CRE – 2018-01-19 – Exam A

096116 Chemical Reaction Engineering

19 January 2018

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1. Heterogeneous catalytic reactor (30%)

The following irreversible reaction is carried out in a heterogeneous plug-flow reactor: 𝐴𝐴 + 𝐵𝐵 → 𝐶𝐶. The reactor is 20 mm
long, 500 𝜇𝜇𝜇𝜇 in internal diameter, and packed with catalyst particles of 20 𝜇𝜇𝜇𝜇 in diameter. The entering partial pressure
of A is 231 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 and the entering flow to the reactor is equimolar. The molar flow rate of A is 2 ∙ 10−5 𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑙/𝑠𝑠 and the
total volumetric flow is 2.83 ∙ 10−7 𝑚𝑚3 /𝑠𝑠. The total weight of catalyst in a reactor is 3.5 ∙ 10−6 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘. The reactor is kept
𝑚𝑚6
isothermal at 120°𝐶𝐶. The reaction rate is second order 𝑟𝑟 = 𝑘𝑘𝐶𝐶𝐴𝐴 𝐶𝐶𝐵𝐵 , with kinetic constant equal to 𝑘𝑘 = 0.004 .
𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑠 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐
5 1
The pressure drop coefficient is 𝛼𝛼 = 3.55 ∙ 10 .
𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐

a. Plot the molar flow rates of species A, B and C, the conversion X and the pressure along the length (i.e. the
catalyst weight) of reactor. Clearly describe the assumptions you applied for writing the governing equations.
b. Calculate the number of reactors in parallel needed to produce 10 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡/𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦 of C (𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝐶𝐶 = 99 𝑔𝑔/𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚).
c. Repeat calculations at point (a) for the case when the catalyst weight remains the same, but the particle
diameter becomes 25 𝜇𝜇𝜇𝜇. Compare your new results with the previous ones and describe (max 4 lines) what
you find, noting anything unusual.
d. How would your answers to part (a) change if the reaction were reversible, with equilibrium constant 𝐾𝐾𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 =
𝑙𝑙
40 ? Describe what you find (max 4 lines).
𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚
e. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using an array of reactors over using one single packed bed
reactor that provides the same yield and conversion (max 4 lines)?

2. Optimal recycle ratio (20%)

An isothermal reversible reaction 𝐴𝐴 ↔ 𝐵𝐵 is carried out in an aqueous
solution. The reaction is first-order in both directions. The forward
rate constant is 𝑘𝑘𝑓𝑓 = 0.4 ℎ−1 and the equilibrium constant is 𝐾𝐾𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 = 4.
The feed to the plant contains 100 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘/𝑚𝑚3 of A and enters at the rate
of 12 𝑚𝑚3 /ℎ. Reactor effluents pass to a separator, where B is entirely
recovered. The reactor is a stirred tank of volume 60 𝑚𝑚3 . A fraction 𝑓𝑓
of the unreacted effluent is recycled as a solution containing

1
 CRE – 2018-01-19 – Exam A

100 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘/𝑚𝑚3 of A and the remainder is discarded. Product B is worth $2 per kilogram and operating costs are $50 per
cubic meter of solution enetering the separator.
a. What value of 𝑓𝑓 maximizes the operational profit of the plant?
b. What fraction A fed to the plant is converted at the optimum?

3. Reaction between methanol and triphenyl (15%)

The liquid phase reaction of methanol (A) and triphenyl (B) takes place in a batch reactor at 25°𝐶𝐶: 𝐴𝐴 + 𝐵𝐵 → 𝐶𝐶 + 𝐷𝐷.
For an equal molar feed of A and B, the following concentration-time data was obtained for methanol:

𝐶𝐶𝐴𝐴 (𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚/𝑙𝑙) 1 0.95 0.816 0.707 0.50 0.37

𝑡𝑡 (ℎ) 0 0.278 1.389 2.78 8.33 16.66

The following concentration-time data were obtained for an initial methanol concentration 0.1 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚/𝑙𝑙 and an initial
triphenyl concentration of 1 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚/𝑙𝑙:

𝐶𝐶𝐴𝐴 (𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚/𝑙𝑙) 0.1 0.0847 0.0735 0.0526 0.0357

𝑡𝑡 (ℎ) 0 1 2 5 10

Determine the rate law and rate law parameters.

4. Multiple reactions in a plug flow reactor (25%)

The following two elementary liquid phase reactions are carried out adiabatically in a 10 𝑙𝑙 plug flow reactor:
𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝑙𝑙 2 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐
𝐴𝐴 + 2𝐵𝐵 → 2𝐶𝐶 ∆𝐻𝐻1 = 20000 𝑘𝑘1 = 0.001 @300𝐾𝐾 𝐸𝐸1 = 5000
𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 2 𝑠𝑠 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚
𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐
𝐴𝐴 + 𝐶𝐶 → 2𝐷𝐷 ∆𝐻𝐻2 = −10000 𝑘𝑘2 = 0.001 @300𝐾𝐾 𝐸𝐸2 = 7500
𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝑠𝑠 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚
After streams A and B mix, species A enters the reactor at a concentration of 𝐶𝐶𝐴𝐴0 = 2 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚/𝑙𝑙 and species B at a
concentration of 4 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚/𝑙𝑙. The entering total volumetric flow rate is 10 𝑙𝑙/𝑠𝑠.
Assuming you could vary the entering temperature between 600 𝐾𝐾 and 700 𝐾𝐾, what entering temperature would you
recommend to maximize the concentration of species C exiting the reactor (±10 𝐾𝐾 accuracy)? Assume all the species
have the same density and negligible pressure drop along the reactor.

Additional data
𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐
𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐴𝐴 = 20 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐵𝐵 = 20 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶 = 60 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐷𝐷 = 80
𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝐾𝐾 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝐾𝐾 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝐾𝐾 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝐾𝐾

5. Real tubular reactor (20%)

The residence time distribution curve 𝐸𝐸(𝑡𝑡) reported in the figure below
was obtained from a tracer test on a tubular reactor in which dispersion
is believed to occur. A second-order reaction 𝐴𝐴 → 𝐵𝐵 with 𝑘𝑘𝐶𝐶𝐴𝐴𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 =
0.2 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚−1 is to be carried out in this reactor. There is no dispersion
occurring either upstream or downstream of the reactor, but there is
dispersion inside the reactor.
a. What is the mean residence time 𝑡𝑡𝑚𝑚 and the variance?
b. What conversions do you expect from an ideal PFR and an
ideal CSTR in a real reactor with 𝑡𝑡𝑚𝑚 ?
c. What is the conversion predicted by the segregation model?