Reactor in series

Many times, reactors are connected in series so that the exit stream of one reactor is the feed stream for another reactor. When this arrangement is used, it is often possible to speed calculations by defining conversion in terms of location at a point downstream rather than with respect to any single reactor. That is, the conversion AT is the total mtmher of moles of A that have reacted up to that point per mole of A fed to ihe rsf reactor. 

However, this definition can only be used when the feed stream only enters the first reactor in the series and there are no side streams either fed or withdrawn. The molar flow rate of A at point / is equal to moles of A fed to the first reactor minus all the moles of A reacted up to point i  

Energy balance— single reaction— reactors in series 

When we chose va = — 1, we fixed the basis that must be used to calculate AHr, i.e., Va = — 1 must be used to calculate AHr from Eqn. (8-3). This means that the basis for AHr is 1 mole of A, i.e., the units of AHr must be energy/mole of A. 

If the conversion of A in the feed that enters a continuous reactor, or a segment of a continuous reactor, is jca, and if only one reaction is taking place, then Eqn. (8-6) becomes 

If more than one reaction takes place, and if the extents of reaction in the feed to a reactor or reactor segment are denoted then Eqn. (8-5) becomes 

Energy balance— multiple reactions— reactors in series 

On comparison with the molar balance in a single reactor, one observes a change in the integration limits. For n reactors in series, the total volume will be the sum of the intermediate volumes and the final conversion will be Xah- Thus, 

Writing the molar flows as a function of conversion at the inlet and outlet of the rth reactor (note that conversion increases while the reactant concentration decreases), we obtain  

This expression applies to systems with constant or variable volume. When the system has constant volume, one can write the balance as a function of concentration according to Equation 17.7  

As mentioned before, the snm of the volnmes of tanks (CSTR) in series is smaller than the volume of a single CSTR (see Fignre 17.1). Besides, when the reactor volume is constant, the average residence time is equal to the space time fcsTR = tcsTR for each reactor in series, bnt it is different for a single reactor. The reaction kinetics must be known and it is valid for any reactor in series or parallel. 

The main goal is nsnally determining the required number of reactors in series or parallel to achieve the maximnm desired conversion or productivity and to minimize the reactor volnme. 

For isothermal reactions greater than zero order (see Chapter 3). the CSTR volume will always be greater than the PFR volume for the same conversion and reaction conditions (temperature. Row rate. etc.). 

For the reactors shown in Rgure 2-3, Xj at point / = 1 is the conversion achieved in the PFR, Xj at point t = 2 is the total conversion achieved at this point in the PFR and the CSTR, and Xj is the total conversion achieved by all three reactors. 

To demonstrate these ideas, let us consider three different schemes of reactors in series two CSTRs, two PFRs, and then a combination of PFRs and CSTRs in series. To size these reactors, we shall use laboratory data that gives the reaction rate at different conversions. 

Both have units of h and they can be regarded as the number of reactor volumes of reactant processed per hour. They are usually evaluated for the feed at 25°C and 1 atm. 

For first-order kinetics with equal-volume CSTR reactors (and therefore for all TS equal), the mass balances on species A become 

Now if each reactor has the same residence time x (all reactors have the same volume), then the total residence time r (bold) in the series of n equal-residence-time CSTRs is 

Example 3-8 The reaction A B, r = kCA occurs in n equal volume CSTRs in series, each with residence time r, with 90% overall conversion. If k — 0.5 inin, Cao 2 moles/Hter, and r = 4 liters/min, what residence times and reactor volumes will be required fom = 1, 2, 3, and 4  

We rearrange the equation for n equal volume CSTRs in series, 

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The emulsion process can be modified for the continuous production of latex. One such process (68) uses two stirred-tank reactors in series, followed by insulated hold-tanks. During continuous operation, 60% of the monomers are continuously charged to the first reactor with the remainder going into the second reactor. Surfactant is added only to the first reactor. The residence time is 2.5 h for the first reactor where the temperature is maintained at 65°C for 92% conversion. The second reactor is held at 68°C for a residence time of 2 h and conversion of 95%. 

FIOR Process. In the FIOR process, shown in Figure 5, sized iron ore fines (0.04—12 mm) are dried in a gas-fired rotary dryer. A skip hoist dehvers the dry fines to lock hoppers for pressurizing. The fines pass through four fluidized-bed reactors in series. Reactor 1 preheats the ore to 760°C in a nonreducing atmosphere. Reactors 2, 3, and 4 reduce the ore at 690—780°C. At higher (ca 810°C) temperatures there is a tendency for the beds to defluidize as a result of sticking or hogging of the reduced material. 

