• Heat Exchanger Input

– Enter outlet temperature, pressure and/or heat

duty
– Sizing (for dynamics) based on area (requires
knowledge of heat transfer coefficient)

Q  mCpT

Q  UAT

– Example: CO heat exchanger

• Compressor Input
– Mode of operation (isentropic, efficiencies, etc.)
– Outlet pressure
– Stages
– Model equations consist of energy and entropy
balances
– “Size” is just power (not really geometry; geometry
not as relevant to dynamics)
– Example: air compressor
• Flash Vessel
– Enter flash temperature, pressure, vapor fraction
and/or heat duty
– Sizing (for dynamics) based on volume (L/D ratio)
– Governed by VLE (phase equilibrium) and mass
(and energy) balances
– Example: pentane/hexane separation
• Distillation/Absorption/Stripping (staged separations)
– Enter number of stages, reflux ratios, heat duties
– Sizing (for dynamics) based on height and diameter of tower
– Height based on number of stages
– Diameter based on vapor flowrate/velocity in tower
– Governed by VLE (phase equilibrium) and mass (and energy)
balances
– Example: benzene/toluene separation

COLUMN

DIST

FEED

BOTTOM
Chemical Reactors/Reactions
 Chemical Reactors/Reactions
 Thermodynamics
• Equilibrium conversion and yields
• Adiabatic equilibrium conversion (safety!)
 Kinetics
• Reactor size
• Residence time
• Product yields (maximize as a function of time)

REACTOR

FEED PRODUCT
Chemical Reaction Equilibrium
 Equilibrium constant and Gibbs free energy
  Grxn 
Ka  exp  
 RT 
 Equilibrium constant and activities
C i
K a   ai a  Activity 
Species fugacity in a mixture
Species fugacity in its standard state
i 1
 Example c d
a a
aA  bB  cC  dD Ka  C D
a b
a a A B
 Activities
 Phase matters
• Gas mixtures (low to moderate pressures)
yi P
ai 
1 bar
• Liquid mixtures (low to moderate pressures)

ai  xi i

• Solids (low to moderate pressures)

ai  1
 RGIBBS
 Useful when exact number of reactions are
large or simply unknown
 Does not require reaction stoichiometry
 Minimization of Gibbs free energy to
determine equilibrium product composition
 Handles simultaneous phase equilibrium
(including solids)
 Example
 Water-Gas Shift Reaction

CO  H 2O  CO2  H 2

 Find equilibrium constant (Ka) vs. temperature

 Chemical Reaction Engineering
 Reactor types
• Continuously stirred tank reactor (CSTR)
• Plugged flow reactor (PFR)
 Mole Balances
• CSTR

• PFR

• Conversion

Flow Batch
 Reaction Rate Laws
aA + bB cC + dD

-rA = rate of disappearance of reactant A

k = reaction rate constant
CA = concentration of reactant A
CB = concentration of reactant B
a = reaction order for species A
b = reaction order for species B

Arrhenius Equation