1.

2 MULTIPLE REACTIONS 15

transformations of the desired product species (in series with the desired reaction).
Typically we encounter some combination of both types. We discuss each of these
schemes in some detail here because they often play a critical role in understanding the
behavior of the reactor, how it has to be operated, and also how it can be controlled.
They also have a major impact on the design of the entire process. To suppress undesir-
able side reactions, it is often necessary to operate the reactor with a low concentration
of one of the reactants and an excess of other reactants. These must be recovered in a
separation section and recycled back to the reaction section.

1.2.1 Parallel Reactions

The first reaction type is when the reactants form, not just the desired products, but also
other undesired products in parallel with the main reaction. We want to show here the
implications of parallel reactions, so we consider a simple batch isothermal reactor at
constant volume:
kB
A !! B
(1:31)
kC
A !! C

Assuming first-order kinetics, we can express the change with time in the concentrations of
reactant A (CA) and products B (CB) and C (CC):

dCA
¼ !(kB þ kC ) CA (1:32)
dt
dCB
¼ kB CA (1:33)
dt
dCC
¼ kC CA (1:34)
dt
The kinetic rate constants are kB and kC. We can analytically solve these differential
equations, assuming that we start at time zero with only reactant A (CA0):

CA(t)
¼ e!(kB þkC )t (1:35)
CA0
CB(t) kB ! "
¼ 1 ! e!(kB þkC )t (1:36)
CA0 kB þ kC
CC(t) kC ! "
¼ 1 ! e!(kB þkC )t (1:37)
CA0 kB þ kC

Figure 1.6 shows the normalized concentrations as functions of time during the batch for
different values of the two rate constants kB and kC. The higher the value of kB compared
with kC, the more of product B is generated. This is expressed in terms of the selectivity (S )
to the desired product, which we preferentially want to be as large as possible:

CB
S¼ (1:38)
CC