Reactor Rate and Conversion Fraction in Plug-Flow Reactor
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The chemical reaction 
takes place in a plug-flow reactor (PFR) with unit volume. The rate of reaction and the conversion fraction change with space velocity (ratio of entering volume of reactants to reactor volume). As space velocity increases, the time available for reaction decreases and the fractional conversion varies, depending on the order of the reaction, the rate constant 
, and the feed concentration 
.
Contributed by: Derek M. Machalek
(April 2018)
Additional contributions by: John L. Falconer and Rachael L. Baumann
(University of Colorado Boulder, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering)
Snapshots
Details
For all reactions:
instantaneous rate is 
,
where 
is the change in the moles of 
with time, 
is the kinetic constant, 
is the concentration of 
, and 
is the order of the reaction.
The conversion is determined from 
,
where 
is the space velocity, 
is the conversion of 
, and 
is the conversion of 
at the exit.
The conversion has an upper limit of 1, so that if 
at a given space velocity, then conversion is 1 at lower space velocities.
Overall rate: 
,
where 
is the total number of moles reacting with time in the reactor, and 
is the feed concentration of 
.
instantaneous rate: 
conversion: 
instantaneous rate: 
conversion: 
instantaneous rate: 
conversion: 
instantaneous rate: 
conversion: 
instantaneous rate: 
conversion: 
instantaneous rate: 
conversion: 
Permanent Citation
"Reactor Rate and Conversion Fraction in Plug-Flow Reactor
"
http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/ReactorRateAndConversionFractionInPlugFlowReactor/
Wolfram Demonstrations Project
Published: April 24 2018