Coupled Chemical Reactor/Distillation Column Experiment for Chemical Engineering Majors

一个新的实验装置正在建造中， 利哈伊化学工程单元操作实验室 大学 该设备说明了各种 耦合化学过程中的设计和操作参数： 顶部装有蒸馏柱的反应器。 而 蒸馏和反应过程已经很好地建立， 耦合单元的设计和操作代表了一种新颖的 对化学工程专业本科生来说是一个挑战性的问题。 在适当的情况下，这种类型的反应蒸馏过程 与解耦系统相比具有显著的优点：（1） 可以提高产率和转化率 通过除去反应的产物之一而减少， 蒸馏，和（2）能量消耗可以通过 利用反应热产生蒸汽进行分离， 在专栏里。 这个装置的主要部件是一个反应堆 和蒸馏塔，以及其他设备包括冷凝器， 回流罐、真空泵、控制阀、进料和回流 泵和饲料和产品的储罐。 了实验 用于本科化学高级实验室 工程专业的学生，这是第一次， 已经暴露在一个复杂的过程中， 运营 因此，它提供了一个更深入的了解 设计和操作所涉及的基本原则 化学反应器和蒸馏塔，以及 说明了有时明显有时微妙的 这两个操作之间的互动。

A new experimental apparatus is being constructed in the chemical engineering unit operations laboratory at Lehigh University. The equipment illustrates the effects of various design and operating parameters in a coupled chemical process: a reactor with a distillation column mounted on top. While distillation and reaction processes are well established, the design and operation of the coupled units represent a novel and challenging problem for chemical engineering undergraduates. When appropriate, this type of reactive distillation process has significant advantages over the decoupled system: (1) yields and conversions can be increased and reactor size reduced by removing one of the products of the reaction by distillation, and (2) energy consumption can be reduced by using the heat of reaction to generate vapor for the separation in the column. The major pieces of the apparatus are a reactor and distillation column, and other equipment include condenser, reflux drum, vacuum pumps, control valves, feed and reflux pumps, and tankage for feed and products. The experiment is used in a senior laboratory for undergraduate chemical engineering students, and is the first time that these students have been exposed to a complex process which combines two unit operations. Thus, it provides a deeper understanding of the underlying principles involved in the design and operation of both chemical reactors and distillation columns, and illustrates the sometimes obvious and the sometimes subtle interactions between these two operations.