This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
1.5 Industrial Reactors2
Be sure to view the actual photographs of industrial reactors on the CRE Web site. There are also links to view reactors on different Web sites. The CRE Web site also includes a portion of the Visual Encyclopedia of Equipment, encyclopedia.che.engin.umich.edu, “Chemical Reactors” developed by Dr. Susan Montgomery and her students at the University of Michigan. Also see Professional Reference Shelf on the CRE Web site for “Reactors for Liquid-Phase and Gas-Phase Reactions,” along with photos of industrial reactors, and Expanded Material on the CRE Web site.
In this chapter, and on the CRE Web site, we’ve introduced each of the major types of industrial reactors: batch, stirred tank, tubular, and fixed bed (packed bed). Many variations and modifications of these commercial reactors (e.g., semibatch, fluidized bed) are in current use; for further elaboration, refer to the detailed discussion of industrial reactors given by Walas.3
The CRE Web site describes industrial reactors, along with typical feed and operating conditions. In addition, two solved example problems for Chapter 1 can be found on the CRE Web site.
Closure. The goal of this text is to weave the fundamentals of chemical reaction engineering into a structure or algorithm that is easy to use and apply to a variety of problems. We have just finished the first building block of this algorithm: mole balances.
This algorithm and its corresponding building blocks will be developed and discussed in the following chapters:
- Mole Balance, Chapters 1 and 2
- Rate Law, Chapter 3
- Stoichiometry, Chapter 4
- Combine, Chapter 5
- Evaluate, Chapter 5
- Energy Balance, Chapters 11 through 13
With this algorithm, one can approach and solve chemical reaction engineering problems through logic rather than memorization.