Lesson 1.1

Introduction to Chemical
Reaction Engineering
CHEMICAL REACTION ENGINEERING 1
FHCDeVera CHEMICAL REACTION ENGINEERING 1 1

Chemical Kinetics
Chemical kinetics is the study of chemical reaction rates
and reaction mechanisms.
In Thermodynamics, we learned whether a reaction is
spontaneous (can proceed on its own) or non-spontaneous
(needs a driving force).
After learning how to allow chemical reactions to proceed,
we ask how fast will the reaction proceed (reaction rate),
and in what way (reaction mechanism).

Chemical Reaction Engineering
Chemical reaction engineering combines the study of
chemical kinetics with the design of the reactors in which
reactions occur.
Chemical kinetics and reactor design distinguishes chemical
engineers from other engineers.
Chemical kinetics and reactor design are key aspects in the
industrial production of important compounds and
chemicals used in our daily lives.

The selection of a reaction system that operates in the
safest and most efficient manner can be the key to the
economic success or failure of a chemical plant.
Safety is foremost in a chemical plant operation.
Economics is the language engineers use to make the
business owners understand the financial implication of
certain operations or conditions in the chemical plant.

Chapter 1

Chemical reaction engineering is at the heart of
virtually every chemical process. It separates the
chemical engineer from other engineers.
Industries that Draw Heavily on Chemical Reaction

Engineering (CRE) are:
CPI (Chemical Process Industries)
Examples like Dow, DuPont, Amoco, Chevron

Chapter 1
6 CHEMICAL REACTION ENGINEERING 1 FHCDeVera

Applications
The chemical reaction engineering (CRE) principles can be
applied in so many different areas.
The next slides show some of the diverse areas where CRE
can be applied.

Chapter 1
Smog (Ch. 1) Oil Recovery (Ch. 7)
Wetlands (Ch. 7 DVD-ROM)

Hippo Digestion (Ch. 2)

Chapter 1
Plant Safety
(Ch. 11,12,13)
Chemical Plant for Ethylene Glycol (Ch. 5)
Cobra Bites
(Ch. 8 DVD-ROM)
Lubricant Design (Ch. 9)

Reactor system at Amoco

Spherical
Reactor at
Amoco

Three Spherical Reactors

Spherical
Reactors
Connected
in Series

Hydrotreating
Unit

Cutaway View
of a CSTR
Pfaudler, Inc.

Batch Reactor

Batch
Reactor
Stirring
Apparatus

Sasol Reactor
Photos
Packed Bed
Reactors

Straight
Through
Transport
Reactor

Automotive Catalytic Converter

Sasol Advanced
Synthol (SAS)
Reactor

Slurry Phase
Distillate
Reactor

Slurry Phase
Distillate
Reactor
(side view)

Reformer Reactors in Series in BP

Side View of Reformer Reactors

Fluidized Catalytic Cracker

Fixed-Bed Reactor

Three-Stage Converter

Fluidized-Bed Reactor

Hydrogen Plant

Fixed-Bed
Reactor

Chemical reaction engineering (CRE) is the field that studies
the rates and mechanisms of chemical reactions and the
design of the reactors in which they take place.
An algorithm is developed to aid one in solving full CRE
problems.

End of Lecture 1.0

Mole Balances

Chemical reaction engineering (CRE) is the field that studies
the rates and mechanisms of chemical reactions and the
design of the reactor in which they take place.

General Mole Balance Equation
Reactors
◦ Batch Reactor
◦ Continuously-Stirred Tank Reactor (CSTR)
◦ Plug Flow Reactor (PFR)
◦ Packed-Bed Reactor (PBR)

Chapter 1
Chemical Identity
A chemical species is said to have reacted when it has
lost its chemical identity.
The identity of a chemical species is determined by the
kind, number, and configuration of that species’ atoms.

Chapter 1
Chemical Identity
There are three ways for a species to lose its identity:
1. Decomposition CH3CH3  H2 + H2C=CH2

2. Combination N2 + O2  2 NO
3. Isomerization C2H5CH=CH2  CH2=C(CH3)2

Chapter 1
Reaction Rate
The reaction rate is the rate at which a species loses
its chemical identity per unit volume.
𝑚𝑜𝑙
The rate of a reaction can be expressed as
𝑑𝑚3 −𝑠𝑒𝑐
either:
◦ The rate of disappearance of reactant: -rA
or as
◦ The rate of formation (generation) of product: rP

Reaction Rate
Consider the isomerization
AB
rA = the rate of formation of species A per unit
volume
-rA = the rate of disappearance of species A per unit
volume
rB = the rate of formation of species B per unit
volume

