Chemical Reactor Design and Control uses process simulators like Matlab®, Aspen Plus, and Aspen Dynamics to study the design of chemical reactors and their dynamic control. There are numerous books that focus on steady-state reactor design. There are no books that consider practical control systems for real industrial reactors. This unique reference addresses the simultaneous design and control of chemical reactors. After a discussion of reactor basics, it:
Covers three types of classical reactors: continuous stirred tank (CSTR), batch, and tubular plug flow
Emphasizes temperature control and the critical impact of steady-state design on the dynamics and stability of reactors
Covers chemical reactors and control problems in a plantwide environment
Incorporates numerous tables and shows step-by-step calculations with equations
Discusses how to use process simulators to address diverse issues and types of operations
This is a practical reference for chemical engineering professionals in the process industries, professionals who work with chemical reactors, and students in undergraduate and graduate reactor design, process control, and plant design courses.
Table of Contents
Preface. Chapter 1. Reactor Basics. 1.1 Fundamentals of Reaction Equilibrium and Kinetics. 1.1.1 Power-Law Kinetics. 1.1.2 Heterogeneous Reaction Kinetics. 1.1.3 Biochemical Reaction Kinetics. 1.1.4 References. 1.2 Multiple Reactions. 1.2.1 Parallel Reactions. 1.2.2 Series Reactions. 1.3 Determining Kinetic Parameters. 1.4 Types and Fundamental Properties of Reactors. 1.4.1 Continuous Stirred-Tank Reactor. 1.4.2 Batch Reactor. 1.4.3 Tubular Plug-Flow Reactor. 1.5 Heat Transfer in Reactors. 1.6 Reactor Scale-Up. 1.7 Conclusion. Chapter 2. Steady-State Design of CSTR Systems. 2.1 Irreversible, Single Reactant. 2.1.1 Jacket Cooled. 2.1.2 Internal Coil. 2.1.3 Other Issues. 2.2 Irreversible, Two Reactants. 2.2.1 Equations. 2.2.2 Design. 2.3 Reversible Exothermic. 2.4 Consecutive Reactions. 2.5 Simultaneous Reactions. 2.6 Multiple CSTR’s. 2.6.1 Multiple Isothermal CSTR’s in Series with Reaction A-B. 2.6.2 Multiple CSTR’s in Series with Different Temperatures. 2.6.3 Multiple CSTR’s in Parallel. 2.6.4 Multiple CSTR’s with Reversible Exothermic Reactions. 2.7 Auto-Refrigerated Reactor. 2.8 Aspen Plus Simulation of CSTR’s. 2.8.1 Simulation Setup. 2.8.2 Specifying Reactions. 2.8.3 Reactor Setup. 2.9 Optimization of CSTR Systems. 2.9.1 Economics of Series CSTR’s. 2.9.2 Economics of a Reactor/Column Process. 2.9.3 CSTR Processes with Two Reactants. 2.10 Conclusion. Chapter 3. Control of CSTR Systems. 3.1 Irreversible, Single Reactant. 3.1.1 Nonlinear Dynamic Model. 3.1.2 Linear Model. 3.1.3 Effect of Conversion on Openloop and Closedloop Stability. 3.1.4 Nonlinear Dynamic Simulation. 3.1.5 Effect of Jacket Volume. 3.1.6 Cooling Coil. 3.1.7 External Heat Exchanger. 3.1.8 Comparison of CSTR-in-Series Processes. 3.1.9 Dynamics of Reactor/Stripper Process. 3.2 Reactor/Column Process with Two Reactants. 3.2.1 Nonlinear Dynamic Model of Reactor and Column. 3.2.2 Control Structure for Reactor/Column Process. 3.2.3 Reactor/Column Process with Hot Reaction. 3.3 Auto-Refrigerated Reactor Control. 3.3.1 Dynamic Model. 3.3.2 Simulation Results. 3.4 Reactor Temperature Control Using Feed Manipulation. 3.4.1 Introduction. 3.4.2 Revised Control Structure. 3.4.3 Results. 3.4.4 Valve-Position Control. 3.5 Aspen Dynamics Simulation of CSTR’s. 3.5.1 Setting Up the Dynamic Simulation. 3.5.2 Running the Simulation and Tuning Controllers. 