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Tutorial 03

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58 views5 pages

Tutorial 03

Uploaded by

Aditya Vikram
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Tutorial-03

Problem 1: A mixed flow reactor (2 m3 ) processes an


aqueous feed (100 liters/min) containing reactant A (CA =
100 mmol/liter). The reaction is reversible and is repre-
sented by:
A⇀↽B
Rate of reaction: rA = 0.04CA − 0.01CR (liter/min)
What is the equilibrium conversion and the actual
conversion in the reactor?

Problem 2: A specific enzyme acts as a catalyst in the


fermentation of reactant A. At a given enzyme
concentration in the aqueous feed stream (25
liters/min), find the volume of a plug flow reactor
needed for 95% conversion of reactant A
(CA = 2 mol/liter). The kinetics of the fermentation at
this enzyme concentration is given by:

0.1CA
Rate of reaction: −rA = (mol A/liter.min)
1 + 0.5CA

1
Problem 3: A liquid reactant stream
(CA = 1 mol/liter) passes through two mixed flow
reactors in series. The concentration of A in the exit of
the first reactor is 0.5 mol/liter. Find the concentration
in the exit stream of the second reactor. The reaction is
second-order with respect to A, and the volume ratio of
the two reactors is V2 /V1 = 2.

Problem 4: The liquid-phase reversible reaction


A⇀
↽B
is carried out in an isothermal CSTR operating under
steady-state conditions. The inlet stream does not
contain B, and the concentration of A in the inlet
stream is 10 mol/liter. The concentration of A at the
reactor exit, for residence times of 1 s and 5 s, are 8
mol/liter and 5 mol/liter, respectively. Assume the
forward and backward reactions are elementary,
following the first-order rate law. Also assume that the
system has constant molar density. Find the rate
constant of the forward reaction.

Problem 5: The following gas-phase reaction is carried


out in a constant volume isothermal batch reactor:

2
A+B→R+S
The reactants A and B, as well as the product S, are
non-condensable gases. At the operating temperature,
the saturation pressure of the product R is 40 kPa.
Initially, the batch reactor contains equimolar amounts
of A and B (and no products) at a total pressure of 100
kPa. The initial concentrations of the reactants are
CA0 = CB 0 = 12.56 mol/m3 . The rate of reaction is
given by:
−rA = 0.08CA CB mol/m3 .s
Determine the time at which R just starts condensing.

Problem 6: The decomposition of acetaldehyde (X) to


methane and carbon monoxide follows a four-step free
radical mechanism. The overall rate of decomposition
of X is:

1/2 3/2
k1 k2 CX
−rX = roverall = koverall CX = 1/2
k3
where k1 , k2 , and k3 denote the rate constants of the
elementary steps, with corresponding activation
energies (in kJ/mol) of 320, 40, and 0, respectively. The
temperature dependency of the rate constants is
described by the Arrhenius equation. CX denotes the

3
concentration of acetaldehyde. The rate constant for
the overall reaction is koverall .
Find the activation energy for the overall reaction (in
kJ/mol).

Problem 7: Ethylene ranks first in the United States


in total pounds of organic chemicals produced each
year, and it is the number-one organic chemical
produced annually. Over 60 billion pounds were
produced in 2010, and it sold for $0.37 per pound.
Sixty-five percent of the ethylene produced is used in
the manufacture of fabricated plastics, 20% for ethylene
oxide, 16% for ethylene dichloride and ethylene glycol,
5% for fibers, and 5% for solvents.
Determine the plug-flow reactor volume necessary to
produce 300 million pounds of ethylene a year (154.4
mol/s) by cracking a feed stream of pure ethane. The
reaction is irreversible and follows an elementary rate
law. We want to achieve 80% conversion of ethane,
operating the reactor isothermally at 1100 K and at a
pressure of 6 atm. The specific reaction rate at 1,000 K
is 0.072 s-1 and the activation energy is 82,000 cal/mol.

Problem 8: The elementary gas-phase reaction


2A → B

4
is carried out in a constant-volume batch reactor where
50% conversion is achieved in 1 hour. Pure A is charged
to the reactor at an initial concentration of 0.2
mol/dm3 . If the same reaction is carried out in a
CSTR, what volume would be necessary to achieve 50%
conversion for a feed molar flow rate of 500 mol/h and
an entering concentration of A of 0.2 mol/dm3 ?

Problem 9: We wish to treat 10 liters/min of liquid


feed containing 1 mol/dm3 of A to 99% conversion. The
stoichiometry and kinetics of the reaction are given by:

CA
A → R, −rA = (mol/liter-min)
0.2 + CA
Suggest a good arrangement for doing this using two
mixed flow reactors, and find the size of the two units
needed.

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