41 Theoretical and Experimental Study of Self-Sustained Oscillations in a Stirred Tank Reactor
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P. H U G O and H.-P. W I R G E S * Institut für Technische Chemie, Technische Universität Berlin Strasse des 17. Juni 135, 1000 Berlin 12, West Germany
1. Mathematical model The dynamics of temperature and conversion within a cooled continuous-flow stirred tank reactor (CSTR) can be obtained from the material and energy balances. For a simple first order chemical reaction they are in a dimensionless form dudө=- u
+ Da (l-u)exp
(la)
0
1 b d v d ө = - µ * v + Da (l-u)exp
[v1
0
+
εV]
(lb)
where u, ν , Θ are the dimensionless conversion, temperature difference and time, respectively, defined by 2 (T - T ) a
u = 1 - cc ; v = ERT E
0
0
nd ө = tT
T is the stationary temperature of the cooled reactor in the absence of a chemical reaction 0
T = T +µTk1+µ (3) with µ = k FMC 0
E
W
p
as a dimensionless heat transfer coefficient. The type of reaction and the reaction conditions are re presented by four dimensionless parameters B = E(-ΔH) c R E
p
2
c T p
p
*
; ε = RT E ; µ = 1+µB ;Da = 0
0
* Present address: Bayer AG, Werk Urdingen, 4150 Krefeld.
©
0-8412-0401-2/78/47-065-498$05.00/0
In Chemical Reaction Engineering—Houston; Weekman, V., et al.; ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1978.
41.
HUGO AND wraGEs
Oscillations in Stirred Tank Reactor
499
This choice of the dimensionless parameters is useful for a mathematical description of stability. 2. Steady state and stability At a steady state the solutions of Eq. (1) are: Da
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u
s
=
TT1£Ç
u
v
6a
s = ** s
< >'
ο; i n s t a b i l i t i e s of the type 3 < ο correspond to multiplicity phenomena [1]. For 3 > ο and α > ο oscillatory i n s t a b i l i t i e s can be observed i f +
( 1 + ;
1
—lu—
6
>-
75
) 2 J
9
μ Such sustained oscillations (limit cycles) of the temperature and the conversion are mostly due to a unique steady state solution of Eq. (1) which is unstable to small perturbations. The region of parameter space for which i n s t a b i l i t i e s occur can be plotted into a so-called s t a b i l i t y diagram. Fig. 1 gives μ* versus u^ with Da as a fixed parameter. The curves α = ο and 3 = o calculated from Eqs. (7) and (8) are drawn into this diagram. It will be used here to present the results for a l o t of numerical calculations concerning limit cycles in the region α > o, 3 > o. 0
3. Numerical calculations Several attempts have been made [ 3 , 5 - 8 ] to describe limit cycles by approximate solutions of the balance equations (1).
In Chemical Reaction Engineering—Houston; Weekman, V., et al.; ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1978.
Downloaded by NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIV on May 4, 2015 | http://pubs.acs.org Publication Date: June 1, 1978 | doi: 10.1021/bk-1978-0065.ch041
500
CHEMICAL REACTION
ENGINEERING—HOUSTON
However the range of v a l i d i t y of such approximate solutions is small. The application i s either limited to comparatively small B-values or to the neighbourhood of the borderline α = o. To find out a better description of limit cycles, extensive numerical calculations were carried out for B-values from 10 to 30 and ε = ο to 0.02075. Details of these calculations are pre sented in [9]. As an example Fig.2 shows a temperature oscillation computed under rather extreme conditions. Typical for the temperature oscillations i s the asymmetry of the oscillation due to the law of Arrhenius. From the numerical calculations the computed frequency is obtained by ω comp
=
K
ΔΟ
(10) 1
ΔΟ i s the dimensionless time difference between two succeeding maxima of temperature. From the maxima and minima of the temperature oscillations a modified amplitude A can be calculated A
'
1
ν max 7 1 + v , max e
m
v
ν · min 1 + ev . min
(11)
m
Further a time averaged conversion u was calculated: 2π/ω / Ο
ÏÏ = £
u d 0
(12)
In the subsequent sections these results will be compared with approximate solutions and empirical correlations. 4. Frequency of limit cycle For fixed values Β, ε and by varying μ* and Da several frequen cies were computed. From these data pairs of parameters μ*, Da were selected which gave the same frequency. Fig. 3 and 4 show the result for ε = 0.02075 and Β = 15 and 30. The values a)omp were compared with approximate solutions. The linearized theory [1] gives 0
C
u>
L
=
/β - α
(13)
ζ
This approximation i s useful for small α-values but f a i l s in the center of the region α > o. We found empirically that the simple e q U a t i 0
"
ω
1 ο
=
ΓΓ
gives in most cases a sufficient approximation. A better f i t of the data of the computer simulation was obtained by the regression equation
In Chemical Reaction Engineering—Houston; Weekman, V., et al.; ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1978.
