Conversion flow reactor

Eigure 2 shows that even materials which are rather resistant to oxidation ( 2/ 1 0.1) are consumed to a noticeable degree at high conversions. Also the use of plug-flow or batch reactors can offer a measurable improvement in efficiencies in comparison with back-mixed reactors. Intermediates that cooxidize about as readily as the feed hydrocarbon (eg, ketones with similar stmcture) can be produced in perhaps reasonable efficiencies but, except at very low conversions, are subject to considerable loss through oxidation. They may be suitable coproducts if they are also precursors to more oxidation-resistant desirable materials. Intermediates which oxidize relatively rapidly (/ 2 / i — 3-50 eg, alcohols and aldehydes) are difficult to produce in appreciable amounts, even in batch or plug-flow reactors. Indeed, for = 50, to isolate 90% or more of the intermediate made, the conversion must... 

Find the conditions for minimum V fV when conversion is 80%. The flow reactor equation is... 

One quantitative measure of reactor efficiency at a conversion level x is the ratio of the mean residence time or the reactor volume in a plug flow reactor to that of the reactor in question,... 

Example 5 Application of Effectiveness For a second-order reaction in a plug flow reactor the Thiele modulus is ( ) = SVQ, and inlet concentration is C50 = 1.0. The equation will he integrated for 80 percent conversion with Simpsons rule. Values of T) are... 

Solution Polymerization These processes may retain the polymer in solution or precipitate it. Polyethylene is made in a tubular flow reactor at supercritical conditions so the polymer stays in solution. In the Phillips process, however, after about 22 percent conversion when the desirable properties have been attained, the polymer is recovered and the monomer is flashed off and recyled (Fig. 23-23 ). In another process, a solution of ethylene in a saturated hydrocarbon is passed over a chromia-alumina catalyst, then the solvent is separated and recyled. Another example of precipitation polymerization is the copolymerization of styrene and acrylonitrile in methanol. Also, an aqueous solution of acrylonitrile makes a precipitate of polyacrylonitrile on heating to 80°C (176°F). 

The term V/F for flow reactors is used to evaluate the size of the reactor required to achieve the conversion of a reactant feed rate F. It is the numher of reactor volumes of feed at specified conditions that can he treated in unit time, where F is the molar flowrate (uC q) and V is the volume of the reactor. 

Space time ST is equal to the residence time in a plug flow reactor only if the volumetric flowrate remains constant throughout the reactor. The residence time depends on the change in the flowrate through the reactor, as well as V/u. The change in u depends on the variation in temperature, pressure, and the number of moles. The concept of SV with conversions in the design of a plug flow reactor is discussed later in this chapter. 

Determine what size plug flow reactor, operating at 650°C and 5.0 atm, produces 85% conversion of the feed consisting of 4 kg/mols of pure phosphine per hour. 

Volume of CFSTR and plug flow reactors with respect to conversion level for a first order reaction... 

Adiabatic plug flow reactors operate under the condition that there is no heat input to the reactor (i.e., Q = 0). The heat released in the reaction is retained in the reaction mixture so that the temperature rise along the reactor parallels the extent of the conversion. Adiabatic operation is important in heterogeneous tubular reactors. 

Equation 8-155 shows that the conversion in the dispersion reactor will always be less than that of the plug flow reactor (C >... 

Cyclization via continuous flow reactor (380 °C, 45 s loop) and decarboxylation have been described neat. The change in selectivity of cyclization is notable and will be addressed later (compare conversion of 51-52 with 56-57). 

In Fig. 28, the abscissa kt is the product of the reaction rate constant and the reactor residence time, which is proportional to the reciprocal of the space velocity. The parameter k co is the product of the CO inhibition parameter and inlet concentration. Since k is approximately 5 at 600°F these three curves represent c = 1, 2, and 4%. The conversion for a first-order kinetics is independent of the inlet concentration, but the conversion for the kinetics of Eq. (48) is highly dependent on inlet concentration. As the space velocity increases, kt decreases in a reciprocal manner and the conversion for a first-order reaction gradually declines. For the kinetics of Eq. (48), the conversion is 100% at low space velocities, and does not vary as the space velocity is increased until a threshold is reached with precipitous conversion decline. The conversion for the same kinetics in a stirred tank reactor is shown in Fig. 29. For the kinetics of Eq. (48), multiple solutions may be encountered when the inlet concentration is sufficiently high. Given two reactors of the same volume, and given the same kinetics and inlet concentrations, the conversions are compared in Fig. 30. The piston flow reactor has an advantage over the stirred tank... 

