First-order intrinsic kinetics, CSTR

Aris (1991a), in addition to the case of M CSTRs in series, has also analyzed two other homotopies the plug flow reactor with recycle ratio R, and a PFR with axial diffusivity and Peclet number P, but only for first-order intrinsic kinetics. The values M = 1(< ), R = >(0), and P = 0( o) yield the CSTR (PFR). The M CSTRs in series were discussed earlier in Section IV,C,1. The solutions are expressed in terms of the Lerch function for the PFR with recycle, and in terms of the Niemand function for the PFR with dispersion. The latter case is the only one that has been attacked for the case of nonlinear intrinsic kinetics, as discussed below in Section IV,C,7,b. Guida et al. (1994a) have recently discussed a different homotopy, which is in some sense a basically different one no work has been done on multicomponent mixture systems in such a homotopy. 

Suppose one has performed experiments with the mixture under consideration in a batch reactor, and one has obtained experimentally the overall kinetics—the R ) function such that dCldt = —R(C). For instance, one could obtain R C) = if the intrinsic kinetics are in fact first order and the initial concentration distribution is (l,x) = exp(—x). If one were to regard R(C) as a true (rather than an apparent) kinetic law, one would eonclude that in a CSTR with dimensionless residence time T the exit overall concentration is delivered by the (positive) solution of TC +C = 1. The correct value is in fact C = , and the difference is not a minor one. (To see that easily, consider the long time asymp-... 

In a recent publication reviewing the status of research into intrinsic oscillations in solid-catalyzed reactions (l ), we emphasized the potential exploitation of combined theoretical and experimental studies of oscillatory behavior for obtaining new insights into catalytic reaction mechanisms and kinetics. In the present paper, we elaborate further on the subject of formulating and analyzing kinetic models which account for oscillatory behavior, and we present some new experimental information for the oscillatory oxidation of CO on a platinum foil. As in reference 1, the analysis here is applied to models describable by two first-order differential equations. The laboratory data reported were obtained from an isothermal gradientless CSTR of void volume h60 cm3 into which there was inserted a platinum foil of area 200 cm2. Continuous measurements were made of the CO2 concentration in the effluent stream. The experimental system is described in detail elsewhere (, . ... 

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