Conversion in Non-Ideal Flow Reactors

The Cjn, E, and curves, in discrete and in continuous form, are shown in Fig. E11.36. Note that the area under the Qut curve equals the area under the Cjn curve. 

To evaluate reactor behavior in general we have to know four factors  

For microfluids in plug or mixed flow we have developed the equations in the earlier chapters. For intermediate flow we will develop appropriate models in Chapters 12, 13, and 14. 

To consider the early and late mixing of a microfluid, consider the two flow patterns shown in Fig. 11.17 for a reactor processing a second-order reaction. In (a) the reactant starts at high concentration and reacts away rapidly because n l. n b) the fluid drops immediately to a low concentration. Since the rate of reaction drops more rapidly than does the concentration you will end up with a lower conversion. Thus, for microfluids 

Late mixing favors reactions where n l Early mixing favors reactions where n 1 

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