(14)
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41.
HUGO AND WIRGES
Oscillations in Stirred Tank Reactor
501
Figure 1. Stability diagram (B = 20,£ = 0) 12
w . 10 10
|l
10 50
1090
1 'I 1130
11,70
!
1210
1
12,50
i
12,90
13,30
Θ • Figure 2. Typical temperature oscillation from computer simuhtion (B = 30, e = 0 02075, * = 0,44505, u = 0,65) μ
8
In Chemical Reaction Engineering—Houston; Weekman, V., et al.; ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1978.
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502
CHEMICAL REACTION ENGINEERING—HOUSTON
Figure 3. Stability diagram with curves of equal frequency (B = 15, c = 0,02075)
In Chemical Reaction Engineering—Houston; Weekman, V., et al.; ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1978.
HUGO AND WIRGES
41.
Oscillations in Stirred Tank Reactor
u> = 9 . 6 - 3 5 . 7 u
+ 23.9 u
D
s
K
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< 0.95
$
K
5.
J
x
s
+ 10.6 u e
(15)
s
and
ο ο < u
+ 2 0 . 5 y V - 0 . 2 By*
2
s + 0.23
0.40
c
503
10
< Β < 30
0.2
< μ*
)/ a ) , was + 1 0 % . comp R " comp D
A m n
Comparison of some r e p r e s e n t a t i v e f r e q u e n c i e s .
Amplitude of temperature o s c i l l a t i o n s
A l o t of more severe d i f f i c u l t i e s a r i s e i f the amplitude of the temperature i s to be p r e d i c t e d . Several proposed approximations [ 3 ] , [ 5 ] [ 6 ] , Γ 7 ] are only useful i n a small range, namely in the neighbourhood of the b o r d e r l i n e α = ο and f o r comparatively small B-values. The asymmetric behavior of the temperature o s c i l l a t i o n s can approximately be accounted f o r by s e t t i n g 5
Δν a
ν - v
=
$
=
-
In ( 1 - a cos ω Θ) where
(16) (17)
= tanh (A)
F i g . 5 and 6 show curves of equal a-values f o r ε = 0 . 0 2 0 7 5 and Β = 1 5 and Β = 3 0 . These diagrams i l l u s t r a t e that small tempera ture amplitudes are r e s t r i c t e d to a very small zone near the b o r d e r l i n e α = o. A l l a n a l y t i c a l approximations must f a i l in the main part of the region α > ο , β > ο where the a-values are very near to 1 . A r e g r e s s i o n method was a p p l i e d s e l e c t i n g about 5 0 0 r e p r e s e n t a t i v e data from the computer s i m u l a t i o n . The best f i t t i n g was found by A
*
= - 1 1 . 5 - 5 4 . 4 μ* + 5 7 . 2 u. + 0 . 7 6 Β - 5 7 . 2 ε
D
"»|^ -
-
1i ·J
-
-
56.5 u
Jt.t μ
$
2
Τ
- 0.012Β
\JI.L·
2
+ 5 1 . 1 *u P
$
(18)
which i s v a l i d i n the same range of the parameters as E q . ( 1 5 ) . As f a r as A < 5 the maximum percentage e r r o r (A - A R ) / A was about + 3 0 % . To our own s u r p r i s e a comparatively simple semi-empirical approximation works q u i t e well in the range of high temperature amplitudes. From Eq. ( 1 ) a c o u p l i n g equation can be obtained by e l i m i n a t i o n the dimensionless r e a c t i o n r a t e
£ 0
+ 0
* =
ν
;
Υ = Β υ _ ^ By* - 1
In Chemical Reaction Engineering—Houston; Weekman, V., et al.; ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1978.