The second processing step, in which benzoic acid is oxidized and hydrolyzed to phenol, is carried out in two reactors in series. In the first reactor, the benzoic acid is oxidized to phenyl benzoate in the presence of air and a catalyst mixture of copper and magnesium salts. The reactor is operated at 234°C and 147 kPa gauge (1.5 kg/cm g uge). The phenyl benzoate is then hydrolyzed with steam in the second reactor to yield phenol and carbon dioxide. This occurs at 200°C and atmospheric pressure. The overall yield of phenol from benzoic acid is around 88 mol %. Figure 2 shows a simplified diagram for the toluene—benzoic acid process. 

Fig. 8. Combined flow reactor models (a) parallel flow reactors with longitudinal diffusion (diffusivities can differ), (b) internal recycle—cross-flow reactor (the recycle can be in either direction), comprising two countercurrent plug-flow reactors with intercormecting distributed flows, (c) plug-flow and weU-mixed reactors in series, and (d) 2ero-interniixing model, in which plug-flow reactors are parallel and a distribution of residence times dupHcates that...

Bubble columns in series have been used to establish the same effective mix of plug-flow and back-mixing behavior required for Hquid-phase oxidation of cyclohexane, as obtained with staged reactors in series. WeU-mixed behavior has been established with both Hquid and air recycle. The choice of one bubble column reactor was motivated by the need to minimize sticky by-products that accumulated on the walls (93). Here, high air rate also increased conversion by eliminating reaction water from the reactor, thus illustrating that the choice of a reactor system need not always be based on compromise, and solutions to production and maintenance problems are complementary. Unlike the Hquid in most bubble columns, Hquid in this reactor was intentionally weU mixed. 

In the slurry process, the hydrolysis is accompHshed using two stirred-tank reactors in series (266). Solutions of poly(vinyl acetate) and catalyst are continuously added to the first reactor, where 90% of the conversion occur, and then transferred to the second reactor to reach hiU conversion. Alkyl acetate and alcohols are continuously distilled off in order to drive the equiUbrium of the reaction. The resulting poly(vinyl alcohol) particles tend to be very fine, resulting in a dusty product. The process has been modified to yield a less dusty product through process changes (267,268) and the use of additives (269). Partially hydroly2ed products having a narrow hydrolysis distribution cannot be prepared by this method. 

The first reactor in series in the Arco, lEP, and Phillips processes is adiabatic (vessel filled with catalyst). The exothermic heat of reaction is removed in a pump-around loop where a portion of the reactor contents are taken from the reactor, pumped through an external exchanger, cooled, and returned to the reactor. 

The reactor combinations for the two reactors in series consist of two fixed-beds for the Arco process an expanded bed followed by a catalytic distillation reactor for lEP a fixed-bed followed by a catalytic distillation reactor for CDTECH and two fixed-beds for Phillips. The Huls process uses an adiabatic reactor for the second reactor. 

For the same production capacity, the oxygen-based process requires fewer reactors, all of which operate in parallel and are exposed to reaction gas of the same composition. However, the use of purge reactors in series for an air-based process in conjunction with the associated energy recovery system increases the overall complexity of the unit. Given the same degree of automation, the operation of an oxygen-based unit is simpler and easier if the air-separation plant is outside the battery limits of the ethylene oxide process (97). 

Vinyl chloride is made from ethylene and chlorine with Cu and K chlorides. The Stauffer process employs 3 multitubular reactors in series with 25 mm (0.082 ft) ID tubes (Naworski and Velez, in Leach, ed.. Applied Industrial Catalysis, vol. 1, Academic Press, 1983, p. 251). 

The use of a reactor in series with the ctipacitors w ill reduce the harmonic effects in a power network, as well as their effect on other circuits in the vicinity, such as a telecommunication network (see also Section 23.1 1 and Example 23.4). The choice of reactance should be such that it W ill provide the required detuning by resonating below the required harmonic, to provide a least impedance path for that harmonic and filter it out from the circuit. The basic idea of a filter circuit is to make it respond to the current of one frequency and reject all other frequency components. At power frequency, the circuit should act as a capacitive load and improve the p.f. of the system. For the fifth harmonic, for instance, it should resonate below X 50 Hz for a 50 Hz system, say at around 200-220 Hz, to avoid excessive charging voltages w hich may lead to... 

At the Flixborough plant there were six reactors in series. Each reactor was slightly lower than the one before so that the liquid in them flowed by gravity from No. 1 down to No. 6 through short 28-in.-diameter connecting pipes (Figure 2-5). To allow for expansion, each 28-in. pipe contained a bellows (expansion joint). 

