Optimization of a Chemical Reactor Train

by Austin Breitenstein

Submitted : Fall 2017

Continuous stirred tank reactors are very useful and versatile reaction vessels that can be used for the mass production of several compounds at any state of matter. The concept behind this particular reactor is its ability to constantly stir the solution in an air-tight tank with coolants being pumped along the outer walls of the vessel. When designing these reactors it is important to keep in mind the desired quantity of the reagents and product produced and the rate at which they react. These will affect the cost of the project significantly and could be reduced using a reactor train. This is when several reactors are place together with the concentration of the first reactors product being equivalent to the second reactors initial concentration. In order to find the optimal volume and number of reactors in the series one must take the first derivative of the cost function with respect to n (the number of reactors). 

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