Reactor and Column Equations

The tray temperatures of the trap-out trays are the inlet temperatures to the external reactors. The ordinary differential equations of the plug flow reactor for steady-state adiabatic operation are integrated from 0 to the total reactor volume Vr, keeping track of how the component compositions and temperature change along the reactor. These equations are the following  

The steady-state vapor and liquid rates are constant through the stripping and rectifying sections because equimolal overflow is assumed. However, because the reaction is exothermic, some vapor is produced as the liquid from the high pressure reactor flashes into the low pressure column. This results in an increase of the vapor flowrate at each external reactor location and a corresponding decrease of the liquid rate below the external reactor location. 

The quantity of this vapor is calculated from the heat generated by the reaction occurring in the external reactor, the flowrate of material into the reactor, and the thermal properties. 

The vapor-liquid equilibrium is assumed ideal. The column pressures are set using the vapor pressures of pure components and liquid compositions in the reflux drum xd at 320 K (so that cooling water can be used in the condenser). Temperature T, and vapor composition on tray i can be calculated with given pressure P and tray liquid 

The dynamic component balances for the column are the conventional ordinary differential equations, except for the reactor effluent remrn trays  

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