Choice of Reactor—Summary

Raw materials efficiency. In choosing the reactor, the overriding consideration is usually raw materials efficiency (bearing in mind materials of construction, safety, etc.). Raw material costs are usually the most important costs in the whole process. Also, any inefficiency in raw materials use is likely to create waste streams that become an environmental problem. The reactor creates inefficiency in the use of raw materials in the following ways  

Some guess for the reactor conversion must be made in order that 

Multiple reactions. For multiple reactions in which the byproduct is formed in parallel, the selectivity may increase or decrease as conversion increases. If the byproduct reaction is a higher order than the primary reaction, selectivity increases for increasing reactor conversion. In this case, the same initial setting as single reactions should be used. If the byproduct reaction of the parallel system is a 

For multiple reactions in which the byproduct is formed in series, the selectivity decreases as conversion increases. In this case, lower conversion than that for single reactions is expected to be appropriate. Again, the best guess at this stage is to set the conversion to 50 percent for irreversible reactions or to 50 percent of the equilibrium conversion for reversible reactions. 

Reactors in the overall process. It should be emphasized that many considerations other than those represented in Figs. 2.9, 2.10, and 2.11 also influence the decision on the choice of reactor. Safety considerations, operating pressure, materials of construction, etc. have a considerable effect on the outcome. 

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