CSTR Processes with Two Reactants

The reaction studied in Section 2.2 has two reactants and therefore offers the possibility of adjusting the compositions of the reactants in the reactor to achieve some economic or control objective. In this section we first find the cost of operating single and multiple CSTR processes to achieve a specified conversion. Then we design an alternative process consisting of a reactor and a distillation column that separates product C from the unreacted A and B in the reactor effluent and recycles them back to the reactor. 

Design Of Multiple CSTR Systems The reaction and the overall reaction rate are given below  

Kinetic parameters are given in Table 2.2 with the exception that the preexponential factor ko is increased by a factor of 10 so that reasonable reactor volumes are obtained when 

For a single CSTR, the high design conversion produces a very large vessel (2214 m3) that costs 28,090,000, using the economics given in Table 2.6. This volume is calculated as follows  

The heat transfer area in this large reactor is 789 m2, giving a jacket temperature of 330.7 K for the heat transfer rate of 1.562 x 106 J/s. So this process should give good temperature control. 

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