CHE 430 Fall 2021

Homework #5
Not collected due to Midterm Exam #1
Solutions are also posted

1. Changing FA0 in an isothermal PFR. The irreversible elementary reaction 2A → B takes

place in the gas-phase in an isothermal PFR. Reactant A and diluent C are fed in equimolar
ratio, and the conversion of A is 80%. If the molar feed rate of A is cut in half, what is the
conversion of A assuming that the feed rate of C is left unchanged? Assume ideal behavior
and the reaction temperature remains unchanged.

2. Variable volume batch reactor (previous CHE 430 exam problem). The community
refrigerator in Fenske contains a sealed zip-lock bag containing leftover food from a tailgate
party sponsored by AIChE. At some point while sitting in the refrigerator, the food has gone
bad and is giving off an odorous gas (which we will call A, for simplicity). There is no other
species in the gas phase. The volume of [solid] food is much smaller than the volume of the
zip-lock bag. At some point in time (call it t = 0), no more odorous gas is evolved by the
solid food, and species A begins to decompose to B and C (all ideal gases) as it sits in the
refrigerator (which is held at 4°C) according to the following decomposition reaction
A → 2B + 3C

where the rate of disappearance of A is -rA = kCA. The value of the rate constant at 4°C is
0.25 h-1. The initial volume of the bag (right before the decomposition reaction of A begins)
is 3 L and expands at constant pressure, P.

a. How long does it take to convert 80% of species A at 4°C?

b. What is the volume of the zip-lock bag after a conversion of 80% has been obtained?

3. Packed Bed Reactor Design (previous CHE 430 exam problem). The elementary, gas-
phase reaction

A + B → C + 2D

is conducted in a packed bed reactor (PBR) containing a Rh-Pt/C catalyst. The inlet stream
contains A, B and an inert gas (I). All gases can be considered to behave as ideal gases. The
inlet stream and reactor operate at the same temperature and pressure. The reaction occurs at
473 K and 2 atm total pressure. The feed into the reactor is a 1:1:2 mixture of A/B/I at 100
L/min. The rate constant, k at 473 K is 32.3 L2/kgcat mol-min.
a. (15 points) What is the weight of catalyst (W) necessary to achieve a conversion of A, XA
of 0.5?
b. (20 points) In a separate experiment, your co-worker uses the same packed bed reactor
with a different initial volumetric flow rate, υ0. The temperature, pressure and
composition of the inlet stream to the packed bed reactor are unchanged. Your forgetful
co-worker can’t remember what value of υ0 was used, but you have a measurement of the
outlet concentration of I, CI and the total molar flow rate, FT exiting the reactor. The
concentration of I was measured by gas chromatography to be 2.1×10-2 M and the total
molar exit flow rate is 0.5 mol/min. What was the initial volumetric flow rate, υ0 that
your co-worker used?