In the Flixborough disaster, one of six reactors in series, through which hot cyclohexane was passed, was removed from service (see Figure 2.1). Each reactor was connected by a short pipe with a bellows at each end to allow for expansion. The fifth reactor was replaced by a temporary bypass pipe with two bends in it to allow for differences in height between reactors 4 and 6. Because the bypass was not properly supported and had a bellows at either end, it moved when there were pressure variations. This movement eventually caused the bellows to fail, releasing 50 tons of cyclohexane which exploded, killing 28 men. 

The reaction takes place at low temperature (40-60 °C), without any solvent, in two (or more, up to four) well-mixed reactors in series. The pressure is sufficient to maintain the reactants in the liquid phase (no gas phase). Mixing and heat removal are ensured by an external circulation loop. The two components of the catalytic system are injected separately into this reaction loop with precise flow control. The residence time could be between 5 and 10 hours. At the output of the reaction section, the effluent containing the catalyst is chemically neutralized and the catalyst residue is separated from the products by aqueous washing. The catalyst components are not recycled. Unconverted olefin and inert hydrocarbons are separated from the octenes by distillation columns. The catalytic system is sensitive to impurities that can coordinate strongly to the nickel metal center or can react with the alkylaluminium derivative (polyunsaturated hydrocarbons and polar compounds such as water). 

The chapter by White et al. proposes a different approach to metha-nator temperature control. Here the temperature rise is controlled by limiting the amount of reaction in each stage, and that is done by introducing steam (a product of the reaction). High initial temperatures are followed by successively lower temperatures entering each reactor in series. This is a second-generation methanation approach which may follow closely on the first-generation approaches typified by the previous three papers. 

Figure 13. Effect of pressure drop and number of reactors in series on theoretical horsepower for hot gas recycle compressor H CO = 3 1, standard ff/day = 250,000,000...

Dr. Moeller I think to answer this question now is a bit difficult. It s just a mechanical problem of the maximum temperature the recycle compressor can handle. So, in the end, we will go to the inlet temperature to the compressor in the range of the inlet temperature to the reactor. So what we are endeavoring to attain is a simple reaction system consisting of an adiabatic reactor in series with waste heat boilers and nothing more than one recycle compressor. These compressors are used in the chemical industry with no problem in operation. So, in the end, you can go to hot recycle with an inlet compressor temperature the same as the inlet reactor temperature. All the heat from... 

The continuous polystyrene process which was commercialized successfully in 1952 (2) is illustrated schematically in Fig. 16. It is characterized by three vertical elongated reactors in series, the contents of which are gently agitated by slowly revolving rods mounted on an axial shaft. Temperature control is provided by horizontal banks of cooling tubes between adjacent agitator rods. Such a reactor, called a "stratifier-... 

The yield that can be attained by a semibatch process is generally higher because the semibatch run starts from scratch, with maximum values of both variables Cg (o) = Cg and k] (o) = k . However, the yield from a continuous run in which t equals the batch time is governed by the product of Cg (t) and kj (t), so > and k (t) = k °. Because neither of these conditions is likely to be fulfilled completely, a continuous polymerization in a backmix reactor will probably always fail to attain the Y attainable by a semibatch reactor at the same t. However, several backmix reactors in series will approach the behavior of a plug flow continuous reactor, which is equivalent to a semibatch reactor. 

The effects of diffusion and catalyst decay cause yields from a continuous backmix reactor to be 25 to 30% lower than from a semibatch reactor at the same residence time. This yield penalty can be reduced by staging backmix reactors in series. 

When reactors are connected in series, the output from one serves as the input for the other. For reactors in series,... 

A parallel reactor system has an extra degree of freedom compared with a series system. The total volume and flow rate can be arbitrarily divided between the parallel elements. For reactors in series, only the volume can be divided since the two reactors must operate at the same flow rate. Despite this extra variable, there are no performance advantages compared with a single reactor that has the same total V and Q, provided the parallel reactors are at the same temperature. When significant amounts of heat must be transferred to or from the reactants, identical small reactors in parallel may be preferred because the desired operating temperature is easier to achieve. 

Do you install the reactors in series or parallel Would it affect your decision if the minimum conversion could be lowered ... 

Suppose you have two identical PFRs and you want to use them to make as much product as possible. The reaction is pseudo-first-order and the product recovery system requires a minimum conversion of 93.75%. Assume constant density. Do you install the reactors in series or parallel Would it affect your decision if the minimum conversion could be lowered ... 

A modem polystyrene process consists of a CSTR followed by several stirred tube reactors in series. A description of this typical process is given in... 

Tubular reactors in series in heating box with external isolation valves... 

Example 4.5 Derive the state space representation of two continuous flow stirred-tank reactors in series (CSTR-in-series). Chemical reaction is first order in both reactors. The reactor volumes are fixed, but the volumetric flow rate and inlet concentration are functions of time. 

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