Unit 21. Reaction Engineering of CSTRs

This website provides learning and teaching tools for a first course on kinetics and reaction engineering. Here, in Part III of the course, the focus is on the modeling of chemical reactors. In particular, it describes reaction engineering using the three ideal reactor types: perfectly mixed batch reactors, continuous flow stirred tank reactors and plug flow reactors. After considering each of the ideal reactor types in isolation, the focus shifts to ideal reactors that are combined with other reactors or equipment to better match the characteristics of the reactor to the reactions running within it.

Section C of Part III examines reaction engineering for continuous flow stirred tank reactors (CSTRs). As was done for batch reactors in the previous section of the course, common reaction engineering tasks are identified and the qualitative performance of CSTRs is examined. CSTRs are typically designed to operate at steady state, but getting them started and shutting them down involves transient operation. The mathematical analysis of transient reactors differs from that for steady state reactors, so these two situations are presented separately. In addition, CSTRs can display a phenomenon known as multiplicity of steady states which is discussed in this section.

Unit 21 introduces the topic of reaction engineering for CSTRs. It describes how to qualitatively analyze a CSTR, with an emphasis on the differences between CSTRs and batch reactors. It also distinguishes between steady state operation and transient operation. It is critically important to be able to make this distinction when solving problems involving CSTRs in subsequent units.

Learning Resources

• Archive (.zip) - Contains all learning resources listed below (except simulators) for this unit
• Documents to Read:
  • Unit 21 Informational Reading (.pdf)
  • Example 21.1 (.pdf)
  • Example 21.2 (.pdf)
• Videos to Watch (please right-click and save, then play back locally on your computer):
  • Unit 21 Informational Video (.mov)
  • Example 21.1 Video (.mov)
  • Example 21.2 Video (.mov)
• Reference Files:
  • Unit 21 Definitions, Nomenclature and Equations (.pdf)
• Simulators
  • Isothermal CSTR Simulator (zipped .jar file)
  • Adiabatic CSTR Simulator (zipped .jar file)
   
  Please note that these simulators are intended for educational purposes only. They should not be used for any other purpose, and if they are, the author does not bear any responsibility or liability for the consequences.
   
  The “zipped .jar file,” when unzipped, will produce a folder that contains a .jar file and a folder named "lib". Not surprisingly the latter folder contains additional libraries and files that the simulator uses. To run the simulator, launch the .jar file either from the command line using java -jar [name of .jar file], or by double clicking it if your operating system supports it. The simulators require JAVA 1.6 or later in order to run. There is a User's Guide under the Help menu that describes how to use the simulators.
   
  

Teaching Resources

• Archive (.zip) - Contains all teaching resources listed below (except simulator source files) for this unit
• Sample Class
  • Online Pre-class Quiz (.pdf file)
  • Redacted slides to make available to students before class
    • Keynote 09
    • PowerPoint
  • Learning Activity Files to make available to students before class
    • Activity 1 Handout (.pdf)
  • Class Lesson Plan (.pdf)
  • Complete slides to make available to students after class
    • Keynote 09
    • PowerPoint
• Simulator Source files
  • Isothermal CSTR Simulator (zipped Netbeans project folder)
  • Adiabatic CSTR Simulator (zipped Netbeans project folder)
   
  Please note that these simulators are intended for educational purposes only. They should not be used for any other purpose, and if they are, the author does not bear any responsibility or liability for the consequences.
   
  The “Netbeans Project folders” contain the Netbeans java project used to create them. Providing them in this way will allow instructors or students familiar with java and the Netbeans development environment to modify them. They were developed using version 6.7 of Netbeans. They use the Swing Application Framework, which is not supported in version 7.1 or higher of the Netbeans IDE. They are no longer in development, and I am not available to consult on any issues encountered when using them.

Practice Problems