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Adiabatic Plug Flow Reactor with Recycle

​
fresh feed temperature
T
i
(K)
300
recycle ratio
13
guess temperature
T
0
entering PFR (K)
411
An adiabatic plug flow reactor (PFR) with recycle is used to carry out a first-order reaction. The fresh feed inlet temperature
T
i
and concentration are known, but the inlet temperature
T
0
and the inlet concentration to the PFR are not. Since
T
0
and the inlet concentration are initial conditions needed to solve the differential equations for the mass and energy balances for the PFR, an iterative solution is needed. The value of
T
0
can be calculated only when the differential equations are solved for
T
final
. Thus, the value of
T
0
is guessed using the slider (and the feed concentration to the reactor calculated using the adiabatic relation between temperature and concentration), and the exit temperature
T
final
from the PFR is then obtained from the solution of the differential equations. The estimated value of
T
0
is adjusted until the calculated value of
T
i
(arrow in figure on left) equals the known
T
i
(the green circle); multiple solutions are possible under some conditions. High recycle ratios approach continuous-stirred tank reactor (CSTR) behavior. A plot of temperature as a function of distance down the PFR is generated. The inlet temperature to the system
T
i
and the recycle ratio can be varied.
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