CL324: Chemical Reaction Engineering

Tutorial Set 1

1. The gas-phase reaction 2A + 4B ! 2C which is rst order in A and rst-order in B is to be carried

out isothermally in a plug- ow reactor. The entering volumetric ow rate is 2.5 dm3 /min, and
the feed is equimolar in A and B. The entering pressure and temperature are 10 atm and 727C,
respectively. The specic reaction rate at this temperature is 4dm3/g mol min and the activation
energy is 15000 cal/g mol.
(a) What is the volumetric ow rate when the conversion of A is 25%?
(b) What is the rate of the reaction at the entrance to the reactor?
(c) What is the rate of the reaction when the conversion of A is 40%? At this conversion, CA = ?
(d) What is the value of the specic reaction rate at 1227C?
(e) Determine the volume of the PFR for a 40% conversion?
2. Calculate the equilibrium conversion and concentrations for each of the following reactions.
(a) The liquid phase reaction A + B $ C with CA0 = CB0 = 2 mol/dm3 and K = 10 dm3/mol.
(b) The gas phase reaction A $ 3C is carried out in a ow reactor with no pressure drop. Pure A
enters at a temperature of 400 K and 10 atm. At this temperature, K = 0:25 (dm3/mol)2 .
i. The gas phase reaction is carried out in a constant pressure batch reaction.
ii. The gas phase reaction is carried out in a constant volume batch reactor.
3. An elementary gas phase reaction A ! 2B is to be carried out in an isothermal PFR. The reaction
mixture follows the ideal gas law. The reaction rate constant is 10 sec 1 . The feed has 40% volume
fraction of component A and the balance as an inert component which does not participate in the
reaction.
(a) a) You need to nd out GHSV (Gas Hourly Space Velocity) that should be employed for the
cases, (i) 50% conversion (ii) 50% drop in feed concentration
(b) For the above example, nd the actual residence time of the reaction mixture in the reactor
for both cases.
(c) If the reaction is second order instead of rst order and the rate constant is 0.01m3/kmol/min,
nd the GHSV for cases A and B. Feed concentration of A and inert are 1 kmol/m3 each.
Also nd the actual residence time of the reaction mixture in the reactor for cases (i) and (ii).
4. We wish to explore various reactor setups for the transformation of A into R. The feed contains
99% A, 1% R; the desired product is to consist of 10% A, 90% R. The transformation takes place
by means of the elementary reaction A+R ! R+R with rate constant k = 1 liter/mol min. The
concentration of active materials is CA0 + CR0 = CA + CR = C0 = 1 mol/liter throughout. What
reactor holding time will yield a product in which CR = 0:9 mol/liter in (a) a plug ow reactor,
(b) a mixed ow reactor, and (c) a minimum-size setup without recycle?
5. An elementary, irreversible, isothermal auto-catalytic reaction 2A + R ! 3R is to be carried
out in a CSTR or a PFR or a suitable network of CSTR and PFR (CSTR followed by PFR, or
PFR followed by CSTR), so as to minimize the total reactor volume for a given conversion. Show
that for a feed comprising A and R only, and with a total concentration C0, a CSTR followed
by a PFR gives the best option. Obtain an expression (in terms of kinetics, feed concentrations,
desired product concentrations, intermediate concentration C 1 ) for the total space time for such
a network if exit concentration from a CSTR is C 1.
(a) What intermediate concentration minimizes the total reactor volume?
(b) Find the minimum reactor network space time if rate constant is 0.01 m6 /kmol2/min2 , feed
has 9 and 1 kmol/m3 A and R, respectively, and if the product should have 1 and 9 kmol/m3
A and R, respectively. Also compare this space time requirement with the corresponding
requirement if only PFR or only CSTR is employed.
C

c SBN, 2016, IIT Bombay

CL324: Chemical Reaction Engineering

Tutorial Set 1

6. A liquid feed is to be processed in an isothermal CSTR to convert A to B as per a reversible elementary reaction A $ B. Feed is at 300K, and has no B, but only A, at a concentration of 9 kmol/m3.
The forward (F) and reverse (R) reaction rate constants are: k = 1014 exp ( 30; 000=(RT )),
k = 1026 exp ( 55; 000=(RT )). Activation energies are in cal/gmol. Feed density is 1000 kg/m3
and feed specic heat is 1.5 cal/g/C.
(a)
H = ?
(b) Find the reactor LHSV for 80% conversion of A.
(c) Determine the optimal operating temperature for an isothermal reaction yielding max B.
7. An isothermal, elementary, irreversible autocatalytic reaction is carried out in a ow reactor. The
feed comprises only A and R, with total concentration C0.
(a) If the reaction is, A+R!R+R, show that
F

RX

R
= exp[
(i) CCA =C
=C
A0

R0

kC0 

] for a PFR,

(b) If the reaction is 2A+R!3R, show that

 1


1
1
(i) PFR:  =
C0
ln
kC02

CA

CA0

(ii)  = k[CCA0C

CA =CR
CA0 =CR0

0 A


;

