UniversityofBahrain

CollegeofEngineering
ChemicalEngineeringDepartment

ChemicalReactorDesign(CHEG322)
SemesterII2009/2010

EXAMII
Sun 30/05/2010
Duration: 100 min

Student Name:

StudentID#:

Answerallthequestionsandshowyoursolutioninfulldetails

100
1
Page
 Question1: (15%)
Thefollowingreactioniscarriedoutinamembranereactorpackedwith100kgofcatalyst.
Thereactioniscarriedoutisothermallyandthereisnopressuredrop.
A 2B + D

Thefollowingare sketches of conversionandmolarflowrates profiles inaconventional

PBR.
FA

0 20 40 60 80 100

W
FB&FD

0 20 40 60 80 100

W
X

2 Page

0 20 40 60 80 100

W
a) SupposeBdiffusesoutthroughthemembrane. Resketchtheshown profiles (FA, FB,
FD, X) for amembranereactor (inside themembrane) foramoderatevalueofthe
mass transfercoefficientforB, kcB.Labeltheprofileswithprimedvariables (e.g. X).

b) Nowsuppose bothB&D diffuseoutthroughthemembrane. Resketchtheshown

profiles(FA,FB, FD, X)forthe membranereactor(insidethemembrane) fora
moderatevalueofthemasstransfercoefficients forB&Dwhere kcB=kcD. Labelthe
profileswith double primedvariables (e.g. X).

c) Supposeyoucouldchoosefromtwotypesofmembranes,oneinwhichonlyB
woulddiffuseout,andoneinwhichonlyDwoulddiffuseout.Inbothcasesthe
masstransfercoefficientwouldbe extremely large.Whichmembranewouldgive
thegreatestconversion ofA? Explainwhy.

3
Page
Question2: (25%)
Theirreversible,isothermalgasphasereaction
A + B 2C
iscarriedoutinaPBR wheretheflowisturbulent.Thereactionisnonelementaryinthat
itisfirstorderin AandzeroorderinB.The feedisequalmolarinAandB, andthe
pressureattheentranceis 10atmwhilethat attheexitis2atm.

Additionalinformation: FA0 =100mol/s, C A0 =1mol/L,k=1L/kg.s

a) Whatistheconversionexitingthereactor?
b) What wouldbethepressuredropifthecrosssectionalareawasincreasedbya
factorof2andtheparticlesizedecreasedbyafactorof10? Allotherconditions
remainthesame.

4
Page
Page
5
Question3: (10%)
Belowisasketchshowingtheexitconversionasafunctionofcatalystparticlesizeina
packedbedreactor.

a) WhydoestheconversionincreasewithincreasingparticlesizeinregionA?

b) Whydoestheconversiondecreasewith increasingparticlesizeinregionB?

6
Page
Question4: (25%)
Inordertostudythephotochemicaldecayofaqueousbromineinbrightsunlight, asmall
quantityof pure liquidbrominewasdissolvedin largequantityof watercontainedina
glass batteryjarandplacedindirectsunlight.Thefollowingdatawereobtained:

Time,min 0 10 20 30 40 50
CBr,mmol/L 3.06E02 2.18E02 1.54E02 1.10E02 7.75E03 5.50E03

a) Provethatthereactionisfirstorderinbromine (Br),andcalculatethereactionrate
constantinunitsofyourchoice.
b) Assumingidentical exposureconditions,calculatetherequiredhourlyrateof
injectionof liquidbromine(g/h)intoasunlitbodyofwater 100,000liters in volume
inordertomaintainasterilizinglevelofbromineof1.0ppm.

(Note:In diluteaqueoussolutions: 1ppm=1milligramperliter;molecularweightofBr=

80g/mol)

7
Page
Page
8
Question5: (25%)
Thefollowingreversible,elementary,liquidphasereactionoccursinanadiabatic CSTR
maintainedunderhighpressure: nC4H10 iC4H
10
Calculatethe reactorvolumenecessarytoprocess163kmol/hof amixture90mol% n
butane& 10mol% ipentane,whichisconsideredaninert,andto achieve54.5%ofthe
equilibriumconversion.Thefeedentersat330Kandhas a reactantconcentration(CA0)of
9.3kmol/m3.
Additionalinformation:

EquilibriumConversion

1.0

0.8

0.6
Xe

0.4

0.2

0.0
250 300 350 400 450 500 550

T (K)
9
Page
 EquilibriumConstant&RateConstant(h- 1)
10 10
9 8
8 6
7 4

ln k
6 2
KC
KC
5 0
4 lnk 2
3 4
2 6
1 8
0 10
250 300 350 400 450 500 550

T (K)

10
Page
Page
11