Lecture (9)

Reactor Sizing

1.Introduction

Chemical kinetics is the study of chemical reaction rates and reaction mechanisms. The
study of chemical reaction engineering (CRE) combines the study of chemical kinetics
with the reactors in which the reactions occur. Chemical kinetics and reactor design are
at the heart of producing almost all industrial chemicals.
It is primarily a knowledge of chemical kinetics and reactor design that distinguishes
the chemical engineer from other engineers. The selection of a reaction system that
operates in the safest and most efficient manner can be the key to the economic
success or failure of n chemical plant.
Design of the reactor is no routine matter, and many alternatives can be proposed for a
process. In searching for the optimum it is not just the cost of the reactor that must be
minimized. One design may have low reactor cost, but the materials leaving the unit
may be such that their treatment requires a much higher cost than alternative designs.
Hence, the economics of the overall process must be considered. Reactor design uses
information, knowledge, and experience from a variety of areas-thermodynamics,
chemical kinetics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, mass transfer, and economics.
Chemical reaction engineering is the synthesis of all these factors with the aim of
properly designing a chemical reactor.
To find what a reactor is able to do we need to know the kinetics, the contacting
pattern and the performance equation. We show this schematically in Figure (1).

Figure (1). Information needed to predict what a reactor can do.

Much of this lectures deals with finding the expression to relate input to
output for various kinetics and various contacting patterns, or
output = f [input, kinetics, contacting] ………………(1)
This is called the performance equation. Why is this important? Because with
this expression we can compare different designs and conditions, find which is
best, and then scale up to larger units.

In 2.Type
chemicalof Reactors.
engineering, chemical reactors are vessels designed to contain chemical
reactions. The design of a chemical reactor deals with multiple aspects of chemical
engineering. Chemical engineers design reactors to maximize net present value for the
given reaction. Designers ensure that the reaction proceeds with the highest efficiency
towards the desired output product, producing the highest yield of product while
requiring the least amount of money to purchase and operate. Normal operating
expenses include energy input, energy removal, raw material costs, labor, etc.

There are a couple main basic vessel types:

 A tank
 A pipe or tubular reactor (laminar flow reactor(LFR))
Both types can be used as continuous reactors or batch reactors. Most commonly,
reactors are run at steady-state, but can also be operated in a transient state. When a
reactor is first brought back into operation (after maintenance or inoperation) it would
be considered to be in a transient state, where key process variables change with time.
Both types of reactors may also accommodate one or more solids (reagents, catalyst, or
inert materials), but the reagents and products are typically liquids and gases.
There are three main basic models used to estimate the most important process
variables of different chemical reactors:

 Batch Reactor
 Continuous Stirred-Tank Reactor (CSTR)
 Plug Flow Reactor (PFR)

Key process variables include

 Residence time (τ) , Volume (V) , Temperature (T) , Pressure (P) , Concentrations
of chemical species (C1, C2, C3, ... Cn) ,Heat transfer coefficients (h, U)
Chemical reactions occurring in a reactor may be exothermic, meaning giving off heat,
or endothermic, meaning absorbing heat. A chemical reactor vessel may have a cooling
or heating jacket or cooling or heating coils (tubes) wrapped around the outside of its
vessel wall to cool down or heat up the contents.

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2.1 Batch Reactor

Type of Reactor •Batch Reactor

•Reactor is charged (i.e., filled) through the holes

at the top ; while reaction is carried out.
Characteristics • Nothing else is put in or taken out until the
reaction is done; tank easily heated or cooled by
jacket

Kinds of Usage Advantages Disadvantages

Phases Present
1. Gas phase 1. Small scale production 1. High conversion per 1. High operating
unit volume for one cost
2.Liquid 2. Intermediate or one pass
phase shot production 2. Product quality
2.Flexibility of more variable than
3.Liquid Solid 3.Testing new process operation-same reactor with continuous
that have not been fully can produce one operation
developed product one time and a
different product the 3.Difficalty of
4.Manufacture of next large scale
expensive products. production .
3. Easy to clean
5.Pharmaceutical,
Fermentation

Figure(2) simple batch reactor .

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Semi-batch reactors operate much like batch reactors in that they take place in a single stirred
tank with similar equipment . It modified allow reactant addition and/or product removal in time.
A semi-batch reactor, however, allows partial filling of reactants with the flexibility of adding more
as time progresses. Semi-batch reactors are used primarily for liquid-phase reactions , two-phase
reactions in which a gas usually is bubbled continuously through the liquid , and also for
biological and polymerization reaction.

2.2. Continuous-Flow Reactors

2.2.1 Continuous-Stirred Tank Reactor CSTR

Type of Reactor •Continuous-Stirred Tank Reactor CSTR

•Run at steady state ,the flow rate in must equal the mass flow
rate out, otherwise the tank will overflow or go empty
(transient state).
• The feed assumes a uniform composition throughout the
reactor, exit stream has the same composition as in the tank.
•The reaction rate associated with the final (output)
Characteristics
concentration.
•Reactor equipped with an impeller to ensure proper mixing.
•Dividing the volume of the tank by the average volumetric flow
rate through the tank gives the residence time, or the average
amount of time a discrete quantity of reagent spends inside the
tank.

