CHE 307 CHEMICAL REACTION ENGINEERING I

Prof. Dr. Selahattin Gültekin

Head of Department of Chemical Engineering

Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences

Üsküdar University
Fall Term 2022-23
 CHEMICAL REACTIONS

 Whenever a species loses its identity, we talk about a chemical reaction.

 In chemical reactions, bond breaking and new bond formation occur

along with some heat effects (endothermic or exothermic).
 Chemical Reactions.
Homogeneous (single-phase)
- Gas - phase reactions
- Liquid- phase reactions.
(Molecules are readily available to
react with no mass transfer limitations)
Heterogeneous (more than one phase)
- Mainly solid catalyzed G-S or L-S
- In ceramic industry S-S reactions are
also in this category.
- G-S-L reactions (three-phase reactions
like in slurry and trickle –bed reactors).
 CONSERVATION OF MASS AND GENERAL MOLE BALANCE EQUATION

To get the design equation for reactors, we must use a mole balance
equation for any species, say species j

Gj = Pj - Cj

Pj = production, Cj = consumption

Gj could be (+) or (-)

Figure 1.5 A reactor system

For jth component

in – out + production-consumption = accumulation

jin – jout + Gj = Accumulation of j, or

Fjo – Fj + Gj = dNj/dt

This Master Equation is applicable to any reactor types.

where,

Nj = total mole number of j in the system, [=mol]

Fjo = molar flow rate of j at the entrance [=mole/time]

Fj = molar flow rate of j at the exit [=mole/time]

Let us analyze the system for the term Gj

When Gj > 0, we have production of j

Gj < 0, we have consumption of j

 GENERAL MOLE BALANCE
 If all system is spatially uniform Gj = rjV (like in batch and CSTR), where rj is the
rate of reaction with a dimension of ={mole j reacted/[(volume)(time)]}

 What if the reaction rate is not uniform throughout the system (like in PFR or
Packed-Bed Reactor, PBR)?

 Let us divide the system into small subsystems, like ∆V1, ∆V2, … ∆Vi, etc. Assuming
each subsystem is spatially uniform within itself and assume that the reaction rate
within that subsystem is the same everywhere and denote by rj.

 For Gj, we can write the following equation.

 𝑮𝒋 = σ∞
𝒊=𝟏 𝒓𝒋𝒊 ∆𝑽𝒊 = ‫ 𝑽𝒅 𝒋𝒓 ׬‬, (i= number of subvolumes),

 𝒓𝒋𝒊 = 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒋 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒕𝒉 subvolume, and is changing from one subsystem to
another.
 GMBE

 After all these assumptions, one gets the following master equation.

𝑽 𝒅𝑵𝒋
 𝑭𝒋𝒐 − 𝑭𝒋 + ‫𝑽𝒅 𝒋𝒓 𝟎׬‬ = (General Mole Balance Equation=GMBE)
𝒅𝒕

 We can apply this master equation to any reactor (batch, semi-batch, CSTR, PFR,
and PBR) with appropriate terms.
 BATCH REACTOR, TRANSIENT CASE (ACCUMULATION ≠ 0)
 Small scale production,

 New process testing,

 Manufacture of expensive products such as drugs, etc.

 Whenever continuous is not possible,

 Higher conversion with slow reactions,

 GMBE for Batch Reactor

𝑽 𝒅𝑵𝒋 𝑽 𝒅𝑵𝒋
𝑭ด
𝒋𝒐 − 𝑭
ณ𝒋 + ‫𝑽𝒅 𝒋𝒓 𝟎׬‬ = => ‫𝑽𝒅 𝒋𝒓 𝟎׬‬ = [Fjo = Fj = 0 (no inlet, no outlet)]
𝒅𝒕 𝒅𝒕
𝟎 𝟎

 As mentioned before a chemical reaction is defined as one or more molecules lose its
identity and form a new structure or configuration.

𝑽 𝒅𝑵𝒋
 If we assume properties are uniform throughout the reactor: 𝒓𝒋 ‫𝑽𝒅 𝟎׬‬ =
𝒅𝒕

𝑽 𝒅𝑵𝒋 𝒅𝑵𝒋
 𝒓𝒋 [𝑽]𝟎 = or 𝒓𝒋 𝑽 = This is the batch reactor design equation.
𝒅𝒕 𝒅𝒕
 Consider

AB

 reaction and assume any order. Then

𝒅𝑵𝒋 𝒅𝑵𝑨 𝑵 𝒅𝑵𝑨

 𝒓𝒋 𝑽 = => 𝒓𝑨 𝑽𝒅𝒕 = 𝒅𝑵𝑨 => 𝒅𝒕 = => 𝒕 = − ‫𝑨 𝑵׬‬ or
𝒅𝒕 𝒓𝑨 𝑽 𝑨𝒐 −𝒓𝑨 𝑽

𝑵𝑨𝒐 𝒅𝑵𝑨
=> 𝒕= ‫( 𝑵׬‬−𝒓 𝑽)
𝑨 𝑨

 This last equation can be used to predict reaction time “t” for a given NAo
and NA, providing we know how (-rAV) is changing with NA!
 In a batch system, for a reaction
AB

Figure. 1.8 NA vs. time Figure. 1.9 NB vs. time

 THE FACTS ABOUT REACTIONS
 Mass before and after the reaction is the same (Conservation
of mass=no change of mass due to reaction)

 Upon reactions, a new structure is formed.

 Rate of Reaction (-rA) indicates how fast or how slow a

reaction is.

 Kinetics and Thermodynamics help us for the proper design of

a reactor.
RATE OF REACTION