University of Puerto Rico Mayagez Campus

Department of Chemical Engineering

PO Box 9000
Mayagez, PR 00681-9000
Phone: (787) 832-4040 Exts. 2568,2587
Website: http://atomo.uprm.edu/

Fax: (787) 265-3818

Syllabus & Instructor Information Sheet Form

A. COURSE SYLLABUS
1. General Information:
Course Number: InQu 6005
Course Title: Reactor Design
Credit-Hours: 3
2. Course Description:
Analysis and design of batch and continuous chemical reactors for homogeneous and heterogeneous,
catalytic and non-catalytic reactions; residence time distributions; influence of mass and heat
transport on yield and product distributions; stability and optimization of reactors.
3. Pre-requisites: None
4. Co-requisites:
None
5. Textbook, Supplies and Other Resources:
Chemical Reactor Analysis and Design Fundamentals, J.B. Rawlings and J.G. Ekerdt, Nob Hill
Publishing, 2004.
References:
Chemical Kinetics and Catalysis, R.I. Masel, John Wiley & Sons, NY, 2001.

Chemical Reaction Engineering and Reactor Technology, T.O. Salmi, J.P. Mikkola, J.P. Wrn,
CRC Press, FL, 2011

Elements of Chemical Reaction Engineering, H. S. Fogler, 4th Ed., Prentice-Hall, New Jersey,
2006.

Essentials of Chemical Reaction Engineering, S. Fogler, 1th Ed., Prentice-Hall, New Jersey,
2012.

Butt, J.B., Reaction Kinetics and Reactor Design, 2nd Ed., Marcel Dekker, Inc., N.Y., 2000
Dumesic, J.A., Rudd, D.F., Aparicio, L.M., Rekoske, J.E., Trevio, A.A., The Microkinetics of
Heterogeneous Catalysis, ACS Professional Reference Book, Washington DC, 1993.

Froment, G.F., Bischoff, K.B., De Wilde, J., Chemical Reactor Analysis and Design, 3rd Ed.,
John Wiley & Sons, 2011.

Steinfeld, J.I, Francisco, J.S., Hasse, W.L., Chemical Kinetics and Dynamics, 2nd Ed, Prentice
Hall, NJ, 1999.

Chorkendorff, I., Niemantsverdriet, J.W., Concepts of Modern Catalysis and Kinetics, 2nd Ed.,
Wiley-VCH, 2007.

McQuarrie, Statistical Mechanics, University Science Books, California, 2000.

Levenspiel, O., Chemical Reaction Engineering, 3rd. Ed., Wiley, New York, 1998.

6. Purpose:
This course is open to graduate chemical engineering students.

7. Course Goals:
This course develops the capacity of students to:
a) Analyze and design reactors for multiple reactions.
b) Analyze chemical kinetics data for complex reaction systems
c) Predict reaction mechanism
d) Estimate reaction rate parameters through collision theory, Evans-Polany relations and transition
state theory.
e) Analyze heterogeneous systems and formulate rate equations.
f) Include effect of pressure drop and catalyst deactivation on the design of heterogeneous reactors
Design heterogeneous isothermal and nonisothermal reactors.
g) Predict the reaction mechanism in heterogeneously catalyzed reactions.
h) Estimate reaction rate parameters in heterogeneous catalysis.

