SEMIEX - Temperature Control for Semi-Batch Reactor

4 SEMIEX - Temperature Control for Semi-Batch Reactor 

An exothermic reaction involving two reactants is run in a semi-continuous reactor. The heat evolution can be controlled by varying the feed rate of one component. This is done with feedback control with reactor temperature 

The component balances with second-order kinetics for the variable volume reactor are as follows 

The reaction rate constant varies with absolute temperature as 

Vpcp = FBpCp(Tf-TR)-UA(TR-Tc) + (-AH)(-kCACe V) which simplifies, for constant properties, to 

An exothermic reaction involving two reactants is run in a semi-continuous reactor. The heat evolution can be controlled by varying the feed rate of one component. This is done via feedback control with reactor temperature measurement used to manipulate the feed rate. The reactor is cooled by a water jacket, for which the heat transfer area varies with volume. Additional control could involve the manipulation of the cooling-water flow rate. 

The working volume of the reactor is given by the total mass balance, assuming constant density conditions 

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