Graphical Method for Evaluating the Performance of N Tanks in Series

number of tanks in series

3

reaction order

1.5

This Demonstration shows the graphical method of evaluating the performance of several tanks in series. The user can choose the number of tanks as well as the reaction kinetics.

The reaction rate is given by:

-

r

A

=k

n

c

A

, where

k=1

and

n

is the reaction order to be fixed by the user. All the red segments have the same slope, 0.5, which corresponds to the tanks' residence time (e.g., in minutes).

The governing equation for the first tank is

V

d

c

A

dt

=F

c

A

0

-

c

A

-Vk

n

c

A

where

V

is the volume of a tank,

F

is the inlet and outlet flow rate, and

c

A

0

is the concentration of reactant

A

in the inlet stream.