Balances on Plug Flow Packed Bed Reactor (PFPBR)

Balances on Plug Flow Packed Bed Reactor (PFPBR)

vg
N N

F H
i 1
i gi Catalyst + F H i gi
W Gas phase i 1 W W

 H  W  b S R z  bVR VR  Vg  Vs
 
 t VR Vg   bVR Vs  (1   b )VR
Molar balance of i species W mass of catalyst [kg]
NR b bulk density of the catalyst [kg/m3 ]
dFi
  ki rM ,k z z + z VR total volume of reactor [m 3 ]
dW k 1
W Q W + W
Vg volume of the gas phase in reactor [m 3 ]
Vs volume of the catalyst in reactor [m3 ]
Overall enthalpy balance involved both gas and solid phase Vg
b bed porozity,  b = [ ]
VR

 H  dP N N

   VR   Fi H gi   Fi H gi  Q
 t VR dt i 1 W i 1 W W

in the steady state

N N N
d dQ
0=  Fi H gi   Fi H gi  Q   Fi H gi 
i 1 W i 1 W W
dW i 1 dW
ideal mixture  H gi (T , P, composition)  hi (T )
N
 dFi dhi (T )  N  NR dhi (T ) dT 
 
i 1 
hi (T )  Fi      ki rM ,k hi (T )  Fi 
dW dW  i 1  k 1 dT dW 
NR
dT N dQ
   r H k rV ,k   i pi dW
F c 
k 1 dW i 1
dFi NR N
dQ dS
  ki rM ,k  ki hi   r H k   (Te  T ) t Circular cross
dW k 1 i 1 dW dW section

dT 1  NR 4  dSt  d R dz 4
     r H k  rM ,k  (Te  T )   
N
 d R2 b d R
 Fi c pi  k 1 
dW d dW
b R
b dz
i 1 4
Enthalpy balance
dT 1  NR 4  Initial conditions
     r H k  rM ,k  (Te  T ) 
N
 W  0, Fi  Fi o , T  T o
 Fi c pi  k 1 
dW d
b R

i 1

Molar balance of i species

dFi NR
  ki rM ,k
dW k 1
 One reaction, constant heat capacity of species.
Profiles of conversion and temperature are given by following
equations:
dFi  dFj
  i rM  i
dT 1  4   j dW
  ( H ) r   T  T  
dW
dW N y o  
r M
 d
e
 Fjo  Fj
F   yi c p ,i 
b R
o o j
c p X j  Xj 
Fjo
 i 1 j 
i 
Fi  Fi o   Fj  Fjo    i Fjo X j
dX j j j j j
  o rM ( X j , T )  o rM ( X j , T ) N N  o i o 
dW Fj Fj  F c
i p ,i   c p ,i  F  F X 
 i  j j j 
i 1 i 1  
N y oj 
W  0, T  To , X j  0  F   yi c p ,i 
o o
c p X j 
 i 1 j 

Limiting cases
1.Isothermal
dT  4  4
reactor  0  (H r )rM  Te  T   (H r )rM   Te  T 
dW  b d R  b d R
T  To
 2.Adiabatic reactor

dT 1 Fjo (H r ) dX j
 (H r )rM   
dW N y o  N y o  dz
F   yi c p ,i 
o o
c p X j 
j
 j F   yi c p ,i 
o o
c p X j 
j

 i 1 j   i 1 j 



y oj  r H o  c p (T  T o ) dX j 
 N
 dz
 j


i 1
y o
c
i p ,i  y o
j c p X j

T Xj
dT dX j
  y j  r H  c p (T  T )
o o o

    y c N

o
 y oj c p X j 
o 0
T
j i p ,i
 i 1 
y oj ( r H o ) X j
T T  o
N
Cf. adiabatic BATCH, CSTR and PFR
j y c
i 1
o
i p ,i  y oj c p X j
 Catalytic PFR
Profile of pressure is calculated using Ergun equation:

 f 1   b  o  f 1 b o 2
2

3  f 
 A1 f v f  A2  f  v f 
dP 2
  150 2 v f  1.75 v o o

dz dp b3
d p b
f fluid dynamic viscosity [Pa.s]
f fluid density [kg/m 3 ]
vof superficial fluid mean velocity [m/s]
vof  4m / (  f  d R2 )
m mass flowrate [kg/s]
b bed porosity [-]
dp catalyst particle (equivalent) diameter [m]
Example
Oxidation of o-xylene to phthalic anhydride1

The gas phase oxidation is highly exothermic. The reaction is carried out in PFR
tube bundles with molten salt circulating as the heat transfer fluid. The o-xylene is
mixed with air before entering the PFR. The large excess of oxygen leads to a
pseudo-first order rate expression
 E  1 1 
rV  k To  exp       c1 A1 = o-xylene
 R  T To  
Calculate the temperature and composition profiles.

1. Rawlings, G.B., Ekerdt, J.G., Chemical Reactor Analysis and Design

Fundamentals, Nob Hill Publ., Madison, Wisc. 2002.
Data k(To), s -1 To, K Tm, K P, bar L, m dR, m

1922.6 625 625 1.01 1.5 0.025

Cp, kJ/kg/K y1o E/R, K rH, G, kg/s ,

kJ/mol kJ/m2/s/K

0.992 0.019 1.3636x -1.361x 2.6371x 0.373

104 103 10-3

F1(z) T(z)
kmol/s K