These two parameters describe the change in fraction unconverted with a percentage change in kt or in c0. The first sensitivity is also the slope of the curves in Fig. 28. The values of these sensitivities are given in Table IX. In a piston flow reactor where the conversion level is c/c0 = 0.1, the value of Stt is —0.23 for the first-order kinetics, —0.90 for the zero-order kinetics, and —4.95 for the negative first-order kinetics. In the stirred tank reactor, the value of the sensitivities Skt is —0.09 for the first-order kinetics, — 0.90 for the zero-order kinetics, and +0.11 for the negative first-order kinetics. A positive sensitivity means that as kt is increased, the fraction unconverted also increases, clearly an unstable situation. 

Preparation. Its prepn was first carried out by the action of metals as F acceptors on N trifluoride in a flow reactor at 375°, conversion 42—62%, yield 62—71% (Ref 1). It has also been prepd by the passage of N trifluoride thru a fluidized bed of powd C at 400—500°, conversion 38%, yield 77% (Refs 3 3a) or by the oxidn of difluor-amine (Ref 6)... 

Process flow for a typical batch-mass polystyrene process(1) is shown in Figure 1. Styrene monomer is charged to the low conversion prepolymerization reactor with catalyst and other additives, and the temperature is increased stepwise until the desired conversion is reached. It is then transferred into the press. Polycycles are 6 to 14 hours in the low conversion reactor, and 16 to 24 hours in the press. At completion, the cakes are then cooled with water and removed from the press to be ground and then (usually) extruded into pellets. 

Eisele and Tanner (146) have devised a similar scheme for the measurement of [HO ] via the chemical conversion of HO to H2 S04 by the addition of S02 to a flowing reactor followed by chemical ionization of gas-phase sulfuric acid to H S04 . The H 04 ion is uniquely identified and quantified in the flowing gas sample by a mass spectrometer. This technique is capable of sensitive, realtime measurement of [HO ], and although relatively new, appears to be perhaps the best overall technique devised to date. 

Reactor Performance Measures. There are four common measures of reactor performance fraction unreacted, conversion, yield, and selectivity. The fraction unreacted is the simplest and is usually found directly when solving the component balance equations. It is a t)/oo for a batch reaction and aout/ciin for a flow reactor. The conversion is just 1 minus the fraction unreacted. The terms conversion and fraction unreacted refer to a specific reactant. It is usually the stoichiometrically limiting reactant. See Equation (1.26) for the first-order case. 

There are two important types of ideal, continuous-flow reactors the piston flow reactor or PFR, and the continuous-flow stirred tank reactor or CSTR. They behave very diflerently with respect to conversion and selectivity. The piston flow reactor behaves exactly like a batch reactor. It is usually visualized as a long tube as illustrated in Figure 1.3. Suppose a small clump of material enters the reactor at time t = 0 and flows from the inlet to the outlet. We suppose that there is no mixing between this particular clump and other clumps that entered at different times. The clump stays together and ages and reacts as it flows down the tube. After it has been in the piston flow reactor for t seconds, the clump will have the same composition as if it had been in a batch reactor for t seconds. The composition of a batch reactor varies with time. The composition of a small clump flowing through a piston flow reactor varies with time in the same way. It also varies with position down the tube. The relationship between time and position is... 

Figures 1.6 and 1.7 display the conversion behavior for flrst-and second-order reactions in a CSTR and contrast the behavior to that of a piston flow reactor. It is apparent that piston flow is substantially better than the CSTR for obtaining high conversions. The comparison is even more dramatic when made in terms of the volume needed to achieve a given conversion see Figure 1.8. The generalization that...

Autocatalytic reactions often show higher conversions in a stirred tank than in either a batch flow reactor or a piston flow reactor with the same holding time, tjjatch = i. Since d = agut in a CSTR, the catalyst, B, is present at the... 

Consider the reaction B — 2A in the gas phase. Use a numerical solution to determine the length of an isothermal, piston flow reactor that achieves 50% conversion of B. The pressure drop in the reactor is negligible. The reactor cross section is constant. There are no inerts. The feed is pure B and the gases are ideal. Assume bin = F and =0, Ui = 1, and k = n some system of units. 

Example 4.9 Find the conversion for a first-order reaction in a composite system that consists of a perfect mixer and a piston flow reactor in parallel. 

The general rule is that combinations of isothermal reactors provide intermediate levels of performance compared with single reactors that have the same total volume and flow rate. The second general rule is that a single, piston flow reactor will give higher conversion and better selectivity than a CSTR. Autocatalytic reactions provide the exception to both these statements. 

Figure 8.1 includes a curve for laminar flow with 3>AtlR = 0.1. The performance of a laminar flow reactor with diffusion is intermediate between piston flow and laminar flow without diffusion, aVI = 0. Laminar flow reactors give better conversion than CSTRs, but do not generalize this result too far It is restricted to a parabolic velocity profile. Laminar velocity profiles exist that, in the absence of diffusion, give reactor performance far worse than a CSTR. 

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