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Aggregate behavior and lumped kinetics of many reactions in backmixed and plug‐flow reactors
Author(s) -
Ho Teh C.
Publication year - 1996
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.690420118
Subject(s) - continuous stirred tank reactor , plug flow , plug flow reactor model , kinetics , thermodynamics , isothermal process , residence time (fluid dynamics) , chemistry , flow (mathematics) , chemical kinetics , materials science , chemical engineering , mechanics , physics , engineering , geotechnical engineering , quantum mechanics
The long‐time behavior of a reaction mixture containing infinitely many species in isothermal continuous stirred tank reactors (CSTRs) is analyzed and contrasted with that in a plug‐flow reactor (PFR). The reaction kinetics considered are irreversible first‐order, irreversible coupled pseudo first‐order, and reversible first‐order. Asymptotic lumped kinetics for the mixture as a whole are developed as a function of feed properties and reactor type. Such lumped kinetics in many cases are of the power law form, with the exponent for a CSTR being lower than that for a PFR. Conditions under which non‐power‐law kinetics arise are given. Due to the wide spread of reactor residence times, the mixture in CSTRs admits a much richer variety of asymptotic possibilities than in the PFR. The results uncover some behavioral differences and relationships between CSTRs and a PFR for converting complex mixtures such as petroleum distillates or coal liquids.