Propane, effect model

By reducing an elementary reaction model taken fi om the database, a comprehensive gas-phase reaction model of propane pyrolysis was derived objectively. The reaction rate constants that were not accurate under the conditions of interest were found and refined by fitting with the experimental results. The obtained reaction model well represented the effects of the gas residence time and temperature on the product gas composition observed in experiments under pyrocarbon CVD conditions. 

Table 8.1 shows the stochastic model solution for the petrochemical system. The solution indicated the selection of 22 processes with a slightly different configuration and production capacities from the deterministic case, Table 4.2 in Chapter 4. For example, acetic acid was produced by direct oxidation of n-butylenes instead of the air oxidation of acetaldehyde. Furthermore, ethylene was produced by pyrolysis of ethane instead of steam cracking of ethane-propane (50-50 wt%). These changes, as well as the different production capacities obtained, illustrate the effect of the uncertainty in process yield, raw material and product prices, and lower product... 

To illustrate this a model transesterification reaction catalyzed by subtilisin Carls-berg suspended in carbon dioxide, propane, and mixtures of these solvents under pressure has been studied (Decarvalho et al., 1996). To account for solvent effects due to differences in water partitioning between the enzyme and the bulk solvents. Water sorption isotherms were measured for the enzyme in each solvent. Catalytic activity as a function of enzyme hydration was measured, and bell-shaped curves with maxima at the same enzyme hydration (12%) in all the solvents were obtained. The activity maxima were different in all media, being much higher in propane than in either CO2 or the mixtures with 50 and 10% CO2. Considerations based on the solvation ability of the solvents did not offer an explanation for the differences in catalytic activity observed. The results suggest that CO2 has a direct adverse effect on the catalytic activity of subtilisin. 

Nowak et al. (63) presented a comparative study of the diffusivities of rigid models of methane, ethane, and propane in silicalite. (The details of the calculation are reported in the preceding section.) The calculated diffusion coefficients decreased as the length of the carbon chain increased, and the effect was found to be far more pronounced for ethane than propane. The calculated diffusivities, in units of 108 m2/s, were 0.62, 0.47, and 0.41 for methane, ethane, and propane, respectively. The ethane value is in satisfactory agreement with PFG-NMR measurements [0.38 (77), 0.3 (80), 0.4 (42) for silicalite. The value for propane, however, was calculated to be almost an order of magnitude larger than the NMR results of Briscoe et al. (80). [The agreement with the value of Caro et al. (71) is better, but still an overestimation.]... 

From simple plots of fraction unreacted vs. time (Figure 1), it was clear that this was an unusually self-consistent set of kinetic data. We therefore have taken it as the basis for our kinetic modeling and used additional data available to confirm and extend. Experiments in the same equipment also were carried out at 2 atm pressure, at 0.13 atm, and, with helium dilution, at 1 atm total pressure and about 0.13 atm initial partial pressure of propane. The effects of pressure and partial pressure observed are discussed briefly. 

The model includes several reactions which account for cocracking effects. Examples of this type of reaction include the reverse reactions of R-l and R-4 and the reaction R-17. R-17 predicts more ethylene and less heavier products from cocracking ethane and propane than from separate cracking. 

Lucquin et al. [184—188], have tested several models which allow for fuel consumption and include degenerate branching. Their models are therefore more realistic and give good accounts of the effect of promoters and inhibitors. As yet, however, they have not identified the specific chemical reactions in the models, but they are attempting to use them to describe the observed kinetics and morphology of propane—oxygen mixtures. 

---