Reactors and Catalysis

This subject introduces students to aspects of reactor system design. Chemical reactors are at the heart of any major chemical process design. Chemical reaction engineering is concerned with the exploitation of chemical reactions on a commercial scale. Chemical reaction engineering aims at studying and optimizing chemical reactions in order to define the best reactor design. Hence, the interactions of flow phenomena, mass transfer, heat transfer, and reaction kinetics are of prime importance in order to relate reactor performance to feed composition and operating conditions. The subject will also cover catalytic reactor system. This subject is one of the key parts of the chemical and biochemical engineering curriculum upon which a lot of later year material is built.

• 1Interpret data from both ideal and non-ideal batch, plug flow and mixed flow reactors
• 2Model more complex flowing reactor systems using combinations of idealized plug flow and continuously stirred tank ranks
• 3Design simple reactor systems
• 4Understand and identify the different rate controlling mechanisms in reactor design
• 5Solve problems in the design of heterogeneous reacting systems and in particular catalytic reactor systems
• 6Predict simple temperature profiles in reacting systems.