Contents Page no

1. Introduction
1.0 Introduction
Shows a well-mixed, constant-volume CSTR. A single 1st-order exothermic
reaction A → B is carried out in the reactor. To remove the heat of reaction,
a jacket through which a cooling liquid flows surrounds the reactor. Let’s
assume that the heat losses to the surroundings are negligible and that the
densities and heat capacities of the reactants and products are both equal and
constant.

Fig: A cstr with a cooling jacket

The reaction rate is given by

-rA =k.CA , k = a.e-E/RT

The rate of heat transferred from the reactor to the cooling jacket is given by

Q =UA(T -Tj )

where


U is the overall heat transfer coefficient

A is heat transfer area


T is the temperature of the reactor


Tj is the temperature of the cooling jacket

The mass balance for the species A yields


F0CA0 – FCA - kVCA=0

From the energy balance on the reactor, we have

𝜌Cp(F0T0- FT) – 𝜆kVCA – UA(T- TJ) = 0

The energy balance on the cooling jacket gives

𝜌jCjFj (Tj0-Tj) + UA(T – Tj) = 0

where

λ is the heat of reaction

ρ and ρj are the densities of reactants and cooling liquid, respectively


Cp and Cj are the heat capacities of reactants and cooling liquid, respectively

1.1 Nonisothermal CSTR

The liquid-phase 1st-order irreversible exothermic reaction A → B is carried
out in a CSTR. The reaction rate is given by

−rA = kCA, k = αe−E/RT

1. Calculate the steady-state values of CA, T, and Tj.


2. This exothermic reaction system may exhibit multiple steady states. The
energy balance on the reactor yields

𝜌Cp(F0T0- FT) – 𝜆kVCA – UA(T- TJ) = 0

Substituting k = αe−E/RT

this equation gives

Solve the nonlinear equation f(T) = 0 and plot f(T) versus T to verify
multiple steady states.

Flow rate of the reactant feed:
 Fo = 40

ft3/hr

Flow rate of the product stream: F = 40 ft3/hr


Initial concentration of the species A: CA0 = 0.55 lbmol/ft3


Reactor volume:
 V = 48 ft3


 Flow rate of the cooling water:
 Fj0 = Fj = 49.9

ft3/hr


Heat capacity of the reactant: Cp = 0.75 btu/lbm/°R


Heat capacity of the cooling water: Cj = 1 btu/lbm/°R


Rate constant parameter:
 α = 7.08 × 1010

hr−1

Activation energy:
 E = 30,000 btu/lbmol


Density of the reactant ρ = 50 lbm/ft3


Density of the cooling water
 ρj = 62.3 lbm/ft3


Overall heat transfer coefficient: U = 150 btu/(hr · ft2 ·°R)

Heat transfer area: A = 250 ft2

Inlet temperature of the cooling water: Tj0 = 530 °R


Inlet temperature of the reactant:
 T0 = 530 °R


Heat of the reaction:
 λ = −30,000 btu/lbmol

Volume of the cooling jacket:
 Vj = 12 ft3

Gas constant: R = 1.9872 btu/lbmol/°R

Solution :
1. We can formulate the mass and energy balances that apply to the reactor and the
cooling jacket. Required steady-state values can be obtained from the solution of the
system of nonlinear equations consisting of these balances. Rearrangement of the mass
and energy balances yields the following nonlinear equations (x1 = CA, x2 = T, x3 = Tj):

Mass balance on the reactor: f1 = F0CA0 − Fx1 − αVe−E/Rx2x1 = 0

Energy balance on the reactor: f2 = ρCp(F0T0 − Fx2) − λαVe−E/Rx2x1 − UA(x2 − x3)=0


Energy balance on the cooling jacket: f3 = ρjCjFj(Tj0 − x3) + UA(x2 − x3) = 0


Set the initial estimates of the final solution as x0 = [CA0 T0 Tj0].

The MATLAB® script exocstr uses the built-in function fsolve to give the desired results.

% exocstr.m

% Data:

F0 = 40; F = 40; Fj = 49.9;Ca0=0.55; V = 48;

rho = 50; rhoj = 62.3; Cp = 0.75; Cj = 1; A = 250; U = 150;

T0 = 530; Tj0 = 530; alp=7.08e10; lam = -3e4; E = 3e4; R = 1.9872;

% Define nonlinear equations

fun = @(x) [F0*Ca0 - F*x(1) - alp*V*x(1)*exp(-E/R/x(2));

rho*Cp*(F0*T0-F*x(2))-lam*alp*V*x(1)*exp(-E/R/x(2))-U*A*(x(2) - x(3));

rhoj*Cj*Fj*(Tj0 - x(3)) + U*A*(x(2) - x(3))];

% Solution of nonlinear equation system

x0 = [Ca0 T0 Tj0]; % initial guess

x = fsolve(fun, x0);

Ca = x(1), T = x(2), Tj = x(3)

The script exocstr produces the following outputs:

>> exocstr

Ca = 0.5214

T= 537.8548

Tj = 537.2534