Adibatic Plug Flow Reactor

by Zachary Thomas

Submitted : Fall 2011

A plug flow reactor is a tabular reactor in which the reactant(s) are fed to one end and the reaction occurs as the mixture flows through the tube. An adiabatic reactor is one in which the reactor is insulated so that there is no heat exchange with the surroundings. If a reaction is exothermic in an adiabatic reactor, the heat generated by the reaction does not transfer to the surroundings – consequently, all of this energy goes into heating the reacting mixture. Hence, the temperature of the mixture will increase as it flows through the reactor. Van Welsenaere and Froment proposed a model for this type of reaction which, with some simplification, is presented here. The model is to be applied to a reaction in which naphthalene is to be oxidized. Oxygen is in large excess so the reaction can be considered pseudo-first order.

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