Reactor semi-batch

A semi-batch reactor is more difficult to analyze mathematically because at least one of the reactant or product species enters or leaves the system boundaries, thus specific applications should be modeled [1,5]. However, the most typical application for a semi-batch reactor is the presence of one reactant initially contained in a stirred tank reactor and a second reactant continuously added to the reactor, with no flow out of the reactor. The addition of a gas to participate in a liquid-phase reaction is one of the more common situations involving a semi-batch reactor, especially because the rate of addition of the gas can be controlled to keep its partial pressure essentially constant as well as providing quantitative information about the rate of reaction. In addition, there is frequently little or no change in the volume of the liquid phase. Well-mixed autoclave reactors coupled with gas pressure controllers, mass flow meters and computers can nicely provide continuous, real-time rate data related to heterogeneous catalysts used in such gas/liquid systems [6-8]. Again, it must be emphasized that experiments must be performed and/or calculations made to verify that no heat or mass transfer limitations exist. 

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Semi-Batch Reactor In a semi-batch reactor, some reactants are added to the reactor at the start of the batch, while others are fed intermittently or continuously during the course of the reaction. 

Figure 4-4 shows a semi-batch reactor with outside circulation and the addition of one reactant through the pump. Semi-batch reactors have some reactants that are charged into the reactor at time zero, while other reactants are added during the reaction. The reactor has no outlet stream. Some reactions are unsuited to either batch or continuous operation in a stirred vessel because the heat liberated during the reaction may cause dangerous conditions. Under these... 

A semi-batch reactor has the same disadvantages as the batch reactor. However, it has the advantages of good temperature control and the capability of minimizing unwanted side reactions by maintaining a low concentration of one of the reactants. Semi-batch reactors are also of value when parallel reactions of different orders occur, where it may be more profitable to use semi-batch rather than batch operations. In many applications semi-batch reactors involve a substantial increase in the volume of reaction mixture during a processing cycle (i.e., emulsion polymerization). 

Thermal runaway reactions are the results of chemical reactions in batch or semi-batch reactors. A thermal runaway commences when the heat generated by a chemical reaction exceeds the heat that can be removed to the surroundings as shown in Figure 12-5. The surplus heat increases the temperature of the reaction mass, which causes the reaction rate to increase, and subsequently accelerates the rate of heat production. Thermal runaway occurs as follows as the temperature rises, the rate of heat loss to the surroundings increases approximately linearly with temperature. However, the rate of reaction, and thus the... 

Some batch reactions have the potential for very high energy levels. If all the reactants (and sometimes catalysts) are put into a kettle before the reaction is initiated, some exothermic reactions may result in a runaway. The use of continuous or semi-batch reactors to limit the energy present and to reduce the risk of a runaway should be considered. The term semi-batch refers to a system where one reactant and, if necessary, a catalyst is initially charged to a batch reactor. A second reactant is subsequently fed to the reactor under conditions such that an upset in reacting conditions can be detected and the flow of the reactant stopped, thus limiting the total amount of potential energy in the reactor. 

With semi-continuous (more properly, semi-batch) reactors only part of the charge is added at the beginning of the cycle. Usually some reaction time is allowed to pass before the remaining part of the charge is added in a controlled manner. Sometimes... 

Application of Time to Temperature Control of Semi-Batch Reactors... 

The reactions are still most often carried out in batch and semi-batch reactors, which implies that time-dependent, dynamic models are required to obtain a realistic description of the process. Diffusion and reaction in porous catalyst layers play a central role. The ultimate goal of the modehng based on the principles of chemical reaction engineering is the intensification of the process by maximizing the yields and selectivities of the desired products and optimizing the conditions for mass transfer. 

In this work, LDPE and HDPE were used as the waste plastics and ZSM-5 and RFCC were used as the waste catalyst. The effects reaction temperature and catalyst concentration on the production of liquid products were investigated in a semi-batch reactor. 

The pyrolysis of the plastics was carried out in a semi-batch reactor which was made of cylindrical stainless steel tube with 80mm in internal diameter and 135mm in height. A schematic diagram of the experimental apparatus is shown in Fig. 1, which includes the main reactor, temperature controller, agitator, condenser and analyzers. 