Chapter 1
Reaction Rate
EXAMPLE: AB
If species B is being formed at a rate of 0.2 moles per
cubic decimeter per second, i.e., r = 0.2 𝑚𝑜𝑙
B 𝑑𝑚3 −𝑠𝑒𝑐
Then A is disappearing at the same rate:
𝑚𝑜𝑙
-rA= 0.2
The rate of formation (generation of A) is:
𝑚𝑜𝑙
rA= -0.2
Chapter 1
Reaction Rate
For a catalytic reaction we refer to –rA’, which is the
rate of disappearance of species A on a per mass of
𝑚𝑜𝑙
catalyst basis, .
𝑔 𝑐𝑎𝑡−𝑠𝑒𝑐
𝒅𝑪𝑨
NOTE: is not the rate of reaction
𝒅𝒕

Chapter 1
Reaction Rate
Consider species j:
1. rj is the rate of formation of species j per unit volume
𝑚𝑜𝑙
2. rj is a function of concentration, temperature,
pressure, and the type of catalyst (if any)

Chapter 1
Reaction Rate
Consider species j:
3. rj is independent of the type of reaction system
(i.e., the reactor type used - batch, plug flow, etc.)
4. rj is an algebraic equation, not a differential equation
2
(e.g. −𝑟𝐴 = 𝑘𝐶𝐴 or −𝑟𝐴 = 𝑘𝐶𝐴 )

Chapter 1
Building Block 1:
General Mole Balances

System Volume,
V
Fj0 Gj Fj

Chapter 1
Building Block 1:

Chapter 1
Building Block 1:

If spatially uniform:
G j  r jV
If NOT spatially uniform:
V1
 V2
r j1
rj 2
G j1  r j1V1
G j 2  r j 2 V2


Chapter 1
Building Block 1:

n
G j   rji Vi
i 1
Take limit
n
Gj   rjiVi   r dV j
i1 lim V  0 n  

Chapter 1
Building Block 1:

A  products System Volume, V
FA0 GA FA

Chapter 1
Building Block 1:

General Mole Balance on System Volume, V

Algorithm
Unit Operations
Filtration Distillation Evaporation
These topics do not build upon one another.

Algorithm
Mole Balance Rate Laws Stoichiometry
These topics BUILD UPON one another.

Algorithm
Full CRE Algorithm

Heat Effects
Isothermal Design
Stoichiometry
Rate Laws
Mole Balance
Algorithm
CRE building blocks
Mole Balance Rate Laws
Be careful not to cut corners on any of the

CRE building blocks while learning this material!

Algorithm
CRE building blocks

Heat Effects
Isothermal Design
Stoichiometry
Rate Laws
Mole Balance
Otherwise, your algorithm becomes unstable.
End of Lecture 1.1.1

Design Equations

General Mole Balance
A  products

Chemical Reactor Systems
Batch System Flow System
§ Batch Reactor § Continuously-Stirred Tank
Reactor (CSTR)
§ Plug Flow Reactor (PFR)
§ Packed-Bed Reactor (PBR)

BATCH SYSTEM

Batch Reactor

Chapter 1
Batch Reactor - Mole Balances

A  products
0 0
In a batch system,

Chapter 1

In a batch reactor, reaction system is well-mixed,
therefore,
Design equation for a batch reactor

Chapter 1

Integrating,
when
Time necessary to reduce

the number of moles of A
from NA0 to NA.
Chapter 1
NA
Design equation for a batch reactor

Continuously-Stirred Tank
Reactor (CSTR)
Backmix Reactor
Vat

Chapter 1
CSTR - Mole Balances
Steady-State
Chapter 1
CSTR - Mole Balances

Well-Mixed
This is the CSTR volume necessary to reduce the molar flow

rate from FA0 to FA, also the design equation of a CSTR.
Plug Flow Reactor (PFR)
Tubular Reactor

Chapter 1
Plug Flow Reactor - Mole Balances

Polyethylene reactor –
this 16-in inner diameter
reactor is designed to
operate at 35,000 psi and
600 ⁰F; in operation, this
reactor is in a vertical
configuration.
Courtesy of Autoclave
Engineers , Division of Snap-tite, Inc.

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Rearrange and take limit as ΔV0
This is the PFR design equation.