Kinds of Phases Usage Advantages Disadvantages

Present
1. Gas phase 1. When agitation 1. Continuous operation 1. Lowest conversion
2. Liquid phase is required 2. Good temperature control per unit volume, very
3. Liquid Solid 2. Series 3. Easily adapts to two phase large reactors are
configurations for runs necessary to obtain
different 4. Simplicity of construction high conversions
concentration 5.Low operating (labor) cost 2. By-passing and
streams 6. Easy to clean channeling possible
with poor agitation

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Some important aspects of the CSTR:

 It is economically beneficial to operate several CSTRs in series. This allows, for

example, the first CSTR to operate at a higher reagent concentration and therefore a
higher reaction rate. In these cases, the sizes of the reactors may be varied in order
to minimize the total capital investment required to implement the process.

Figure (3) Flow sheet for the manufacture of nitrobenzene from benzene using
a cascade of CSTR

2.2.3. Tubular Reactor (PFR)

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 Type of Reactor • Tubular Reactor (PFR)

•Consists of a long cylindrical tube or many short reactors in a tube

bank.
•Operated at steady state.
•The rate is very high at the inlet to the PFR.
• No radial variation in reaction rate (concentration) and the reactor is
referred to as a plug-fiow rcactor (PFR).
Characteristics
• Concentration changes with length down the reactor
•As the concentrations of the reagents decrease and the concentration
of the product(s) increases the reaction rate slows.
•A PFR typically has a higher efficiency than a CSTR of the same
volume. That is, given the same space-time, a reaction will proceed to a
higher percentage completion in a PFR than in a CSTR.

Kinds of Usage Advantages Disadvantages

Phases
Present
1. 1. Large Scale 1. High Conversion 1. Undesired thermal
Primarily per Unit Volume gradients may exist
Gas 2. Fast Reactions
Phase 2. Low operating 2. Difficult temperature
3. Homogeneous Reactions (labor) cost) control

4. Heterogeneous Reactions 3.Good heat 3. Shutdown and

transfer cleaning may be
5. Continuous Production expensive

6. High Temperature 4.Hot spot occur for

exothermic reaction
• Other types of reactors:- Catalytic reactors(packed bed and Fluidized-bed
Reactor

Type of Reactor • Paced bed Reactor (fixed-bed,PBR)

•is essentially a tubular reactor that is packed with solid

Characteristics catalyst particles.

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Kinds of Phases Usage Advantages Disadvantages
Present
1. Gas-Soli phase Most reaction gives 1. Difficulties with temperature
2. Liquid-Solid Heterogeneous the highest conversion control.
phase reaction per weight of catalyst 2. Catalyst is usually troublesome to
3. Gas-Liquid - of any catalytic replace
Solid reactor. 3. Channeling of the gas or liquid flow
occurs, resulting in ineffective use of
part of the reactor bed

Figure(4) Packed bed Reactors

Type of Reactor • Fluidized-bed Reactor

•Is analogous to the CSTR in that its contents.

Characteristics
•Heterogeneous reactor, are well mixed.

Kinds of Phases Usage Advantages Disadvantages

Present
1. Gas-Solid phase 1.Heterogeneous 1.Good mixing 1. Bed-fluid mechanics
2. Liquid-Solid reaction 2. temperature is relatively not well known
phase 2. reactor can uniform throughout 2. Severe agitation can
3. Gas-Liquid – handle large 3. Catalyst can be result in catalyst
Solid phase amounts of feed continuously regenerated with destruction and dust

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 and solids the use of an auxiliary loop formation
4. good temperature control 3. Uncertain scale-up

Figure(5) Fluidized-bed
Reactors

3.Classification of Chemical Reaction

it classify according to

Five traditional types of chemical reactions are

1. Decomposition reactions: single compound decomposes to two or more other

substances,decomposition of calcium carbonate by heating it.

CaCO3(s) ---> CaO(s) + CO2(g)

2. Combination reactions (Synthesis reactions)

3. Single-replacement reactions (Displacement reactions):copper displaces silver
from an aqueous solution of silver nitrate is an example of a single-replacement
reaction.
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 Cu(s) + 2 AgNO3(aq) ---> Cu(NO3)2(aq) + 2 Ag(s)

4. Double-replacement reactions (Metathesis reactions):Precipitation reactions are

one type of double-replacement reaction. An example is

AgNO3(aq) + NaCl(aq) ---> AgCl(s) + NaNO3(aq)

5. Combustion reactions: substance reacts with oxygen,butane burns in air as

follows.

2 C4H10(g) + 13 O2(g) ---> 8 CO2(g) + 10 H2O(l)

Also Oxidation-reduction reactions (Redox reactions).

phases involved:
o Homogeneous reaction : it takes place in one phase alone
o Heterogeneous reaction : multiple phases, reaction usually occurs at the interface
between phases.

Direction of reaction
o Irreversible Reaction: Proceeds in only one direction and continues in that
direction until the reactants are exhausted.
Example :
Heterogeneous reaction
Toluene-hydrogenation →

Homogeneous reaction
Decomposition N2O N2O (g)+2O2(g) →2 N2(g) + O2(g)
Water gas shift reaction H2O (g)+CO (g) →H2(g) + CO2(g)

o Reversible Reaction: Can proceed in either direction, depending on the

concentrations of reactants and products present relative to the corresponding
equilibrium concentration.

Example :
Homogeneous reaction
Ammonia synthesis ⇔

Thermal cracking of ethane : ⇔

Heterogeneous reaction
Ammonium chloride synthesis or decomposition
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 ⇔

Related links and youtubes

Reactor runaway
1)www.che.utexas.edu/course/che360/.../chapter_10.ppt
2)www.youtube.com/watch?v=C561PCq5E1g