CA

2
CA

] for a CSTR

(ii) CSTR:  = k(CCA0C 2

0 A

CA

3
CA

(c) If the reaction A+R!R+R is non-elementary, with the reaction rate proportional to CA CR0 5,
(i) show that for a PFR
  p C + pC C 
 pC pC C 
1
0
0
A
 = p
ln pC + pC C
ln pC 0 pC 0 C A
k C0
0
0
A0
0
0
A0
(ii) What is it for a CSTR?
8. The stoichiometry of the decomposition is A!2R. The following data are obtained at 0C in a
constant volume batch reactor using pure gaseous A:
(a) Is the reaction reversible? Justify.
(b) Assuming reversibility and rst-order kinetics wrt A, derive a rate expression for this reaction,
in a constant volume batch reactor in terms of XA (conversion of A), XAe (eqbm conversion),
and k (forward rate constant). Assume the ratio of initial partial pressures to be M .
(c) Determine XAe , and the forward and backward rate constants for the reaction.
(d) Assuming the reaction is 2nd order with respect to A, derive an expression for the reaction
rate as a function of conversion, forward rate constant and eqlm constant in a ow system.
:

Time (min) 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 1
p (mm Hg) 760 600 475 390 320 275 240 215 150
A

9. For the irreversible gas-phase dissociation of the dimer, A2 , A2 !2A, determine the CSTR volume
necessary to achieve 80% conversion and produce 1000 gmol of A per hour. The feed stream consists
of 60% A2 and 40% inerts at a pressure of 10 atm and a temperature of 40C. The following data
were obtained in the laboratory in a well-mixed constant- pressure batch reactor, which had an
initial charge consisting of 85% A2 and 15% inerts. Process your data in terms of the measured
variables (i.e., time and volume). T = 40C, P = 303.39 kPa
()
0 30 60 120 240
(lit) 0.2 0.251 0.276 0.302 0.322

t s
V

c SBN, 2016, IIT Bombay

CL324: Chemical Reaction Engineering

Tutorial Set 1

10. An elementary reversible reaction A $ B takes place. The initial feed is pure A with concentration
CA0 . Forward reaction rate constant is k1 and the reverse reaction rate constant is k2 . Obtain the
following expressions as performance equations of the reactor. K is the equilibrium constant and
subscript e stands for equilibrium.
(a) Check that for a batch reactor, all these expressions give expected results for (i) irreversible
reaction (ii) at t = 0 and (iii) at t ! 1.
CA

= k C+A0k (k2 + k1 exp( (k1 + k2)t))

1

12.
13.
14.

XA
XAe

= KK+ 1 exp

k1 t
XAe

=K )k1 t)
= KK+ 1 exp ( (k1 + k2)t) = exp( (((KK++1)1)=K
(b) Derive appropriate expressions if the reactor is a CSTR. Check your expressions for the cases
(i) irreversible reaction (ii) at t = 0 and (iii) at t ! 1.
(c) Derive expressions as above for a PFR.
(a) The rule of thumb that the rate of reaction doubles for a 10C increase in temperature occurs
only at a specic temperature for a given activation energy. Develop a relationship between the
temperature and activation energy for which the rule of thumb holds. Neglect any variation
of concentration with temperature.
(b) Determine the activation energy and frequency factor from the following data: [k (min 1 ),
T ( C)] = [0.001, 00.0], [0.050, 100.0].
After 8 minutes in a batch reactor, reactant (CA0 = 1 mol/liter) is 80% converted; after 18 minutes,
conversion is 90%. Find a rate equation to represent this reaction.
A rst-order reversible liquid reaction A
R (CA0 = 0.5 mol/liter, CR0 = 0) takes place in a
batch reactor. After 8 minutes, conversion of A is 33.3% while equilibrium conversion is 66.7%.
Find the rate equation for this reaction.
The dehydrogenation of methylcyclohexane (M) to produce toluene (T) was carried out over a 0.3%
Pt/A12O3 catalyst in a dierential catalytic reactor. The reaction is carried out in the presence
of hydrogen to avoid coking. The data are given below. Determine the model parameters for the
rate law: r = (kP )=(1 + k P ).
mol toluene
mol toluene
P 2 (atm) P (atm) r
P 2 (atm) P (atm) r
s kg cat
s kg cat
1.0
1.0
1.20
3.0
3.0
1.27
1.5
1.0
1.25
1.0
4.0
1.28
0.5
1.0
1.30
3.0
2.0
1.25
0.5
0.5
1.10
4.0
1.0
1.30
1.0
0.25
0.92
0.5
0.25
0.94
0.5
0.1
0.64
2.0
0.05
0.41
A batch reactor experiment yielded the following data for the reaction A!B. Initial feed was pure
A at 60 kmol/m3 . The mole fraction of B was monitored with time. You need to design a reactor
to treat a 90:10 mixture of A:B to 80% conversion. What should the batch time be?
Time, min 0.1 0.5 1.0 2.0 3.0 5.0
yB
0.65 0.84 0.88 0.92 0.93 0.95
An aqueous reaction is being studied in a laboratory- size steady state system. The reactor ask
contents (5 liters uid) are well-stirred and uniform in composition. The stoichiometry of the
reaction is A ! 2R, and reactant A is introduced at 1 mol/L concentration. The results of the
experiments are given in the table below. Assume constant density.

where

11.

and

XAe

XA

15.

