Regardless of reactor types, the following reaction

occurred at 100% conversion. Determine moles of the

limiting reactant (ethanol) required to achieve the product
mole.
C2H5OH + 3O2 2CO2 + 3H2O
Moles:
n
10 3
4.5
What is then the number of moles of unreacted oxygen
will be in the output of the reactor?

Answers
n = 1.5
No. of moles of the unconverted excess O 2
= 5.5

Mole Balance of
Reactive Unit
GENERAL

Fj 0 F j rjV

dN j
dt

Batch?

Stirred Tank Reactor (STR)

dN A
FA0 FA rAV
dt

Continuous (CSTR)?

Tubular Reactor

FA

FA

V V

dN A
rA V
dt

Plug Flow?

Packed-Bed?

Chapter 2

Conversion
and
Reactor Sizing

Objectives
Upon the completion of this chapter, students should be
able to:
Define and compute conversion for any reactive unit
Rewrite the design equations as the functions of
conversion
Size the reactors based on the rate given as a function
of conversion

Conversions

Conversions
Consider reaction
aA + bB

cC + dD

Using basis stoichiometric coefficients,

A is a limiting reactant
Thus, A b B c C d D
a
a
a
So,
Conversion of A is

moles of A reacted
XA
moles of A feed

Design Equations

Design Equations:
Batch System
In batch reactor,

moles of

A consumed N A0 X

where
[NA0] = no. of moles of A feed
[X]

= conversion of A after a t time.

Design Equations:
Batch System
Therefore,
Number of moles of A remain after a t time, is
N A N A0 N A0 X
N A0 1 X

where
[NA] = moles of A in reactor at t time
[NA0X] = moles of A consumed

10

Design Equations:
Batch System
To design a batch reactor that produce a certain
conversion of A in desired length of time, model can
be developed.
From moles balances equation for batch system is
rAV = dNA/dt
Knowing that N A N A0 N A0 X ,dN A0 0 N A0 dX
Thus,

rAV N A 0

dX
dt

 For a constant volume batch reactor,

V=Vo;
dN A
rAV
From mole balance;
dt
Knowing that; C N A
A
V

Thus; dN A

dC AV

rAV
dt
dt
1 dN A
dC A

rA
V dt
dt

12

 If V=Vo;
1 dN A
V0 dt

NA
d(
)
V0
dC A

rA
dt
dt

To determine the time to achieve a

specified conversion, X;
dX
dt N A 0
rAV
Now, integrate it;
X

t N A0
0

dX
rAV
13

Design Equations:
Flow System
For continuous system, time is proportional with volume.
Thus, conversion for flow system is a function of volume, V
[FA] = [FA0] - [FA0X]
= FA0 [1-X]
where
[FA] = molar flow rate of A leaves system
[FA0] = molar flow rate of A fed to the system
X = conversion of A
14

Design Equations:
Flow System
For CSTR , mole balance is:
V=
(FA FAo)/rj
Knowing that
[FA] = [FA0] - [FA0X]
Thus,

V
V

FA0 FA
rA
FA0 X
rA exit

FA0 FA0 FA0 X

rA
15

Design Equations:
Flow System
For PFR, mole balance of A is
dFA/dV = rA
For flow system; FA= FA0 FA0X
Differentiating; dFA = -FA0dX
Substitute into PFRs mole balance;

dX
FA0
rA
dV

dFA
rA
dV

dX
V FA0
rA
0
16

Design Equations:
Flow System
For PBR, mole balance of A is
dFA/dW = rA
For flow system; FA= FA0 FA0X
Differentiating; dFA = -FA0dX
Substitute into PBRs mole balance;

dX
FA0
r ' A
dW

dFA
rA
dW

In the absence of pressure drop, P=0, we can integrate

it into;
X

dX
W FA0
rA
0

17

Design
Applications

18

Applications
The CSTRs and PFRs can be sized by:
Given rA with a function of conversion

rA f X

Construct Levenspiel plot by plotting either FAO/-rA or

1/-rA as a function of X.