The catalytic degradation of PS was carried out in a semi-batch reactor where nitrogen is continuously passed with a flow rate of 30 mL/min. A mixture of 3.0 g of PS and 0.3 g of the catalyst was loaded inside a Pyrex vessel of 30 mL and heated at a rate of 30 C/min up to the desired temperature. The distillate from the reactor was collected in a cold trap(-10 °C) over a period of 2 h. The degradation of the plastic gave off gases, liquids and residues. The residue means the carbonaceous compounds remaining in the reactor and deposited on the wall of the reactor. The condensed liquid samples were analyzed by a GC (HP6890) with a capillary column (HP-IMS). 

Empirical grey models based on non-isothermal experiments and tendency modelling will be discussed in more detail below. Identification of gross kinetics from non-isothermal data started in the 1940-ties and was mainly applied to fast gas-phase catalytic reactions with large heat effects. Reactor models for such reactions are mathematically isomorphical with those for batch reactors commonly used in fine chemicals manufacture. Hopefully, this technique can be successfully applied for fine chemistry processes. Tendency modelling is a modern technique developed at the end of 1980-ties. It has been designed for processing the data from (semi)batch reactors, also those run under non-isothermal conditions. 

Generally, the temperature changes with time or, equivalently, with distance from the reactor inlet (for flow reactors). This change is usually controlled well in reaction calorimeters but can become uncontrolled in other conventional laboratory flow or (semi)batch reactors. The balance equations of a batch reactor for a single reaction of a-th order kinetics are given by ... 

Optimization sequence (experimental data, arbitrary units) Runs 1 and 2 are initial experiments. From run 3 to run 6 the amounts of A, B, G, and feed rate of G are fixed. These constraints are relaxed for runs 7 and 8. (Reprinted from Marchal-Brassely et al. (1992), Optimal operation of a semi-batch reactor by self-adaptive models for temperature and feed profiles . Copyright (1992), with permission from Elsevier Science). 

David, R., Muhr, H. and Villermaux, J., The Yield of a Consecutive-Competitive Reaction in a Double Jet Semi-Batch Reactor Comparison between Experiments and a Multizone Mixing Model, Chem. Eng. Sci. 1992, 47 (9-11), 2841-2846. 

For semi-batch reactors, there is inflow but no outflow from the reactor and the outflow term in the above balance equation is therefore zero. 

A semi-batch reactor with one feed stream and heat transfer to a cooling jacket is shown in Fig. 3.11. 

A semi-batch reactor is used to convert reactant, A, to product, B, by the reaction A —> 2B. The reaction is carried out adiabatically. The reaction kinetics are as before... 

A complex reaction is run in a semi-batch reactor with the purpose of improving the selectivity for the desired product, P. The kinetics are sequential with respect to components A, P and Q but parallel with respect to B. The relative orders of the reactions for the reactions determine the feeding policy. 

The manufacture of a polyol lubricant by the condensation of an alcohol with an alkylene oxide in a semi-batch reactor proceeds according to the following... 

For a simple A + B C reaction the semi-batch reactor balance is... 

Simple Reaction with Segregation in Semi-Batch Reactor... 

Figure 5.137. Program SEMISEG Varying THETAMIX (0.03, 0.1, 0.3 and 0.6, curves D, C, A, B) gave these results for the semi-batch reactor. Note that when THETA > 1 the reactor becomes continuous.

Figure 5.166. Exothermic semi-batch reactor with feed control.

Semi-batch reactor with heat production Feedback control of feed stream Jacket cooling... 

Chemical Kinetics, Tank and Tubular Reactor Fundamentals, Residence Time Distributions, Multiphase Reaction Systems, Basic Reactor Types, Batch Reactor Dynamics, Semi-batch Reactors, Control and Stability of Nonisotheimal Reactors. Complex Reactions with Feeding Strategies, Liquid Phase Tubular Reactors, Gas Phase Tubular Reactors, Axial Dispersion, Unsteady State Tubular Reactor Models... 

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