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Name: Kevin Adrin Rodrguez Ruiz

Professor: Jos Herney Ramrez


Subject: Chemical Reaction Engineering
Universidad Nacional de Colombia, April 02 of 2013

Code: 244693

Reactors in Parallel
To understand the possibilities in a continuous reactive process with CSTRs and PFRs placed in parallel, we
can consider a process in which the feed 0 is distributed among reactors in parallel to achieve a specific
total conversion at the exit:
0 1

a.

0 1

b.
1

0
0

Figure 1. (a) CSTRs in parallel and (b) PFRs in parallel, left and right respectively.

Conversion of reactors
The total conversion of an arrangement in parallel is given by:
=1 0

=
=
0
0
To know how to get the best conversion distribution, consider two reactors in parallel (any type):
0 1 1 + 0 2 2
=
= 1 + (1 )2
0
Where = 0 1 /0 and (1 ) = 0 2 /0
Deriving at conditions of maximum conversion:

= 1 2 = 0

As 1 = 2 , we can conclude that the maximum conversion is achieved when the conversion in all reactors
is the same, not only in two reactors arrangements but also in any arrangement, 1 = = = = , as
long as there is only one feed stream. If there is more than one reactor in each branch, the reactors can have
different conversions, but the conversion in each branch must be the same and equal to the total conversion.
CSTRs in parallel
From a single CSTR

Figure 2. Single CSTR

Considering isothermal operation, steady state and perfect mixture:


0 + = 0

Reordering:

0 =
X
V = FA0
rA

X
=
FA0 rA

Accordingly, in a parallel arrangement, as the conversion in each reactor is the same, = , hence the
reaction rate, = ( ), the right term of this equation is constant for all CSTRs:
V
=
FA0i
Besides, from this relationship we can say that when the conversion is the same, the size of a CSTR is
proportional to the inlet stream of reactive, i.e., if we divide the feed of a single CSTR and bring it into several
CSTRs placed in parallel, to get the same conversion of the single CSTR, the total size of the parallel
CSTRs would be equal to the single reactor.
PFRs in parallel
From a single PFR
0

Figure 3. Single PFR

Considering isothermal operation, steady state, pressure drop negligible and no radial gradients of
concentration or velocity:

0
=

Reordering and integrating from = 0 and = 0

=
0

=
0
0
As with CSTR, in a parallel arrangement of PFRs the right term of this equation is constant for all PFR, due to
the conversion in each reactor is the same, = , hence the reaction rate, = ( ) and the integral
term, this is:
V
=
FA0i
Then, we can conclude the same of the CSTRs in parallel: if the conversion is the same, the size of a PFR is
proportional to the inlet stream of reactive, and if the feed of a single PFR is divided and brought it into
several PFRs placed in parallel, to get the same conversion of the single PFR, the total size of the parallel
PFRs would be equal to the single reactor.
About pressure drop
Considering that CSTRs and PFRs are widely employed for liquid phase and gas phase reactions, respectively,
is important to keep in mind:
o Even with large pressure drops, the effect of this variable on the velocity rate is negligible in liquid phase
reactions.
o In gas phase, the concentration of a substance is proportional to the pressure, so if the pressure drop is
meaningful across a gas phase reactor, the design task must consider it. Usually the pressure drop
reduces the conversion inside a reactor. Now, like pressure drop inside tubular reactors (PFR and PBR)
depends of the reactor dimensions, while larger is the reactor larger is the pressure drop, then, if we
divide the feed of a tubular reactor and bring it into several reactors, as these reactors individually are
smaller than the single one, the pressure drop across the reactors in parallel would be lower than the
drop across the single reactor, thus the conversion would be different between a single tubular reactor
and tubular reactors in parallel with a total size equal to the size of the single reactor.

Bibliography
Fogler H. Scott. Elements of chemical reactions engineering. Third Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
Prentice Hall. 1999
O. Levenspiel. Ingeniera de las Reacciones Qumicas. Second Edition. Barcelona, Spain. Revert. 1986
Asociacin de reactores en paralelo: reactores de flujo pistn y de mezcla perfecta. [Online]. Consulted
March 31, 2013. Available in http://www.sc.ehu.es/iawfemaf/archivos/materia/00632.htm

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