Multiple Steady States in a Continuously Stirred Tank Reactor
Multiple Steady States in a Continuously Stirred Tank Reactor
A continuously stirred tank reactor (CSTR) with heat transfer is used to carry out the reversible, exothermic reaction: A ↔ B .
This Demonstration shows how the steady-state solutions change as you vary the feed temperature, the heat transfer coefficient, and the pre-exponential factor for the reverse reaction. Plots of concentration of product B versus reactor temperature are shown for the mass balance and the energy balance; the intersections of these two balances correspond to the steady-state solutions for the reactor. Either one or three solutions are possible, and when three solutions are obtained, the middle solution (at the intersection of the two plots) is unstable.