19

Applications
VCSTR

FA0 X

rA

VPFR

CSTR

FA0

dX
rA
0

PFR
FA0
(rA )

FA0
(rA )

20

 Irreversible reaction
1
As X1,-rA0, thus,
therefore
rA
V
Reversible reaction
The max conversion is the equilibrium
conversion, Xe.
As XXe,-rA0, thus, 1 therefore
rA
V
21

Reactor in Series
FAO
1
CSTR

X1

X2

FA1

FA2

2
PFR

X3

FA3

CSTR

Moles of A reacted up to reactor n

Xn
Moles of A feed to first reactor
Valid with no side stream*
22

Reactor in Series
V3

FA0 X 1
V1
rA1
X2

FA0
V2
dX
rA
X1
V1

V2

FAO X 2 X 1
V2
rA 2
FAO X 3 X 2
V3
rA3
23

PFR in Series
FAO

FA1

X=0
X=X1

FA2
X=X2

FA3; X=X3

Let us compare two scenarios

(i) Single reactor achieving X3
(ii) 3 reactors in series achieving
X3

FA0/-rA

How is the total volume of 3

reactors in series related to
single reactor ??
X

24

CSTR in Series
FAO
X=0

Can we model PFR as a series of

n equal volume CSTRs??

FA1
X=X1

FA2
X=X2

FA3; X=X3

Compare volume for the following 2

cases
FA0/-rA
(i) A single reactor achieving X3
(ii) 3 reactors in series achieving X3
How is the total volume of 3 reactors
in series related to single reactor ??
X25

The total residence time of the CSTR battery

approaches that of the PFR for large number of n.

27

Space Time and

Space Velocity

28

Space Time and

Space Velocity
The extent of conversion of reactants in a chemical
reactor is related to the time the chemical species
spend in the reactor.
Two types of time-parameters are commonly used in
chemical reaction engineering
space time
residence time

Space time is often used as a scaling parameter in

reactor design
29

Definitions of Space Time

and Space Velocity
V

vo
Space Time () :

Time required to process 1 reactor volume of fluid at inlet

conditions
vo
Space Velocity: V
SV

LHSV-Liquid Hourly Space Velocity

(liquid feed rate at 60 or75 F)
GHSV - Gas Hourly Space Velocity
(gas feed rate at STP)
Actual Residence Time: The time actually spent by fluid
inside the reactor.

Summary
Differential
Equation
Batch

dX
N A0
rA V
dt

PBR

dX
- rA V
0

t N A0

FA0 X out X in
V
(rA ) out

CSTR

PFR

Algebraic Equation Integral

Equation

dX
FA0
rA
dV
dX
FA0
rA'
dW

V FA0
W FA0
31

X ou t

dX
- rA
X in

Xout

dX
X - rA'
in

Example
A gas of pure A at 830 kPa enters a reactor
with a volumetric flow rate, v0 of
2 dm3/s
at 500 K. Calculate the entering
concentration of A, CA0 and the entering
molar flow rate, FA0. Assume A is an ideal
gas.

32

Example 1: Sizing PFR

Considering an isothermal gas-phase
isomerization, AB. Determine the PFR
volume necessary to achieve 80%
conversion. The entering molar flow rate of
A is 0.4 mol/s.
X

0.0

0.1

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.7

-rA (mol/m3.s) 0.4

5

0.3
7

0.3
0

0.19
5

0.113 0.07
9

0.8
0.05

Example 1 (Procedure
of solving)
Process data
X

0.0

0.1

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.7

0.8

FAo/-rA (m3)

0.89

1.08

1.33

2.05

3.54

5.06

8.0

Solve design equation

0 .8

FAO
V
dX
rA
0

Example 2:
Sizing CSTR
The reaction described in Example 1 is to
be carried out in a CSTR. Calculate the
volume necessary to achieve 80%
conversion

35

Example 3: Reactor in
series
The isomerization of butane n-C4H10 i-C4H10 was
carried out adiabatically in liquid phase and the data in
table below were obtained. The reactor scheme is
shown below. Calculate the volume of each of the
reactors for an entering molar flow rate of n-butane of
50 kmol/hr). X1=0.2, X2=0.6 and X3= 0.65.
X

0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.65

-rA (kmol/m3.h) 39

53

59

38

25

The End

37