THERM and THERMPLOT - Thermal Stability of a CSTR

A first-order, exothermic reaction occurs within a continuous stirred-tank reactor, equipped with jacket cooling, where the kinetics and reactor schemes are 

The dynamic model involves a component mass balance, an energy balance, the kinetics and the Arrhenius relationship. Hence 

The steady-state equations allow evaluation of the possible steady operating points. 

Separating the energy balance into heat loss and heat generation terms Rate of heat loss (Hl) = Rate of heat generation (Hq) 

Program THERMPLOT models the steady-state variation in Hr and Hq as a function of temperature. For the conditions of this reaction, there may be three possible steady-state operating conditions for which Hq = Hr- Only two of these points, however, are stable. 

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