Question
(a) Explain briefly the circumstances (including any assumptions) in which a batch reactor is preferred to a flow reactor in a chemical process. (b) An irreversible gas phase reaction is carried out in a batch reactor at room temperature. The overall second order reaction is represented by A rightarrow D. Write the mole balance for the production of D in terms of the reactor volume, concentration and rate of formation assuming (i) a constant volume reactor, and (ii) a constant pressure reactor. (c) If the initial concentration of A, C_AD, is 50.0 mol m^-3 and the rate constant for the reaction is 3.5 times 10^-5 m^3 mol^- s^-1 calculate the fractional conversion of A after 200 s for (i) a constant volume reactor (ii) a variable volume reactor with V = V_o (1+0.001 t) where V is the volume of reactor and t is the batch time. (d) Comment on your results obtained in part (c)
Explanation / Answer
4 (a) 1. By following the concentration of a given component.
2. By following the change in some physical property of the fluid, such as the
electrical conductivity or refractive index.
3. By following the change in total pressure of a constant-volume system.
4. By following the change in volume of a constant-pressure system