8. Requirements:
All students are expected to bring a solid undergraduate chemical kinetics and reactor design
background.
9. Laboratory/Field Work (If applicable): None in this course.
10. Department/Campus Policies:
a) Class attendance: Class attendance is compulsory. The University of Puerto Rico, Mayagez
Campus, reserves the right to deal at any time with individual cases of non-attendance.
Professors are expected to record the absences of their students. Frequent absences affect the
final grade, and may even result in total loss of credits. Arranging to make up work missed
because of legitimate class absence is the responsibility of the student. (Bulletin of Information
Undergraduate Studies, pp 39 1995-96)
b) Absence from examinations: Students are required to attend all examinations. Otherwise, he or
she will receive a grade of zero or "F" in the examination missed. (Bulletin of Information
Undergraduate Studies, pp 39, 1995-96). Make-up exams will not be given in this course. In
very exceptional circumstances, if a student is absent from an examination for a justifiable
reason acceptable to the professor, the final exam will be used to cover that grade.
Evidence must be provided in less than three days after the day of the exam.
c) Final examinations: Final written examinations must be given in all courses unless, in the
judgment of the Dean, the nature of the subject makes it impracticable. Final examinations
scheduled by arrangements must be given during the examination period prescribed in the
Academic Calendar, including Saturdays. (see Bulletin of Information Undergraduate Studies, pp
39, 1995-96).
d) Partial withdrawals: A student may withdraw from individual courses at any time during the
term, but before the deadline established in the University Academic Calendar. (see Bulletin of
Information Undergraduate Studies, pp 37, 1995-96).
e) Complete withdrawals: A student may completely withdraw from the University of Puerto
Rico, Mayagez Campus, at any time up to the last day of classes. (see Bulletin of Information
Undergraduate Studies, pp 37, 1995-96).
f) Disabilities: All the reasonable accommodations according to the Americans with Disability Act
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(ADA) Law will be coordinated with the Dean of Students and in accordance with the particular
needs of the student. The student should notify the instructor to arrange the reasonable
accommodations. For more information please contact the Dean of Students at (787) 265-3862 or
(787) 832-4040 extensions 3250 or 3258.
g) Ethics: Any academic fraud is subject to the disciplinary sanctions described in article 14 and 16
of the revised General Student Bylaws of the University of Puerto Rico contained in Certification
018-1997-98 of the Board of Trustees. The professor will follow the norms established in
articles 1-5 of the Bylaws.
11. General Topics:
a) Multiple reactions
b) Simultaneous reaction and separation
c) Non-elementary homogeneous reactions-mechanisms.
d) Complex reaction systems. Examples: enzyme catalyzed reactions and polymerization
e) Estimation of reaction rate parameters
f) Thermodynamics and statistical mechanics: Partition functions
g) Energy balances
h) Heat effects in chemical reactors
i) Heterogeneous catalysis
j) Multiphase reactors
k) Pressure drop in reactors
l) Diffusion and reaction in porous catalysts
m) Catalyst deactivation
n) Design of reactors for gas-solid reactions
o) Reactions with phase change
p) External diffusion effects on heterogeneous reactions
q) Unsteady-state operation of reactors
r) Analysis of non-ideal reactors
s) Distribution of residence times for chemical reactors

University of Puerto Rico Mayagez Campus

Department of Chemical Engineering
PO Box 90000
Mayagez, PR 00681-9000
Phone: (787) 832-4040 Exts. 2568,2587
Website: http://atomo.uprm.edu/

Fax: (787) 265-3818

B. INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION SHEET

1. General Information:
Instructor Name: Prof. Mara Curet-Arana
Title:
Associate Professor
Office:
IQ-207B
Phone:
832-4040 ext. 2569
Office Hours:
Th 1:30-3:00 PM
E-mail:
maria.curetarana@upr.edu
2. Course Description:
Course Number: InQu 6005
Course Title:
Reactor Design
*See element number 2 (Course Description) of Course Syllabus Section.
3. Purpose: This course is open to graduate chemical engineering students.
4. Course Goals:
This course develops the capacity of students to:
a) Analyze chemical kinetics data for heterogeneous systems and formulate rate equations.
b) Predict reaction mechanism
c) Estimate reaction rate parameters through collision theory, Evans-Polany relations and transition
state theory.
d) Design heterogeneous isothermal and nonisothermal reactors.
e) Include effect of pressure drop and catalyst deactivation on the design of heterogeneous reactors.
f) Analyze and design reactors for multiple reactions.
g) Estimate reaction rate parameters in heterogeneous catalysis.
5. Instructional Strategy:
Three hours of lecture per week. Frequent use of audiovisual aids, teaching through questioning,
and class participation.
6. Evaluation/Grade Reporting:
One midterm examination (100 points) and a final examination (100 points) will be administered
during the term. Each student has to prepare a proposal using NSF guidelines (100 points) and give
an oral presentation at the end of the semester. Due date for the proposal is on November 17, 2015.

