CHEG 332 Fall 2014 2nd Midterm Examination Page # 1 of 9

Midterm Exam II
Thursday, November 20th, 2014
CHEG 332: Chemical Engineering Kinetics

Name: ____________________________________________________________________

Signiture:____________________________________________________________________
(My signature indicates I agree to abide by the rules below.)

RULES FOR THIS EXAM

(1) This examination is closed book. You are allowed a calculator and two crib sheets
(double-sided).

(2) Sharing of answers or information with others is not permitted, including wireless
or electronic sharing.

(3) You may not discuss the contents of this exam with or in the presence of others who
have not yet taken it, nor may you solicit information on its contents from other students
who have taken the exam before you.

Read the examination questions carefully before you begin to work on the problems. Organize
your thoughts and your written solution. Partial credit will be given and key steps in the problem
solution should be clearly stated along with your final answer. Good Luck.

Time: 75 Minutes

GRADE:

Problem 1 ______/ 55

Problem 2 ______/ 45

TOTAL: _______/ 100

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PROBLEM #1 (55 pts)

An ideal plug flow reactor (PFR) is used to convert reactant A to the desired product C. The
following two reactions take place:

Reaction #1: A + B  C + D (-rA = k1 × CA × CB)

Reaction #2: C + B  D + E (-rC = k2 × CC × CB)

The activation energy for reaction #1 is 50 kJ/mol. The activation energy for reaction #2 is 100
kJ/mol. The reaction enthalpies for both reactions are small enough so that the reactor can be
considered isothermal.

The feed to the reactor consists of a solution containing 100 mol/L of A and 400 mol/L of B. The
outlet from the reactor contains 50 mol/L of D and 10 mol/L of E, in addition to A, B and C.

The following plot shows the outlet concentration of C divided by the inlet concentration of A
vs. the outlet concentration of A divided by the inlet concentration of A, for three different
values of k2/k1.

0.55
0.50
0.45
k2/k1 = 0.5
0.40
0.35
CC/CA0

0.30
k2/k1 = 1.1
0.25
0.20
0.15
0.10 k2/k1 = 2.8
0.05
0.00
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
CA/CA0

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a) (15) What is the selectivity of C with respect to A, the yield of C with respect to A, and the
fractional conversion of A?

b) (8) To improve the yield of C with respect to A, would you increase or decrease the inlet flow
rate (without adjusting the feed temperature)? What is the maximum yield you expect to
achieve? Briefly explain why.

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 CHEG 332 Fall 2014 2nd Midterm Examination Page # 4 of 9

c) (8) To improve the selectivity of C with respect to A, would you increase or decrease the inlet
flow rate (without adjusting the feed temperature)? Briefly explain why.

d) (8) In addition to adjusting the flow rate you are now also allowed to change the feed
temperature. To improve the yield of C with respect to A, would you increase or decrease the
inlet temperature? Would you at the same time increase or decrease the flow rate? Briefly
explain why.

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e) (8) You are told that the feed flow rate and the feed composition are fixed. To improve the
selectivity of C with respect to A (compared to the base case in problem 1a), would you increase
or decrease the inlet temperature? Briefly explain why.

f) (8) Would you consider using a CSTR instead of PFR for this process to improve the yield?
Briefly explain why.

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PROBLEM #2 (45 pts)

An ideal adiabatic plug flow reactor (PFR) is connected to a feed/product heat exchanger (see
figure below). This system is used to convert A to B. The process inlet stream contains 100
mol/L of A and no B. The temperature of the feed stream is Tin = 25C. The outlet stream
contains 60 mol/L of B. The reaction A B is reversible and exothermic (Tadiabatic = 250 K).

Tin Adiabatic PFR
T0 TZ

Tout Feed/product
Heat Exchanger

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a) (20) The diagram below shows the fractional conversion of A in the outlet of the PFR plotted
as a function of the reactor outlet temperature (TZ). Use this diagram to estimate the inlet
temperature to the PFR (T0), the outlet temperature from the PFR (TZ), and the process outlet
temperature (Tout).

0.8
Fractional conversion of A in 

0.7
0.6
reactor effluent

0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Reactor outlet temperature (C)

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b) (15) Heat exchangers can become significantly fouled over time resulting in reduced capacity
for heat transfer. Using the diagram below, describe how the product concentration of B in the
reactor outlet stream will change over time if the heat exchanger is not cleaned.

0.8
Fractional conversion of A in 

0.7
0.6
reactor effluent

0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Reactor outlet temperature (C)

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c) (10) As an intern you have optimized this process to operate at the maximum conversion of A
during fall months, when the process feed temperature was Tin = 25C. In summer months, the
process feed temperature is significantly higher, about Tin = 50C. Using the diagram below,
estimate the fractional conversion of A during fall months and summer months.

0.8
Fractional conversion of A in 

0.7
0.6
reactor effluent

0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Reactor outlet temperature (C)