16.

c SBN, 2016, IIT Bombay

CL324: Chemical Reaction Engineering

Tutorial Set 1

(a) Determine the order of this reaction.

(b) Determine the rate constant as a function of the activation energy and pre-exponential factor.
Run Feed rate (cc/sec) T ( C)
1
2
12
2
15
13
3
15
84

CR

(mol/L) in euent
1.8
1.5
1.8

17. A batch reactor experiment yielded the following data for reaction A!B. Initial feed had mole
fractions of A and B as 0.9 and 0.1 respectively. The molar density of the feed was 50 kmol/m3 .
Mole fraction of B was monitored with time. You need to design a reactor to treat pure A to 80%
conversion using the above given experimental data. What batch time would you recommend?
Time, min 1 2 5 10 20 50
yB
0.38 0.53 0.72 0.84 0.91 0.96
18. A batch reactor experiment yielded the following data for reaction A!B. The feed was initially at
80 mole% A and rest B. The molar density of the feed was 30 kmol/m3 . The mole fraction of A
was monitored with time. You need to design a reactor to treat a 90:10 mixture of A:B to 10:90%
mixture. What batch time would you recommend?
Time, min 1 5 10 20 50 100
yA
0.79 0.76 0.72 0.65 0.49 0.29
19. The rate of the following reaction is rst order with respect to hydroxyl ions and ethyl acetate:
OH + CH3CO(O)CH2CH3 ! CH3CO (O) +CH3CH2 OH. The reaction is carried out in a CSTR
of volume 0.602 L at 298 K. There are two inlet feeds such that the ow rate of hydroxide solution
is 1.16 L/h and the ow rate of ethyl acetate solution is 1.20 L/h. The inlet concentration of OH
in the hydroxyl feed stream is 0.006 mol/L, whereas the inlet concentration of ethyl acetate in the
corresponding feed stream is 0.04 mol/L. The outlet concentration of OH is 0.0011 mol/L.
(a) Draw a schematic of the reactor. Label the volumetric ow rates, molar rate and concentrations in the input and exit streams.
(b) Derive the CSTR performance equation with respect to the concentration of limiting reactant.
Start by writing the mole balance for CSTR.
20. Calculate the rate constant for this reaction.Find the overall order of the irreversible reaction 2H2 +
2NO ! N2 + 2H2 O from the following constant-volume data using equimolar amounts of hydrogen
and nitric oxide:
Total P, mm Hg 200 240 280 320 360
Half life, sec
265 186 115 104 67
21. Using a color indicator which shows when the CA < 0:1 mol/L, the following scheme is devised to
explore the kinetics of the decomposition of A. A 0.6 mol A/L feed is introduced into the rst of the
two mixed ow reactors in series, each having a volume of 400 cc. The color change occurs in the
rst reactor for a steady-state feed rate of 10cc/min, and in the second reactor for a steady-state
feed rate of 50 cc/min. Determine the rate equation for the decomposition of A.
22. The liquid phase irreversible reaction A ! B + C is carried out in a CSTR. To learn the rate law
the volumetric ow rate v0 is varied and the euent concentrations of species A is recorded as a
function of the space time  . Pure A enters the reactor at a concentration of 2 mol/dm3. Steady
state conditions exist when the measurements are recorded. Determine the reaction order and the
rate constant.
c SBN, 2016, IIT Bombay

CL324: Chemical Reaction Engineering

Tutorial Set 1

(min)
15 38 100 300 1200
(mol/L) 1.5 1.25 1.0 0.75 0.5


CA

23. Consider the rate expression applicable to the hydrolysis of sucrose by the enzyme sucrase, r =
(k1CA C 0 )=(CA + C ).
(a) Integrate the rate equation to obtain a linear relationship in t=(CA0 CA ).
(b) Starting with a sucrose concentration of 1.0 mmol/L, and an enzyme concentration (assume
this remains constant) of C = 0:01 mmol/L, the following kinetic data are obtained in a
batch reactor. Use the integral method to evaluate the two rate constants (k1 and C ) from
the data below. Repeat using the dierential method.
0

EO

Time, hr
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9
10
11
CA , mmol/L 0.84 0.68 0.53 0.38 0.27 0.16 0.09 0.04 0.018 0.006 0.0025

c SBN, 2016, IIT Bombay