REACTOR SELECTION AND JUSTIFICATION

From the question, given a single reaction with two components as feeds.
CH3COOH + C2H5OH => CH3COOC2H5 + H2O
Acetic acid + ethanol --> ethyl acetate + water
As per required by the task, which is to produce ethyl acetate as the
final product. Based on the reaction above, it is known that acetic acid reacts
with ethanol to produce ethyl acetate, with its by-products, water.
From the equation given, the rate of reaction can be stated as below,
r=k C Acetic Acid C Ethanol
It is very significant that the highest rate of reaction can be maintain
by supplying highest concentration of feed. There are few options that need
to be analyzed before selecting the type of reactor. First option, use a mixed
flow reactor. In this type of reactor, the feed is instantly diluted by the
products that has already been formed. Since it operates at low reaction
rate, the rate of reaction in the mixed flow reactor is lower than in the batch
and plug flow reactors. Consequently, a mixed-flow reactor requires a higher
volume than the latter. Now, we have two options, whether to select batch of
plug flow reactor.
Batch
Mechanism

Production
Conversion

Feed will be placed

Plug Flow

One or more fluid reagents

in reactor and let to

are pumped through a pipe

react at certain time,

or tube. The chemical

in a closed system

reaction proceeds as the

Intermediate or one

reagents travel through

Fast reactions, production

shot production
High conversion per

High conversion per unit

unit volume for one

volume

Operation

pass
Flexibility of

Once in a time,
continuous operation

operation; same
reactor can produce
one product one time
and a different
Maintenance

product the next

Easy to clean

Require plant shutdown

and cleaning may be
expensive

Unfortunately, in Aspen Hysys there is no batch reactor provided for

simulation purposes. Thus, equilibrium reactor is used to substitute batch
reactor, to ease mass and heat balance calculation and simulation process.
As conclusion, it is proposed to select batch reactor as it is the best
reactor to efficiently produce ethyl acetate, plus its advantages compared to
plug flow reactor. The comparison is made not only from the point of view of
simplicity, as batch reactor provide a range of products involving different
reactants and reactor conditions.