(
1
9
)
CHEMICAL REACTION ENGINEERING—HOUSTON
504
Table I: Comparison of some representative frequencies ω comp Eq.dO)
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parameters
ω
Eq.(13)
Ι_ο Eq.(14)
Eq.(15)
B=10 ε=0
u =0 80 μ*=0 280
2,406
2,449
2,451
2,210
B=10 ε=0
u =0 80 μ*=0 2509
1,917
2,118
2,132
1,800
B=10 ε=0
u =0 60 μ*=0 261
0,938
0,561
0,717
0,868
B=30 ε=0 02075
u =0 80 μ*=0 3118
4,961
3,447
5,013
5,280
B=30 ε=0,02075
u =0,75 μ*=0 310
4,325
2,060
4,100
4,511
B=30 ε=0 02075
u =0 60 μ*=0 3038
3,159
imagin.
2,485
2,981
B=30 ε=0,02075
u =0 55 μ*=0 2716
2,394
imagin.
1,705
2,580
s
9
9
s
9
9
s
9
9
9
9
s
9
9
s
9
s
9
9
s
9
9
In Chemical Reaction Engineering—Houston; Weekman, V., et al.; ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1978.
41. HUGO AND WIRGES
Oscillations in Stirred Tank Reactor
505
From several numerical calculations we found that the oscillations of y are considerably smaller than those of v. This effect i s demonstrated for a typical limit cycle with a high temperature amplitude in Fig. 7. So we tested the approximation Y ( v ) = v where the e x t r
$
corresponding conversion u i s obtained from Eq. (lb) by setting %
= o. One gets (Bu* - l ) v - Β - v
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s
D a
D a
extr = o
e x
-
e x t r
·v
(20)
e x t r
extr 1 + εν extr
P
(21)
The f i r s t and the third intersection of the curve f ( v , ) with the line Ψ = v (see Fig. 7) yield approximate values for v - j and v which are used to calculate A from Eq. (11). e J
t r
s
m
n
m a x
Table II: Comparison of some representative amplitudes of temperature 6. Time averaged conversion A short comment should be made to the time-averaged conversion. By an approximate solution [ 9 J we obtained
and
II
> u
$
for
v" < 2
U
< u
s
for "v > 2
From our numerical calculations we found that this rule i s valid even at high B-values.__From the practical point of view the i n crease of conversion (u - u ) in the range ν < 2 is comparatively small. The severe problems of a reactor with self-sustained oscillation makes i t unrealistic to use this way for increase of conversion. s
7. Experimental results In the experimental part of this study the catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide by Fe(No3)3 * ^ 2 ° ' t r i c acid solution was used as a model reaction. This reaction has the advantage ob being f i r s t order [10, 11]. The concentrations of Fe^ and H remain constant during the reaction. The following rate expression was obtained by kinetic experiments: H
i n
a
m
+
1 8
C
3
* - ι 6.in Fe * " ^ 'c + 0,01 r
1
0
H +
. 14620, H 0 ' P(- - T - >
n c
ex
2
2
g-mole l i t r e - sec
In Chemical Reaction Engineering—Houston; Weekman, V., et al.; ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1978.
+
. < )
/ 9 9
22
CHEMICAL REACTION ENGINEERING—HOUSTON
506
μ* οβ
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Γ
Figure 6. Stability diagram with curves of equal temperature amplitude (B = 30, c = 0,02075)
ψ(ν)
26
'
1
ι
·
ι
·
1
'
1
B»30 C «002075 u *Qf5 μ* > OUSI s
22 ....
-
ψ|ν) ^) φ ( ν
20
-
\/ I
Figure 7.
.
I
.
I
.
I
.
I
.
ι
Limit cycle φ(ν) for Β = 30, e — 0, 02075, μ* = 0, 445pnd u = 0,65 s
In Chemical Reaction Engineering—Houston; Weekman, V., et al.; ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1978.
Downloaded by NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIV on May 4, 2015 | http://pubs.acs.org Publication Date: June 1, 1978 | doi: 10.1021/bk-1978-0065.ch041
41.
HUGO AND WIRGES
Oscillations in Stirred Tank Reactor
507
The values of the activation energy (E = 121,5 kJ/g-mole) and of the reaction enthalpy (-ΔΗ = 94,8 kJ/g-mole) are high enough to f u l f i l Eq.(9) so that the oscillatory behaviour of temperature and conversion in the CSTR can be observed for a wide range of operating conditions (see Table III). The acid/hydrogen peroxide solution and the catalyst were pumped in two feed streams via rotameters into the reactor. The liquid phase volume (V = 500 ml) was kept constant with an outlet valve. The extent of the reaction was followed by titration of hydrogen peroxide and by sensing the temperature with a thermo couple. Table III Range of experimental conditions 800 ml/h
< v
< 2400 ml/h
R
101 ml/h < v 3 F e
665 s
< τ
300,8 k
< T
15,2