Scribd
Upload
0 views

Lecture-5-Part 1 (1)

The document discusses the importance of catalysts in chemical plants, highlighting their role in enhancing reaction rates and selectivity. It covers various types of reactors, their design considerations, and industrial practices, as well as the significance of separation processes in energy consumption and investment costs. Additionally, it outlines heat transfer mechanisms and design criteria for heat exchangers, emphasizing challenges such as fouling and the handling of thermally sensitive materials.

Uploaded by

universalsoldiervishal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
0 views

Lecture-5-Part 1 (1)

The document discusses the importance of catalysts in chemical plants, highlighting their role in enhancing reaction rates and selectivity. It covers various types of reactors, their design considerations, and industrial practices, as well as the significance of separation processes in energy consumption and investment costs. Additionally, it outlines heat transfer mechanisms and design criteria for heat exchangers, emphasizing challenges such as fouling and the handling of thermally sensitive materials.

Uploaded by

universalsoldiervishal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 8

IIT Delhi

Process Synthesis and Process Flow Diagrams of Chemical Plants:


Reactors and heat exchangers

Prof. Abhijeet Raj


[email protected]
Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Block III-
3B-14
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
Hauz Khas, Delhi
110016
Process Flowsheet
 > 85% of all industrial reactions need catalyst

 Catalyst : Core of chemical plant


Infrastructure
 1995 Market Value: $ 6×109 (Polymerization 36%, Production of chemical
26%, oil processing 22%, emission control 16%) Processing

Active site of Catalyst


Reactor
Design of Reactor
Catalyst
Pre-treatment of starting material
(Size reduction, dissolution, mixing, filtration, sieving etc.)
 Infrastructure
(waste disposal, tank farms, energy
Product workup
supply,
(Rectification , Extraction, Crystallization, Filtration, drying etc.)
safety devices, and so on.)
CATALYST
pacts rate of reaction (Activity) but directs reaction as well(Selectivity).

 Changes the rate of a chemical reaction without appearing


in product. (Doesn’t mean that catalyst is unchanged)
Types: Homogeneous, heterogeneous, bio-, photo, and electrocatalyst
(Homo- same phase, dissolves in liquid, Hetero- solid-liquid interface)

Challenge: Finding New One


(Haber –Bosch process: 3000 catalysts,
20000 experiments)

Process Developer:
1. Selectivity
2. Activity (determines the size of reactor), rwith cat= Acat * rwithout cat, Acat α exp (EA-EA,cat) / RT
3. Lifetime (Deactivation, 90% expenditure, surface, subsurface, bulk)
4. Mechanical stability (heterogeneous catalyst, Mechanical stress during transport and insertion)
5. Production cost
Reactors: Chapter 13 (Peters, Timmerhaus,
West)
Heart of chemical plant (space and investment might be low)
 Process Developer:
 Reaction conditions (Process Parameters)
 Size of the reactor
 Shape of reactor
 Operating mode
 Chemical Reaction Technology :
 Depending upon choice of criteria, reactor types are selected
 Number of phases involved (homogenous and heterogeneous )
 Operating mode (limiting case: batch and continuous)
 Temperature control (limiting cases: Isothermal and adiabatic)
 Residence time behaviour (Limiting case: plug flow and complete backmixing) /
hydrodynamic behaviour
 Mixing of starting materials (limiting cases of ideal micromixing and complete segregation)
 Combination: Homogenous, continuous , adiabatic, plug flow
 Complex combination of chemical reaction, mass & heat transfer
 Complete solution lies in 3 PDEs
 PDE 1: Conservation of mass (extended form of continuity equation, Concentration Vs space
& Time)
 PDE 2: Conservation of energy/enthalpy (Temperature distribution Vs space and time)
Reactor
 Industrial Practice:
 Gas-Phase reactors
 Liquid-phase reactor
 Gas-liquid reactors
 Gas-solid reactors and so on…
 Relevant Type of reactor :
 Stirred tank Reactor
 Tubular Reactor
 Fluidized bed reactor
 Microreactor (Recent development)
Reactor
Stirred tank Reactor Tubular Reactor
Homogeneous liquid-phase reaction  Highly exo- and endothermic reaction (large
Batch mode area/vol)
Small production (thumb rule: 10,000t/a)  Turbulent flow regime (Re>104)
Frequent product change  L/D>50
Long residence time  Heterogeneously catalysed gas phase reaction
Homogenization (choice of stirrer critical) ( partial oxidation)
Attached vessel wall, built-in pipe coil, external  Not suitable for slow reaction
 Not suitable for viscous media

Fluidized bed reactor Microreactor (Recent development)


 Fluid flow through a layer of particles  Characteristics dimensions ~ sub-mili to sub-
 For highly exothermic or endothermic micron
reaction  Higher drive for heat and mass transfer
 Heat transfer 5-10 times faster than (Increase in gradient)
fixed-bed  High surface area /Volume
 Low pressure drop compared to fixed bed  Fast reactions with high heats of reaction
 Diameters~ 10 m  Avoiding undesirable hot spots
 Scale up risk: channelling, bubble
Product Processing (Thermal & Mechanical Separation)
Chapters 14-15 (Peters, Timmerhaus, West)
 Separation processes ~ 43% of Energy consumption and 40-70% Investment cost

 Thermal separation: Rectification


 Mechanical separation: filtration and size reduction,
 Chemical separation: ion exchange
 Heat Transfer
 Thermal radiation – Stefan Boltzmann law
 Thermal conduction – Fourier’s first law
 Thermal convection – Via Fluid flow on a wall ,Free convection / forced convection (Pump
/compressor)
 Two-Film Model
 Heat Exchanger
 Doubletube
 Co-current
 Tube bundle
 Counter-current  Counter-current
 Spiral
 Cross-current (Predominantly)
 Plate
Product Processing (Thermal & Mechanical
Separation)
Design Criteria for Tube bundle heat exchanger Major Challenge: Fouling and Cleaning
 Tube length ~1.5 -6 m
 Tube diameter ~ standard size 16, 20, Thermally Sensitive Material: Lab Vs
25 mm Commercial
 State of Flow~ Turbulence- 1-2.5 ms-1  Lab: High surface area to Volume (Small
 Low Velocity ~ low pressure drop temp difference)
 High Velocity ~ Less fouling, high heat  Commercial : Low surface area to volume
transfer (Huge surface temp difference)

Evaporators Condenser
 Natural Convection evaporator with
s
 Temperature removed in liquid-liquid heat
heating elements exchanger
 Thin film evaporator  Heat transfer media : 0-2000C
 Rotary Flash evaporator  Beyond : Organic heat transfer media (-55-
 Helical tube evaporator (viscous media, 4000C, Nitrogen blanketing), But flammable
High velocity)  Salt melts: 150-5500C
 Short path evaporators (under high  Ternary eutectic mixture: NaNO2, NaNO3 and
vacuum) KNO3
 Binary: 45% NaNo2 and 55% KNO3

You might also like