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Analysis of plug flow reactors with variable mass density
Author(s) -
Vrentas James S.,
Vrentas Christine M.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.14574
Subject(s) - plug flow , plug flow reactor model , constitutive equation , flow (mathematics) , mechanics , volumetric flow rate , variable (mathematics) , chemical reactor , thermodynamics , mass flow rate , mass flow , chemistry , nuclear engineering , physics , mathematics , continuous stirred tank reactor , engineering , mathematical analysis , finite element method
The design of plug flow reactors with variable mass density is examined. Equations which include a two‐term constitutive equation for the reaction rate are derived for the flow of liquids and for the flow of ideal gases in steady plug flow reactors. It is shown that the addition of the second term in the constitutive equation can have a significant effect on the calculation of the reactor volume needed to carry out a specific conversion of the reactant. Published experimental plug flow reactor data support the observation that a reaction rate constitutive equation with two terms can provide a good representation of the experimental data for variable mass density reactors. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J 60: 4185–4189, 2014