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Pressure Drop in PFR/PBR: Inspiring Creative and Minds

The document discusses pressure drop in packed bed reactors (PBRs) and packed column reactors (PCRs) for gas-phase reactions. It provides equations to calculate pressure drop as a function of conversion and catalyst weight for both isothermal and non-isothermal reactions. It also discusses how pressure drop varies with particle size and flow conditions (laminar vs. turbulent). Examples are provided to demonstrate the calculation of conversion and pressure drop for single reactions under different conditions.

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Chai Hong Loh
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249 views30 pages

Pressure Drop in PFR/PBR: Inspiring Creative and Minds

The document discusses pressure drop in packed bed reactors (PBRs) and packed column reactors (PCRs) for gas-phase reactions. It provides equations to calculate pressure drop as a function of conversion and catalyst weight for both isothermal and non-isothermal reactions. It also discusses how pressure drop varies with particle size and flow conditions (laminar vs. turbulent). Examples are provided to demonstrate the calculation of conversion and pressure drop for single reactions under different conditions.

Uploaded by

Chai Hong Loh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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PRESSURE DROP IN PFR/PBR

INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS


PRESSURE DROP IN PBR

• Analyze the following second order gas phase reaction


that occurs isothermally in a PBR:
A P

• Mole balance:

• Rate law :

INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS


CONTINUE

• Stoichiometry :

• Isothermal reaction; T = T0,

• Combine:

INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS


CONTINUE

• Need to find (P/P0) as a function of W (or V if you


have a PFR)
• Pressure Drop in Packed Bed Reactors
Ergun equation

INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS


CONTINUE

• Variable Density:

• The pressure drop eqn can then be written as

let

INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS


CONTINUE

• Catalyst weight :

where

INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS


CONTINUE

• Let

then

INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS


CONTINUE

• Rearrange:

• We will use this form for multiple reactions:

INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS


CONTINUE

• For single reaction

• For isothermal reaction

INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS


CONTINUE
• Recall that

• Notice that

• The two expressions are coupled ordinary differential


equations. We can solve them simultaneously using an
ODE solver such as Polymath. For the special case of
isothermal operation and epsilon = 0, we can obtain an
analytical solution

INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS


CONTINUE
• For isothermal reaction, T=T0 and if  = 0,

CAUTION: Never use this form if   0

INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS


CONTINUE
• Substitute in the stoichiometry,

• Rate law

• Design Equation

INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS


CONTINUE
• You now get a relation between X and W

• You can solve W for a given X or vise versa

INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS


CONTINUE
• For gas phase
reactions, as the
pressure drop
increases, the
concentration
decreases, resulting
in a decreased rate
of reaction, hence a
lower conversion
when compared to a
reactor without a
pressure drop.

INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS


1ST ORDER REACTION
• Analyze a first order gas phase reaction that occurs
isothermally in a PBR:
A P

• Mole balance:

• Rate law :  rA '  kCA

INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS


CONTINUE

• Stoichiometry :

• Isothermal reaction; T = T0,

• Combine: dX kCA0 1  X   P 
  
dW FA0 1  X   P0 

INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS


CONTINUE
• Since  = 0, solving for y gives

y  1  W 
1/ 2

• Combining with design equation


dX

kCA0
1  X 1  W 1/ 2
dW FA0
CONTINUE
• Rearrange the equation
dX

kCA0
 (1  X ) FA0  1  W 1/ 2
dW

• Solving the equation gives

ln
1

kCA0
1  x FA0
 2
 3 
1  (1  W ) 
3/ 2 

EXAMPLE

FA0 = 10 mol/s
X=?
CA0 = 1 mol/dm3
W = 500kg
k = 0.1111 dm3 s-1 kg -1

• What is the conversion of the PBR if there is no


pressure drop?

INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS


SOLUTION
• Design equation

• Rate law

• Stoichiometry
(1  X )
C A  C A0
• Combine (1  X )

INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS


SOLUTION
• Integration

X = 0.96

INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS


WITH P

• If alpha () = 0.00116, what is the new conversion?


What is the final pressure if the entering pressure is 10
atm?

dX kCA0 1  X 
• Design equation  y
dW FA0 1  X 

INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS


POLYMATH
alpha = 0.00116
Fao = 10
Cao = 1
k = 0.111
d(X) / d(W) = (k*Cao/Fao)*(1-X)*y/(1+X)
W(0) = 0
X(0) = 0
W(f) = 500
d(y) / d(W) =(-1)*alpha*(1+X)/2*y
y(0) = 1
POLYMATH
1.2

0.8

X
0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500
W

INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS


POLYMATH

At W = 500 kg, X = 0.932, y = 0.607

0.607 = P/Po

P = 0.607 Po

P = 6.07 atm

INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS


P with X and Tube Length

Catalyst weight :

The correlation between catalyst weight, W and


reactor length, z can be obtained from

dW
 Ac * 
dz

INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS


P with X and Tube Length

FA0 = 10 mol/s
X=?
CA0 = 1 mol/dm3
Wmax = 500kg
k = 0.1111 dm3 s-1 kg -1
Bulk density = 1.8 g/dm3

• What if the PFR it was 100dm long and had a total volume of
200dm3?
• What if it was 4dm wide and 10dm long?
• What if 4 PFRs 25 dm long were used in parallel instead of one
150dm3 PFR?
INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS
OPTIMAL PARTICLE SIZE
• For laminar flow

INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS


OPTIMAL PARTICLE SIZE
• For turbulence flow

 Ac1  D p1  P01 
2 2
 G2 
 2  1     
 
 
 G1   Ac 2  D p 2  P02 

• If Dp2 = 2Dp1, then


1
2 
2
INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS
OPTIMAL PARTICLE SIZE

Currently the gas phase reaction

A +B  C + D k = 0.016 dm3/kg cat. s

is carried out isothermally at 60C in a packed bed reactor. For an entering


pressure of 20 atm, a pressure drop of 4 atm is realized for 100 kg of catalyst.
What pressure drop would be realized if the particle size is reduced by a
factor of 4 and the catalyst weight charged to 15 kg.

a)The flow is laminar


b)The flow is turbulence
c) If equimolar feed enters at molar flowrate of 10 mol/s, determine the
conversion for each case

INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS

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