REACTION ENGINEERING Introduction:

Raw Materials

physical treatment steps

Chemical treatment steps

physical treatment steps

products

Recycle

Physical Treatment Step: Eg: removal of impurities and undesirable compounds from raw materials or reactants; Chemical Treatment Step: Reactants in reactor react to form products Physical Treatment Step Eg: purifying the products

The performance equation:

output = f (input, kinetics, contacting )

With this equation we can compare different designs and conditions, find which is best and then scale up to larger units Classification of Reactions Homogeneous (one phase) Heterogeneous ( two phases)

Variables Affecting the Rate of Reaction Homogeneous Temperature, pressure, composition Heterogeneous As above plus Heat transfer, mass transfer, etc

For reaction involving a series of steps, the slowest step determines the overall reaction rate. In burning of a coal briquette, oxygen needs to be moved through the gaseous film (products of coal combustion) and the ashes layer to get to the burning or reaction zone. If this is the limiting step than mass transfer or diffusion is the rate controlling step. Definition of Reaction Rate

AB

rB =
also, C A =
NA V

1 dN A 1 dN B = V dt V dt

Speed of Chemical Reactions Figure 1.3 shows the relative rates at which reactions occur

Thermodynamic Two important pieces of information for Reactor Design Heat of reaction H r (exothermic or endothermic) Maximum extent of reaction for reversible rxn

aA bB + cC

H r = ve or + ve

H r = ve , heat liberated, exothermic rxn H r = +ve , heat adsorbed, endothermic rxn

Extent of rxn for reversible rxn

A B+C
[ B ][C ] K = Equilibrium constant, [ A]
which gives the maximum attainable yield of the products rxn to be estimated.

G o = RT ln K
where G is change of the standard Gibbs Free energy.
o

Kinetic of Homogeneous

r =f(temperature, pressure, composition)

r =f(temperature, composition)
Concentration-Dependent Term of a Rate Equation 1. Single and Multiple Reactions Single reaction: a single stoichiometric equation and single rate equation to represent the progress of a reaction.

AB
Multiple reaction: when more than one stoichiometric equation is used to represent the observed changes, then more than one kinetic expression is needed to follow the changing composition.

Rxn in series: A R S

Rxn in parallel:

A
and others

2. Elementary and Non-elementary Reactions elementary

A+ B R
rA = kC A C B

non-elementary

H 2 + Br2 2 HBr

k1[H2 ][Br2 ]1/ 2 rHBr = k2 + [HBr] /[Br2 ]

3. Kinetic View of Equilibrium for Elementary Reactions Consider the elementary reversible rxns:

A+ B R + S
k2

k1

Rate of formation of

R:

rR , forward = k1C AC B
rR ,backward = k 2 C R C S

Rate of disappearance of R : At equilibrium:

rR , forward = rR ,backward

k 1C A C B = k 2 C R C S k1 C R C S = k 2 C AC B KC =
At equilibrium, G = 0 4. Molecularity and Order of Reaction The molecularity of an elementary reaction is the number of molecules involved in the reaction. It was found to have a value of 1,2 and sometime 3.
a b d rA = kC A C B ......C D

k1 k2

the order of reaction : It is:

a + b + .... + d = n

a th order with respect to A

b th order with respect to B

n th order overall
k

5. Rate Constant

The dimension or units of

(time )1 (concentration )1n

for example for a first order reaction, the unit

(time )1

10

6. Representation of a Reaction Rate For liquid phase elementary rxn:

A+ B R

rR = rA = kC AC B
For gaseous phase elementary rxn:

rR = rA = kp A p B
p A = partial pressure of
A

Kinetic Models for Nonelementary Reactions: an example Free radicals chain reaction mechanism:

H 2 + Br2 2 HBr
with experimental rate

rHBr

k1 [ H 2 ][ Br2 ]1 / 2 = k 2 + [ HBr ] /[ Br ]

can be explained by the following scheme:

Br2 2 Br initiation and termination Br + H 2 HBr + H propagation H + Br2 HBr + Br propagation

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Temperature-Dependent Term of a Rate Equation Temperature Dependency from Arrhenius Law

ri = f1 (temp.) f 2 (composition ) ri = k . f 2 (composition )

According to Arrhenius Law:

k = k o e E / RT
where k o is the frequency factor and E is the activation energy of reaction. This expression fits experiment well over wide temperature ranges and hence is a good approximation. At the same concentration, but at two different temperatures, Arrhenius Law indicates that

ln

r2 k E 1 1 = ln 1 = ( ) r1 k 2 R T1 T2

Comparison of Theories with Arrhenius' Law This expression

' m E / RT k = ko T e

0 m 1

summaries the predictions of the simpler versions of collision and transition theories for the temperature dependency of the rate constant. For more complicated versions, m is as large as 3 or 4.

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The exponential term is so much more temperature-sensitive than the T m term, the variation of k caused by the latter is effectively masked, and we have:

k e E / RT k = k o e E / RT
or we can look at it this way

d (ln k ) m E mRT + E = + = dT T RT 2 RT 2
As mRT << E for most reactions studied, we have

d (ln k ) E = dT RT 2 k = k o e E / RT
This discussion shows that Arrhenius law is a good approximation to the temperature dependency of both collision and transition-state theories.

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Activation Energy and Temperature Dependency

From Arrhenius law a plot of ln k versus 1 / T gives a straight line, with large slope for large E and small slope for small E . Reactions with high activation energies are very temperature-sensitive; reactions with low activation energies are relatively temperature-insensitive. A given reaction is much more temperature-sensitive at low temperature than at high temperature From the Arrhenius law the frequency factor k o does not affect the temperature sensitivity of a reaction. In an actual reaction there may be a slight temperature dependency; however this minor and can be ignored.
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