Mass transfer with complex chemical reaction in gas—liquid ... - ITM

R.D. Vas Bhat et al./Chemical Engineering Science 54 (1999) 137—147 145Fig. 8. Effect of irreversibility of reaction (1c) on enhancement for low mobility of C.Table 3Input parameters for chlorination of p-cresol in 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene(simulation results presented in Fig. 9)Parameter Value Units¹ 373.15 K[Cl ] 270 mol m[p-cresol] 4000 mol mk 0.19 m mol sk 0.015 m mol sD 5.410 m sD 3.910 m sD 3.310 m sk 10—10 ms(Taken from Pangarkar and Sharma, 1974).Liquid phase assumed to be unloaded.information of equilibrium constants for the system isavailable, both reactions are assumed to be irreversible.By varying the mass transfer coefficient, k , the Hattanumber has been changed over a wide range (0.01(Ha(10) which covers all regimes of mass transfer. Thefully developed concentration profiles (at the end of theHigbie contact time) of p-cresol, MCPC and DCPC, werenumerically integrated over the penetration depth toobtain the average concentration of each species. TheSimpson’s 1/3rd rule was used for this purpose. Thesevalues were used to determine the differential selectivity,σ, and the overall conversion of p-cresol, ζ, defined as:σ" [MCPC](5a)[DCPC]ζ(%)" 1![p!cresol] (5b)where the square parenthesis indicate concentrations. Itis important to note that the parameters, σ and ζ, arebased on concentrations within the liquid package andwithin a single contact time.The variation of σ and ζ with the Hatta number hasbeen presented in Fig. 9. A significant influence of themass transfer parameters on selectivity is observed. Thishas been reported earlier, among others, by van de Vusse(1966a, b), Teramoto et al. (1970) and Pangarkar andSharma (1974). At high k values, corresponding to lowHatta numbers, the rate of mass transfer is much greaterthan the kinetic rate so that the overall absorption isdetermined by the rate of reaction (4a). As the Hattanumber increases, the extent of reaction (4b) increases aswell, thereby increasing the formation of DCPC. This, inturn, steadily reduces the selectivity towards MCPC.However, the production of MCPC is attractive only atsignificant conversions of p-cresol. As expected, the conversioncurve increases with Hatta number as it dependsdirectly on the reaction between Cl and p-cresol [reaction(4a)]. Thus, increasing the Hatta number increasesthe enhancement, that in turn influences conversion dueto the greater availability of Cl in the penetration depth.In actual operation a compromise will have to be metbetween maximising selectivity on the one hand andconversion on the other. It is interesting to note that theconversion curve does not form an intermediate plateauas is expected of consecutive reaction schemes. This isbecause at the process temperature (100°C), the value ofK is rather high (&810) so that reaction (4b)kicks-in even before reaction (4a) has reached its infiniteenhancement value.4. ConclusionsA fundamental description of gas—liquid mass transferfor isothermal reversible consecutive reactions has been