Chapter 5 - Design For Multiple Reactions
Chapter 5 - Design For Multiple Reactions
UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
FACULTY OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
1. Multiple Reactions
• For multiple reactors, both the size requirement and the distribution of
reaction products are affected by the flow within the reactor.
• The distinction between a single reaction and multiple reactions is that the
single reaction requires only one rate expression to describe its kinetic behavior
whereas multiple reactions require more than one rate expression.
• Many multiple reactions can be considered to be combinations of two
primary types: parallel reactions and series reactions.
• In this chapter, expansion effects are ignored, thus ε = 0
(5.1)
(5.2a)
(5.2b)
Dividing Eq. 5.2a by Eq. 5.2b gives a measure of the relative rates of formation of
R and S. Thus
(5.3)
• If a1 > a2: the desired reaction is of higher order than the unwanted reaction.
Eq. 5.3 shows that a high reactant concentration is desirable since it increases the
R/S ratio. As a result, a batch or plug flow reactor would favor formation of
product R and would require a minimum reactor size.
• If a1 < a2: the desired reaction is of lower order than the unwanted reaction.
A low reactant concentration is needed to favor formation of R. But this would
also require large mixed flow reactor.
• If a1 = a2: the two reactions are of the same order, Eq. 5.3 becomes
(5.4)
1. Changing the temperature. If the activation energies of the two reactions are
different, k1/k2 can be varied by changing temperature.
2. Using a catalyst. One of the most important features of a catalyst is its selectivity
in depressing or accelerating specific reactions. This may be a much more effective
way of controlling product distribution than any of the methods discussed so far.
When you have two or more reactants, combinations of high and low reactant
concentrations can be obtained by controlling the concentration of feed materials.
Figures 5.1 and 5.2 illustrate methods of contacting two reacting fluids in continuous
and noncontinuous operations that keep the concentrations of these components both
high, both low, or one high and the other low.
Figure 5.1 Contacting patterns for various combinations of high and low
concentration of reactants in noncontinuous operations.
Figure 5.2 Contacting patterns for various combinations of high and low
concentration of reactants in continuous flow operations.
(5.5)