CHAPTER 1

CHEMICAL REACTION ENGINEERING

Prepared by:
NFAK

1 1 CHEMICAL REACTION ENGINEERING (CRE)

1.1
A study of Chemical reaction engineering (CRE) combines the
study of chemical kinetics with the reactors in which the rxn
occur.
Chemical kinetics is the study of chemical rxn rates and rxn
mechanism.
mechanism
Chemical kinetics and reactor design are at the heart
producing almost all industrial chemicals.
Beside CRE also presents the exploitation of chemical
reactions on a commercial scale which the goal is the
successful design
g and operation
p
of chemical reactors.
Operation in the safest and most efficient manner is the key to
the economic success or failure of a chemical plant.

1.1.1 T
Typical
i l Ch
Chemical
i l Process
P
RAW MATERIAL
SEPARATOR

REACTOR

SEPARATOR

PRODUCT
3

1 1 2 Five
1.1.2
Fi Aspects
A
t Involved
I
l d in
i Reactor
R
t D
Design
i
Mass
Transfer
Heat
Transfer

REACTANT(S)

Th
Thermodynamics
d
i

REACTOR

Fluid
Mechanics

PRODUCT

Reaction
Kinetics
4

1.2
1
2 EXAMPLE OF CRE APPLICATION
1.2.1 Fluid Catalytic Cracking
Fluid catalytic
y cracking
g ((FCC)) is
one of the most important conversion processes used in petroleum
refineries.
refineries
It is widely used to convert the
high-boiling, high-molecular weight
hydrocarbon fractions of petroleum
crude oils to more valuable gasoline,
olefinic gases,
gases and other products.
products

Figure 1.2 : A typical fluid catalytic

cracking unit in a petroleum refinery
5

1 2 2 Ethylene
1.2.2
Eth l
P
Production
d ti
Ethylene is the largest volume industrially produced organic
material an majority of ethylene produced is used in the
production of polymers and ethylene derivatives such as
ethylene oxide and glycol.
A typical ethylene plant also makes a number of other important chemicals such as propylene, butadiene and pyrolysis
gasoline.
NOVA Chemicals and Dow Chemical at Canada :
The highest capacity of any
ethylene
y
production site in the
p
world 1.27 million tones per yar.
Largest single ethane based
cracker in the world.
world
Rxn : C H C H + H
2 6
2 4
2
6

1.2.3 Catalytic
C
l i C
Converter
A catalytic converter is a device used to reduce the harmful
emissions from an internal combustion engine
g
((used in most
modern day automobiles and vehicles).
Reduce CO, NO gasses and unburned fuel.

1.2.4 Pharmacokinetics
Ph
ki
i
Pharmacokinetics describes how the body affects a
specific
p
drug
g after administration through
g the mechanisms of absorption and distribution, as well as the chemical changes of the substance in the body and the effects
and routes of excretion of the metabolites of the drug.
drug

1.2.5 Fuel Cells System

A fuel cell is a device that converts the chemical energy from a
fuel into electricity through a chemical reaction with oxygen or
another oxidizing agent.

FuelCells

1.2.6 Micro-channel
Mi
h
l Reactors
R
Compact reactors for compact fuel cells.
Production of hazardous chemicals in controlled quantities
Potential application in bio-chemical systems.
Microchannels on a wafer

channel

channel

10