CL 405 PART-RKM

This Part should be answered in a separate answer book

Note: This is a No Book No Notes Examination. Answer both questions. All parts of a
question must be answered together. Please do not raise any queries with the invigilators. In
case of insufficient information, if any, make and mention suitable assumptions and proceed
further.

Question-1 [3]
The following five options are normally considered to remove the heat of an exothermic
reaction system:
a) Use of excess reactant
b) Use of inert diluent
c) Diabatic operation (external cooler, use of jacketed vessel, or cooling coils)
d) Use of cold shots
e) Use of intercoolers
Out of the above options, which are recommended for highly exothermic heat of reaction,
and which are to be considered for low exothermic heat of reaction, and why? Provide one
industrial example for each option to strengthen your explanation.

Question-2 [7]
Butadiene can be prepared by the gas-phase catalytic dehydrogenation of 1-Butene:
C4H8 = C4H6 + H2
In order to suppress side reactions, the butene is diluted with steam before it passes into the
reactor.
(a) Estimate the temperature at which the reactor must be operated in order to convert 30% of
the 1-butene to 1,3-butadiene at a reactor pressure of 2 bar from a feed consisting of 12
mol of steam per mole of 1-butene.
(b) If the initial mixture consists of 50 mol% steam and 50mol% 1-butene, how will the
required temperature be affected? The following thermodynamic data is available:

Gfo 600K 700K 800K 900K

C4H6 195.73 211.71 227.94 244.35
C4H8 150.92 178.78 206.89 235.35
Please note that the Gibbs Free Energy above is in kJ/mol

Standard Heats of Formation Hfo: Butadiene = 110.2 kJ/mol; 1-Butene = -0.1 kJ/mol

(c) Industrially the dehydrogenation of pure 1-Butene is sometimes carried out at around
600oC in adiabatic reactors and under reduced pressure. Due to catalyst deactivation
(primarily because of carbon deposition) the run length is generally limited to about 15
min, after which regeneration is necessary. What kind of Reactor Configuration and
Reactor Operation Strategy would you recommend? You must support your answers with
proper justification to get credit.

[END OF PART-RKM]