Reaction Engineering

Learning Outcomes

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Interpret heat effects in reactions and to be able to perform energy balances in reactions;

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• Describe the various reactor types used in continuous and batch processing.
• Understand the principles of chemical reactions and how these are applied to the design of reactors;
• Explain the thermodynamic, equilibrium and kinetic aspects of chemical reactions that contribute to the energy and mass balances that must be considered in reactor design;

Subject Specific Practical Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Apply concepts of safety, health and sustainability to complex systems that include chemical reactors;
• Collect and interpret kinetic data from experiments and relate these to scaled up reactors for applications at an industrial scale

Disciplinary Specific Learning Outcomes

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Consider and evaluate designs and select different types of reactors for different reactions; and reactors (batch and flow)
• Extend on the understanding of multiple reactions and how these can be manipulated to maximise products; including unsteady-state operation;

Kinetics of a reaction – reaction rate, reaction extent, conversion, yield and selectivity. Batch and flow reactors and the general mole balance equation. Design equations for batch reactors and continuous-stirred tank reactors. Levenspiel plots and reactors in series. Design equations for plug-flow and packed-bed reactors. Reactors with variable volume and isothermal reactor design. Isothermal design for tubular reactors. Space time and space velocity. Damköhler numbers. Non-isothermal reactors – heats of reaction and energy balances. Collection of rate data. Multiple reactions and gaseous reactions. Reactor design and scale-up. Computational design and simulation of reactors and reactions. Distribution of Residence Times. Green Chemistry and Industrial Reaction Engineering.

Practical: Completion of two practical exercises to illustrate the operation of various reactor types.

Teaching will be done with a combination of formal lectures, paper-based problem-solving sessions and laboratory sessions. There will be a emphasis on active learning techniques, including workshops and tutorial sessions that focus on exercises and problems.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.