model and state
why it is useful in practice.
(b) Using a Laplace transform analysis, combined with the method of
moments determine the mean and variance of a residence time
distribution characterising a cascade of N CSTRs. State clearly the
behaviour of the model as N → 1 and N → ∞. Sketch the form of
the expected residence time distributions at these limits.