Chapter 1

PFR
Steady-state

Chapter 1
Alternative Derivation

Disappearance of reactant occurs for every differential
change in volume, differentiate with respect to V
The integral form is:

This is the volume necessary to reduce the entering molar
flow rate (mol/s) from FA0 to the exit molar flow rate of FA.
Packed-Bed Reactor
(PBR)

Chapter 1
Packed Bed Reactor - Mole Balances

PBR

Chapter 1

0
Steady-State

Chapter 1

Rearranging:
The integral form to find the catalyst weight is:
PBR catalyst weight necessary to reduce the entering molar

flow rate FA0 to molar flow rate FA.
Chapter 1
Reactor Mole Balances Summary

The GMBE applied to the four major reactor types
(and the general reaction AB)
Reactor Differential Algebraic Integral NA
Batch
t
CSTR
FA
PFR
V
FA
PBR
W
Algorithm
Unit Operations
Filtration Distillation Evaporation
These topics do not build upon one another.

Algorithm
Mole Balance Rate Laws Stoichiometry
These topics BUILD UPON one another.

Algorithm
Full CRE Algorithm

Heat Effects
Isothermal Design
Stoichiometry
Rate Laws
Mole Balance
Algorithm
CRE building blocks


Algorithm
CRE building blocks

Heat Effects
Isothermal Design
Stoichiometry
Rate Laws
Mole Balance

Supplemental Slides
Additional Applications of CRE

32
33
34
Hippo Digestion (Ch. 2)
35
36
37
Chemical Plant for Ethylene Glycol (Ch. 5)
38
Wetlands (Ch. 7 DVD-ROM) Oil Recovery (Ch. 7)
39
Cobra Bites
(Ch. 8 DVD-ROM)
40
Lubricant Design (Ch. 9)
41
Plant Safety
(Ch. 11,12,13)
42
Application of the
Equation

A  products

Chapter 1
Reactor Mole Balances Summary

The GMBE applied to the four major reactor types
(and the general reaction AB)
Reactor Differential Algebraic Integral NA
Batch
t
CSTR
FA
PFR
V
FA
PBR
W
Sample Problem

Important Relationships
Concentration
Constant volume
Molar Flow rate
ᵃ ᵃ =ᵃ ᵃ ᵰ 0
Constant volumetric flow rate
Consider a CSTR
General mole balance equation,
At steady state,
Rearranging,

Consider a CSTR

Consider a PFR
At steady state,
Differentiate with respect to volume,
Rearrange,

Consider a PFR

Summary Volume Comparison
Zero order First order Second order
CSTR ᵽᵽ ᵽ ,ᵽᵽᵼ ᵽ ,ᵽᵼᵼ ,ᵼᵼᵼ
PFR ᵽᵽ ᵼ ᵽ ᵽ .ᵽᵽ ᵽᵽ ,ᵼ ᵼᵼ

Consider a Batch Reactor
In a batch operation,
Separating the variables,

Consider a Batch Reactor

Algorithm
Full CRE Algorithm

Heat Effects
Isothermal Design
Stoichiometry
Rate Laws
Mole Balance
Algorithm
CRE building blocks


Algorithm
CRE building blocks

Heat Effects
Isothermal Design
Stoichiometry
Rate Laws
Mole Balance

Lesson 1.1

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Introduction to Chemical

FHCDeVera CHEMICAL REACTION ENGINEERING 1 1

FHCDeVera CHEMICAL REACTION ENGINEERING 1 2

FHCDeVera CHEMICAL REACTION ENGINEERING 1 3

FHCDeVera CHEMICAL REACTION ENGINEERING 1 4

Chemical Reaction Engineering

Industries that Draw Heavily on Chemical Reaction

FHCDeVera CHEMICAL REACTION ENGINEERING 1 5

6 CHEMICAL REACTION ENGINEERING 1 FHCDeVera

FHCDeVera CHEMICAL REACTION ENGINEERING 1 7

Smog (Ch. 1) Oil Recovery (Ch. 7)

Wetlands (Ch. 7 DVD-ROM)

FHCDeVera CHEMICAL REACTION ENGINEERING 1 8

Chemical Plant for Ethylene Glycol (Ch. 5)

FHCDeVera CHEMICAL REACTION ENGINEERING 1 9

FHCDeVera CHEMICAL REACTION ENGINEERING 1 10

FHCDeVera CHEMICAL REACTION ENGINEERING 1 11

FHCDeVera CHEMICAL REACTION ENGINEERING 1 12

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1. Decomposition CH3CH3  H2 + H2C=CH2

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General Mole Balances

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General Mole Balances

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General Mole Balances

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General Mole Balances

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General Mole Balances

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General Mole Balances

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Filtration Distillation Evaporation

These topics do not build upon one another.