Advanced chemical reaction

engineering

By Dr. Solomon Workneh

Introduction
 Outline
 Reaction engineering

 Basics of reaction kinetics

The ideal reactors

 What you should know

Assignment 1
 Reaction engineering
• One feature that distinguishes the chemical
engineer from other types of engineers is the
ability to analyze systems in which chemical
reactions are occurring and to apply the results
of his or her analysis in a manner that benefits
society. Consequently, chemical engineers must
be well acquainted with the fundamentals of
chemical reaction kinetics and the manner in
which they are applied in reactor design.
 Reactor design uses information, knowledge, and experience from a variety of
areas
• Thermodynamics
• Chemical kinetics
• Fluid mechanics
• Heat transfer
• Mass transfer
• Economics

 Chemical reaction engineering is the synthesis of all these

factors with the aim of properly designing a chemical
reactor
 Kinetics, Contacting pattern and the performance
equations are the three basic concepts to find what a
reactor is able to do.
 Basics of reaction kinetics
 Chemical identity
• A chemical species is said to have reacted when it has lost
its chemical identity.
Three ways a chemical species can lose its
chemical identity:
• Decomposition

• Combination

• Isomerization
The reaction rate is the rate at which a species
looses its chemical identity per unit volume
• A B
 Typical rate equations for simple reactions
 Reversible first- order reactions

 Second -order reversible reactions

 Autocatalytic reactions
Read rate equations for coupled reaction
Parallel, consecutive, mixed P and C
reactions
Ideal reactors
 Performance equations
• Batch reactor
• Mixed flow reactor
• Plug flow reactor
Reactor configuration
Example 1
Solution
Example 2
 What you should know
 Why reaction engineering

Basics of reaction kinetics

 Ideal reactors and their performance equation

 Assignment
• Octave Levenspiel, 3rd edition
2.9,5.3,5.6,5.9,5.21,5.23,5.30
• Fogler third edition
 p4-6B, p4-11B, p4-16B
Submission date next week