Chemical Reactor Technology

Department of Chemical Engineering Technology

Government College University Faisalabad
 Reference Books
Pease refer to textbooks for solid understanding of Chemical Reactor Technology

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 Study Material
Lecture notes will be published on Edmodo/Google Drive after the lecture

You need to study class slides, lecture notes and textbooks together for complete
understanding
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 Chemical Reactor Technology
Chemical Reactor Technology is the field that studies the rates & mechanisms of chemical reactions and
the selection, design, and operation of chemical reactors in which they take place
Reactor Technology distinguishes the chemical engineer/technologist from other engineers/technologist
Reactor is a heart of a chemical plant

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 Importance of Chemical Reactor Technology?
Practicing engineer/technologist convert less valuable raw materials into more valuable
products in a most economical way
Industrial equipments can be divided into three main groups.

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 Objectives of Chemical Reactor Technology

Every practicing engineer/technologist should be familiar with

1. What reactants (raw materials) are required?
2. What reaction(s) will occur?
3. What product will be formed?
4. How fast is the reaction?
5. What type and size of reactor should be employed?
6. What operating temperature, pressure, compositions,
and flow rates should be selected?
7. Is the overall process safe?
8. Is the overall process economical?

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 Lab-Scale Reactors
A chemical reactor is an equipment where chemical transformations (reactions) take place.
Reactors for secondary school experiments

Reactors for engineering/technology experiments

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 Industrial Chemical Reactors
Chemical reactors should fulfill three main requirements:

1. Provide appropriate contacting of the reactants.

2. Provide the necessary reaction time for the formation of the desirable product.

3. Provide the heat-transfer capability required to maintain the specified temperature range.

Usually, the performance of the chemical reactor plays a pivotal role in the operation and
economics of the entire process since its operation affects most other units in the process (separation
units, utilities, etc.

A chemical technologist is mainly responsible for safe and optimized reactor operation
(maximizing the profit of the process, and minimizing the generation of pollutants, while satisfying
several design and operating constraints (safety, controllability, availability of raw materials,
etc.).
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 Classification of Chemical Reactors

Chemical reactors are commonly classified by the four main characteristics:

1. Geometric configuration (e.g., tubular, agitated tank, spherical tank)

2. Modes of operation (e.g., batch, continuous, semibatch, distillation reactor)

3. Contacting patterns between phases (Multiphase Reactors) i.e.,

i. Fixed bed reactors

ii. Fluidized bed reactors Catalytic reactors

iii. Trickle bed reactors

iv. Bubble column reactors

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Classification of Chemical Reactors: Geometric Configuration

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 Classification of Chemical Reactors: Modes of Operation

Batch Reactor Semi-Batch Reactor Distillation Reactor

CSTR Cascade (CSTR in series)

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 Fixed bed reactor Classification based on Contacting Patterns (Multiphase Reactors)
Tricke bed reactor Spray column reactor

Fluidized bed reactor

Bubble column reactor

Kiln reactor
Moving bed reactor Chemical Reactor Technology - CET, GCUF 12
 Chemical Reactions
A chemical reaction involves the rearrangement of the chemical bonds in the molecules that
participate in the reaction.

Represented by chemical equations

Only an effective collision can cause a chemical change

It has sufficient energy

Suitable orientation
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 Types of Chemical Reactions
Reactions may be classified in a variety of ways. On the basis of mechanism they may be
1. Irreversible 2. Reversible Multiple Reactions

Based on operating conditions

1. Isothermal 2. Adiabatic 3. Nonisothermal

Based on phase involved

1. Homogeneous 2. Heterogeneous

Based on catalyst used

1. Catalytic 2. Non-Catalytic

Based on heat of reaction

1. Exothermic 2. Endothermic

Based on chemical bonds

1. Synthesis 2. Decomposition 3. Displacement 4. Combustion

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 Irreversible Reactions
Unidirectional reactions, in which the reactants convert to products and where the products cannot
convert back to the reactants

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 Reversible Reactions
In a reversible chemical reaction, reactants combine to form products, and these products react
within themselves to produce the reactants again
The conversion of reactants into products, is often incomplete even after the reaction runs for a
long time

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 Multiple Reactions

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 Based on Operating Conditions
Isothermal—the same temperatures exist throughout the reactor
Adiabatic—no heat is transferred into or out of the reactor
Nonisothermal—the operation is neither isothermal nor adiabatic
Based on Phases involved
Homogeneous reactions—Reactions that occur in a single phase
Heterogeneous reactions—Reactions that involve species (reactants or products) that exist in more
than one phase.
Based on Heat of reaction
An exothermic reaction is a chemical reaction that releases energy through light or heat during a
chemical reaction
There are other chemical reactions that must absorb energy in order to proceed. These are endothermic
reactions
Based on catalyst used
A catalyst is a substance that changes the rate of a chemical reaction, but is chemically unchanged at the
end of the reaction
A chemical reaction which involves the catalyst is a catalytic reaction whereas a reaction without a catalyst
is non-catalytic reaction
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 Based on Operating Conditions

join together split apart

A + B  AB AB  A + B

trade 1 place trade 2 places

AB + C  AC + B AB + CD  AC + BD

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 Combustion
A substance combines with oxygen, releasing large amounts of energy in the form of light and
heat. Usually combustion reactions yield the products carbon dioxide and water.

General Form
CxHy + O2  CO2 + H2O

Example: The metabolism of glucose.

C6H12O6(s) + 6O2(g)  6CO2(g) + 6H2O(l)

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