From the week of September 22nd, a 3-minute presentation will be given every other week by all
students describing an article from a peer-reviewed journal that is either related to the course or to the
proposal. Each student will give 7 oral presentations during the semester (10 points each).
Exams, assignments and the term paper will count toward the final course grade. LATE
HOMEWORKS or EXAMS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. Make-up exams will not be given in
this course. In very exceptional circumstances, if a student is absent from an examination for a
justifiable reason acceptable to the professor, the final exam will be used to cover that grade.
Evidence must be provided in less than three days after the day of the exam.
6005 Proposal - Comments
The topic of the proposal should be related to the core material in the course.
The final proposal should be limited to fifteen pages (could be single or double spaced). Follow the
guidelines of NSF.
a) It should emphasize the current important concepts with appropriate illustrative material. Most
important, it should be a useful document.
b) You are encouraged to use illustrative tables and figures. If figures or tables are taken from a
published document or website, they must have the appropriate citation of the source.
c) You should review your outline and paper content with the instructor to insure its pertinence.
d) References must be presented in standard journal style.
e) There must be at least 20 articles from peer-reviewed journals in the references of the proposal.
f) Each student will give a 3-minut presentation every other week to summarize an article related
to the course or the proposal
g) Each student will give a15-minute presentation at the end of the semester that summarizes the
proposal.
PLAGIARISM WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. ANY PROPOSAL WITH MORE THAN ONE
SENTENCE TAKEN DIRECTLY FROM ANOTHER SOURCE WILL RECEIVE ZERO AS
THE GRADE. NO EXCEPTIONS.
7. Deadlines for Assignments:
Mark your calendars with these key dates:
August 27, 2015: Choose proposal topic. The topic must be related to the material discussed in the
course.
September 10, 2015: Oral presentation describing 3 articles related to the proposal. Articles must
have been published from 2012 to 2015.
From the week of September 22nd, a 3-minute presentation will be given every other week by all
students describing an article from a peer-reviewed journal that is either related to the course or to the
proposal. Half of the students registered in the course will be presenting on Tuesdays, and the other
half on Thursdays. The day of the presentations will be determined on the first day of the course. The
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Power Point file of the presentation and the pdf file of the paper should be sent via email the
day before the presentation, until midnight. If a student is absent the day he/she is required to
present will have zero on the grade of the presentation of that day. No reposition will be given
to presentations.
October 1, 2015: Due date for the proposal outline. Outline should include at least 20 references
from peer-reviewed journals related to the topic.
November 17, 2015: Due date for final proposal.

8. Student Assistance (If applicable):

9. Attendance and Behavior:
10. Instructor Responsibilities (If applicable):

11. Course Outline:

Topics
Homogeneous Reaction Systems:
Multiple Reactions
Steady-State Nonisothermal Reactor Design
Non elementary Homogeneous Reactions-Mechanisms
Enzyme Reactions, Bioreactors
Methods for Estimating Rate Constants
Unsteady-State Nonisothermal Reactor Design
Heterogeneous Reaction Systems:
Pressure Drop in Reactors
Design of Reactors for Gas-Solid Reactions
Catalyst Deactivation
Methods for Estimating Rate Constants in Heterogeneous Catalysis
External Diffusion Effects on Heterogeneous Reactions
Diffusion and Reaction in Porous Catalysts
Multiphase Reactors
Distribution of Residence Times for Chemical Reactors

Submitted by:

Dr. Mara Curet-Arana

Assistant Professor

Dr. Aldo Acevedo

Department Director

August 12, 2015