Chemical Reaction Kinetics.docVIP

Chemical Reaction Kinetics Important Concepts in an Undergraduate Kinetics/Reactor Design Course Most chemical engineers will never design a reactor; they will, however, often be in a position to specify a reactor type, size, material, and design.? Or, they will be asked to analyze an existing reactor to either 1 fit a new reaction at a required production rate into the reactor, or 2 improve product quality, or 3 determine how to squeeze more production from the reactor without a spending much money, b adversely affecting the product, or c blowing anything up. Most industrial chemical reactions are scaled-up and put into production without detailed knowledge of the chemical kinetics and physical chemistries that affect the reactions.? Quite often, reaction engineers must design using instinct, an understanding of how other, similar systems behave, and a proper application of the important concepts related to reactor design.?? We present below a concise list of the most important kinetics, thermodynamics, and reactor design concepts to be retained by chemical engineering undergraduates so they can specify and analyze reactors.? The equations are not given here, only the concepts.? These are concepts that we feel students should always remember from their kinetics and reactor design courses and be able to apply to reactor analysis problems as B.S. chemical engineers.? Most are from texts widely used in undergraduate courses [1-5].? Though many other aspects of kinetics and reactor design are arguably as important for particular problems, those listed should serve as a solid foundation for attacking the types of problems typically encountered by recent graduates. Thermodynamics Thermodynamics does not predict kinetics.? A more-negative, free-energy change? i.e., a larger equilibrium constant does not imply a faster reaction rate. Catalysts can only increase the rate of processes that are thermodynamically favored;? they cannot initiate reactions that are not