DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL & MATERIALS ENGINEERING
CHE 445 Chemical reactor Analysis II winter 2025
Problem #1. (25pts)
A first-order heterogeneous irreversible reaction is taking place within a spherical catalyst pellet that is
plated with platinum throughout the pellet (see Figure). The reactant concentration halfway between the
external surface and the center of the pellet (i.e., r = R/2) is equal to one-tenth the concentration of the
pellet’s external surface. The concentration at the external surface is 0.001 gmol/dm3, the diameter (2R)
is 2 ×10-3 cm, and the diffusion coefficient is 0.1 cm2/s.
𝐴→ 𝐵
(a) What is the concentration of reactant at a distance of 3 × 10-4 cm in from the external pellet
surface?
(b) To what diameter should the pellet be reduced if the effectiveness fac-tor is to be 0.8?
Problem #2. (25pts)
A first-order isothermal reaction occurs in a bed of 3 mm diameter spherical catalyst pellets. The first-
order rate constant is 0.3 s−1. The effective diffusivity in the catalyst pellets is 3 × 10−7 m2/s. The reactor
length is 2 m. It is desired to replace the 3 mm diameter particles with 6 mm diameter particles. Calculate
the length of the reactor required to maintain the same conversion as before. Assume that the bulk
densities of the two beds are the same.
Problem #3. (25pts)
A plant is removing a trace of Cl2 from a waste-gas stream by passing it over a solid granulm absorbent
in a tubular packed bed (Figure). At present, 63.2% removal is being accomplished, but it is believed
that greater removal could be achieved if the flow rate were increased by a factor of 4, the particle
diameter was decreased by a factor of 3, and the packed tube length increased by 50%. What percentage
of chlorine would be removed under the proposed scheme? (The chlorine transferring to the absorbent is
removed completely by a virtually instantaneous chemical reaction.
Problem #4. (25pts)
The second-order decomposition reaction
is carried out in a tubular reactor packed with catalyst pellets 0.4 cm in diameter. The reaction is internal-
diffusion-limited. Pure A enters the re-actor at a superficial velocity of 3 m/s, a temperature of 250°C,
and a pressure of 500 kPa. Experiments carried out on smaller pellets where surface reaction is limiting
yielded a specific reaction rate of 0.05 m6/mol g-cat ·s. Calculate the length of bed necessary to achieve
80% conversion.
Problem # 5 (Optional, worth trying It, 10pts Bonus)
(a) For the following set of parameters, compute the axial concentration profile as a function of
total length and compare it to the profile obtained for pure plug flow.
• Mean bulk velocity of 0.01 m/s
• Bed porosity of 0.4
• Axial Peclet number of 2 (based on the particle diameter)
• Pellet diameter of 4 mm
• Bulk density of the bed 1200 kg/m3
• First-order reaction rate constant k = 1 × 10−5 m3/kgcat ⋅ s
(b) Verify for this case whether or not a bed length of 50 pellet diameters is sufficient to eliminate
the effects of axial diffusion.