Energy flow/reactor

Often, complete mixing cannot be approached for economic reasons. Inactive or dead zones, bypassing, and limitations of energy input are common causes. Packed beds are usually predominantly used in plug flow reactors, but they may also have small mixing zones... 

Material and energy balances of a plug flow reactor are summarized in Table 7-7. 

TABLE 7-7 Material and Energy Balances of a Plug Flow Reactor (PFR)... 

A reasonably general energy balance for a flow reactor can be written in English as... 

Steady-state temperatures along the length of a piston flow reactor are governed by an ordinary differential equation. Consider the differential reactor element shown in Figure 5.3. The energy balance is the same as Equation (5.14) except... 

We now want to estimate the CO coverage when the catalyst is located in a plug-flow reactor with a partial pressure of Pqq = 0-01 bar at T= 1000 K. The desorption energy is estimated to be 147 kj mol and the pre-exponential factor is set to the usual 10 s , while the sticking coefScient is estimated to be 0.2 and independent of temperature. For simplicity we assume that each Ni atom can adsorb a CO molecule. 

The information flow diagram, for a non-isothermal, continuous-flow reactor, in Fig. 1.19, shown previously in Sec. 1.2.5, illustrates the close interlinking and highly interactive nature of the total mass balance, component mass balance, energy balance, rate equation, Arrhenius equation and flow effects F. This close interrelationship often brings about highly complex dynamic behaviour in chemical reactors. 

Figure 4.7. Energy balancing for the tubular plug-flow reactor. 

Semibatch or semiflow processes are among the most difficult to analyze from the viewpoint of reactor design because one must deal with an open system under nonsteady-state conditions. Hence the differential equations governing energy and mass conservation are more complex than they would be for the same reaction carried out batchwise or in a continuous flow reactor operating at steady state. 

There are a variety of limiting forms of equation 8.0.3 that are appropriate for use with different types of reactors and different modes of operation. For stirred tanks the reactor contents are uniform in temperature and composition throughout, and it is possible to write the energy balance over the entire reactor. In the case of a batch reactor, only the first two terms need be retained. For continuous flow systems operating at steady state, the accumulation term disappears. For adiabatic operation in the absence of shaft work effects the energy transfer term is omitted. For the case of semibatch operation it may be necessary to retain all four terms. For tubular flow reactors neither the composition nor the temperature need be independent of position, and the energy balance must be written on a differential element of reactor volume. The resultant differential equation must then be solved in conjunction with the differential equation describing the material balance on the differential element. 

Schultz and Linden Ind. Eng. Chem. Process Design and Development, 1 (111), 1962] have studied the hydrogenolysis of low molecular weight paraffins in a tubular flow reactor. The kinetics of the propane reaction may be assumed to be first-order in propane in the regime of interest. From the data below determine the reaction rate constants at the indicated temperatures and the activation energy of the reaction. 

Equation 10.1.1 represents a very general formulation of the first law of thermodynamics, which can be readily reduced to a variety of simple forms for specific applications under either steady-state or transient operating conditions. For steady-state applications the time derivative of the system energy is zero. This condition is that of greatest interest in the design of continuous flow reactors. Thus, at steady state,... 

The ideal continuous stirred tank reactor is the easiest type of continuous flow reactor to analyze in design calculations because the temperature and composition of the reactor contents are homogeneous throughout the reactor volume. Consequently, material and energy balances can be written over the entire reactor and the outlet composition and temperature can be taken as representative of the reactor contents. In general the temperatures of the feed and effluent streams will not be equal, and it will be necessary to use both material and energy balances and the temperature-dependent form of the reaction rate expression to determine the conditions at which the reactor operates. 

This section treats the material and energy balance equations for a plug flow reactor. For steady-state operation the energy balance analysis leading to equation 10.1.4 is appropriate. 

Energy release and energy loss curves for an irreversible reaction in a flow reactor. 

The company Noell in Germany, currently owned by Future Energy GmbH, has developed a down-fired entrained flow reactor (EFR). Instead of burners at the side of the reactor, this gasifier only consists of a single burner in the top part, which results in a simpler and lower cost reactor. Also, the control of this single burner is easier than the former types mentioned with a resulting lower capital and operational cost related. 

In this chapter, we first consider uses of batch reactors, and their advantages and disadvantages compared with continuous-flow reactors. After considering what the essential features of process design are, we then develop design or performance equations for both isothermal and nonisothermal operation. The latter requires the energy balance, in addition to the material balance. We continue with an example of optimal performance of a batch reactor, and conclude with a discussion of semibatch and semi-continuous operation. We restrict attention to simple systems, deferring treatment of complex systems to Chapter 18. 

For a continuous-flow reactor, such as a CSTR, the energy balance is an enthalpy (H) balance, if we neglect any differences in kinetic and potential energy of the flowing stream, and any shaft work between inlet and outlet. However, in comparison with a BR, the balance must include the input and output of H by the flowing stream, in addition to any heat transfer to or from the control volume, and generation or loss of enthalpy by reaction within the control volume. Then the energy (enthalpy) equation in words is... 

Data of chemical composition 106 Pressure changes 145 Variables related to composition 164 Half iife and initial rate data 177 Temperature variation. Activation energy Homogeneous catalysis 202 Enzyme and solid catalysis 210 Flow reactor data 222 CSTR data 231 Complex reactions 238... 

Material and energy balances on plug flow and packed bed reactors are summarized in Tables 2.5 and 2.6. They are formulated on a differential reactor volume. When na is the molal flow rate of reactant A the flow reactor equation is... 

The flow through a plug flow reactor effecting a first order reaction is increased by 20%. In order to maintain conversion at its former value, the temperature is to be raised. If the reaction has an activation energy of 4 kcal/gmol and the initial temperature is 150 C, what will be the new temperature Would the required elevation in temperature be different if the reactor were a CSTR ... 

Linear combination of atomic orbitals (LCAO) method, 16 736 Linear condensation, in silanol polycondensation, 22 557-558 Linear congruential generator (LCG), 26 1002-1003 Linear copolymers, 7 610t Linear density, 19 742 of fibers, 11 166, 182 Linear dielectrics, 11 91 Linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM), 1 509-510 16 184 20 350 Linear ethoxylates, 23 537 Linear ethylene copolymers, 20 179-180 Linear-flow reactor (LFR) polymerization process, 23 394, 395, 396 Linear free energy relationship (LFER) methods, 16 753, 754 Linear higher a-olefins, 20 429 Linear internal olefins (LIOs), 17 724 Linear ion traps, 15 662 Linear kinetics, 9 612 Linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), 10 596 17 724-725 20 179-211 24 267, 268. See also LLDPE entries a-olefin content in, 20 185-186 analytical and test methods for,... 

The CRE approach for modeling chemical reactors is based on mole and energy balances, chemical rate laws, and idealized flow models.2 The latter are usually constructed (Wen and Fan 1975) using some combination of plug-flow reactors (PFRs) and continuous-stirred-tank reactors (CSTRs). (We review both types of reactors below.) The CRE approach thus avoids solving a detailed flow model based on the momentum balance equation. However, this simplification comes at the cost of introducing unknown model parameters to describe the flow rates between various sub-regions inside the reactor. The choice of a particular model is far from unique,3 but can result in very different predictions for product yields with complex chemistry. 

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