3.5.3 Results with Several Heat-Transfer Options. 3.6 Conclusion. Chapter 4. Control of Batch Reactors. 4.1 Irreversible, Single Reactant. 4.1.1 Pure Batch Reactor. 4.1.2 Fed-Batch Reactor. 4.2 Batch Reactor with Two Reactants. 4.3 Batch Reactor with Consecutive Reactions. 4.4 Aspen Plus Simulation using RBatch. 4.5 Ethanol Batch Fermentor. 4.6 Fed-Batch Hydrogenation Reactor. 4.7 Batch TML Reactor. 4.8 Fed-Batch Reactor with Multiple Reactions. 4.8.1 Equations. 4.8.2 Effect of Feed Trajectory on Conversion and Selectivity. 4.8.3 Batch Optimization. 4.8.4 Effect of Parameters. 4.8.5 Simultaneous Reaction Case. 4.9 Conclusion. Chapter 5. Steady-State Design of Tubular Reactor Systems. 5.1 Introduction. 5.2 Types of Tubular Reactor Systems. 5.2.1 Type of Recycle. 5.2.2 Phase of Reaction. 5.2.3 Heat-Transfer Configuration. 5.3 Tubular Reactors in Isolation. 5.3.1 Adiabatic PFR. 5.3.2 Non-Adiabatic PFR. 5.4 Single Adiabatic Tubular Reactor System with Gas Recycle. 5.4.1 Process Conditions and Assumptions. 5.4.2 Design and Optimization Procedure. 5.4.3 Results for Single Adiabatic Reactor System. 5.5 Multiple Adiabatic Tubular Reactors with Interstage Cooling. 5.5.1 Design and Optimization Procedure. 5.5.2 Results for Multiple Adiabatic Reactors with Interstage Cooling. 5.6 Multiple Adiabatic Tubular Reactors with Cold-Shot Cooling. 5.6.1 Design and Optimization Procedure. 5.6.2 Results for Multiple Adiabatic Reactors with Cold-Shot Cooling. 5.7 Cooled Reactor System. 5.7.1 Design Procedure for Cooled Reactor System. 5.7.2 Results for Cooled Reactor System. 5.8 Tubular Reactor Simulation using Aspen Plus. 5.8.1 Adiabatic Tubular Reactor. 5.8.2 Cooled Tubular Reactor with Constant Temperature Coolant. 5.8.3 Cooled Reactor with Co-Current or Counter-Current Coolant Flow. 5.9 Conclusion. Chapter 6. Control of Tubular Reactor Systems. 6.1 Introduction. 6.2 Dynamic Model. 6.3 Control Structures. 6.4 Controller Tuning and Disturbances. 6.5 Results for Single Adiabatic Reactor System. 6.6 Multi-Stage Adiabatic Reactor System with Interstage Cooling. 6.7 Multi-Stage Adiabatic Reactor System with Cold-Shot Cooling. 6.8 Cooled Reactor System. 6.9 Cooled Reactor System with Hot Reaction. 6.9.1 Steady-State Design. 6.9.2 Openloop and Closedloop Responses. 6.9.3 Conclusion. 6.10 Aspen Dynamics Simulation. 6.10.1 Adiabatic Reactor with and without Catalyst. 6.10.2 Cooled Reactor with Coolant Temperature Manipulated. 6.10.3 Cooled Reactor with Co-Current Flow of Coolant. 6.10.4 Cooled Reactor with Counter-Current Flow of Coolant. 6.10.5 Conclusions for Aspen Simulation of Types of Tubular Reactors. 6.11 Plantwide Control of Methanol Process. 6.11.1 Chemistry and Kinetics. 6.11.2 Process Description. 6.11.3 Steady-State Aspen Plus Simulation. 6.11.4 Dynamic Simulation. 6.12 Conclusion . Chapter 7. Feed-Effluent Heat Exchangers. 7.1 Introduction. 7.2 Steady-State Design. 7.3 Linear Analysis. 7.31 Flowsheet FS1 without Furnace. 7.3.2 Flowsheet FS2 with Furnace. 7.3.3 Nyquist Plots. 7.4 Nonlinear Simulation. 7.4.1 Dynamic Model. 7.4.2 Control Structure. 7.4.3 Results. 7.5. Hot Reaction Case. 7.6 Aspen Simulation. 7.7 Conclusion. Chapter 8. Control of Special Types of Industrial Reactors. 8.1 Fluidized Catalytic Crackers. 8.1.2 Reactor. 8.1.2 Regenerator. 8.1.3 Control Issues. 8.2 Gasifiers. 8.3 Fired Furnaces, Kilns and Driers. 8.4 Pulp Digesters. 8.5 Polymerization Reactors. 8.6 Biochemical Reactors. 8.7 Slurry Reactors. 8.8 Micro-Scale Reactors.
