UniversityofBahrain

CollegeofEngineering
ChemicalEngineeringDepartment

ChemicalReactorDesign
(CHENG323)
SemesterI2011/2012

Exam II
Sunday08/01/2012
Duration: 100 min

StudentName:

StudentID#:

Answerallthequestionsandshowyoursolutioninfulldetails.

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Question1: (10%)
Mention,briefly,the sequential steps thattakeplace inaheterogeneouscatalyticreaction
intermsofmasstransfer&reaction.

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Question2: (30%)
The elementarygasphasereaction

iscarriedoutisothermallyinaflowreactor.Thespecificreactionrateat50Cis 10-4 min-1

andtheactivationenergyis85kJ/mol.Pure reactant entersthereactorat 10atmand127C
andamolarflowrateof2.5mol/min. Calculatethereactorvolumetoachieve 60%
conversionin:
a) PFR(nopressuredrop).Alsocalculatethe spacetime.
b) PBR (with pressure drop) where a = 0.001 L-1. Also calculate the pressure drop
percentageattheexitofthereactor.
c) Ifthecalculatedvolumesabovearedifferent,explainwhy.

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Question3: (30%)
Considerthe firstorder liquidphasereactivesystemshownbelowwhere thereactoris
wellmixedandit isinitiallyfilledwiththesolventonly.Assumethedensityof thereaction
systemremainsconstantduringthereaction,i.e.u =u0&V= V0.

Additionalinformation: k =0.311min-1, V =213.3L, CA0 =0.5mol/L, u0 =15.34L/min.

a) Forthestartupperiod,performamolebalanceonAintermsof CA andother
constants.
b) Usethederivedequationto plottheconcentrationof Aasafunctionoftime.
c) WhatarethesteadystatevaluesofCA&XA.
d) Calculatethetimenecessaryfor CA toachieve99%ofitssteadystatevalue.
Comparethattimewiththe spacetime;isitreasonableforafirstordersystem?

AB
Feed Product
u0, CA0 u, CA& CB

StartupofaconstantvolumeCSTR

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Question 4: (30%)
The following reversible, elementary, liquid phase reaction occurs in an adiabatic CSTR
maintainedunderhighpressure: nC4H10iC4H10
Calculatethereactorvolumenecessarytoprocess163kmol/hofamixtureof90mol%n
butane&10mol%ipentane,whichisconsideredaninert,andtoachieve40%conversion.
Also calculate how close the conversion is, on percentage basis, from the equilibrium
conversion at the reactor temperature. The feed enters at 330 K and has a reactant
concentration(CA0)of9.3kmol/m3.
Additionalinformation:
Hrxn = -6,900J/molbutane; CPnB = CPiB =141J/mol.K; CPiP =161J/mol.K; Alsosee the
figure onthefollowingpage.

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

ln k
6 2
KC

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

T (K)

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