Ideal Reactors as an Illustration of Solving Transport Phenomena Problems in Engineering
This contribution aims at emphasizing the importance of ideal reactors in the field of environmental engineering and in the education of the corresponding engineers. The exposition presents the mass flow governing equations of the ideal reactors (batch, completely mixed flow, and plug flow reactors)...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-02-01
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| Series: | Fluids |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2311-5521/8/2/58 |
| _version_ | 1797621038280867840 |
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| author | Santiago Laín Mario A. Gandini |
| author_facet | Santiago Laín Mario A. Gandini |
| author_sort | Santiago Laín |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This contribution aims at emphasizing the importance of ideal reactors in the field of environmental engineering and in the education of the corresponding engineers. The exposition presents the mass flow governing equations of the ideal reactors (batch, completely mixed flow, and plug flow reactors) as particular cases derived from the integral version of the conservation of mass of a chemical/biological species. In the case of transient problems and simple kinetics, such expressions result in first-order ordinary differential equations amenable to be solved analytically when they are linear. In this article, it is shown that when they are non-linear, due to the presence of a second-order kinetics reaction, an analytical solution is also possible, a situation not dealt with in the textbooks. Finally, the previous findings are integrated into a teaching proposal addressed to help undergraduate students to solve more efficiently ideal reactor problems. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T08:50:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8f4b37a42139401a8817a65b3e4003b5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2311-5521 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T08:50:59Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Fluids |
| spelling | doaj.art-8f4b37a42139401a8817a65b3e4003b52023-11-16T20:28:48ZengMDPI AGFluids2311-55212023-02-01825810.3390/fluids8020058Ideal Reactors as an Illustration of Solving Transport Phenomena Problems in EngineeringSantiago Laín0Mario A. Gandini1PAI+, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universidad Autónoma de Occidente, Cali 760030, ColombiaPAI+, Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universidad Autónoma de Occidente, Cali 760030, ColombiaThis contribution aims at emphasizing the importance of ideal reactors in the field of environmental engineering and in the education of the corresponding engineers. The exposition presents the mass flow governing equations of the ideal reactors (batch, completely mixed flow, and plug flow reactors) as particular cases derived from the integral version of the conservation of mass of a chemical/biological species. In the case of transient problems and simple kinetics, such expressions result in first-order ordinary differential equations amenable to be solved analytically when they are linear. In this article, it is shown that when they are non-linear, due to the presence of a second-order kinetics reaction, an analytical solution is also possible, a situation not dealt with in the textbooks. Finally, the previous findings are integrated into a teaching proposal addressed to help undergraduate students to solve more efficiently ideal reactor problems.https://www.mdpi.com/2311-5521/8/2/58problem-solving in engineeringideal reactorsmass conservation integral equationRiccati equationsecond-order kinetics |
| spellingShingle | Santiago Laín Mario A. Gandini Ideal Reactors as an Illustration of Solving Transport Phenomena Problems in Engineering Fluids problem-solving in engineering ideal reactors mass conservation integral equation Riccati equation second-order kinetics |
| title | Ideal Reactors as an Illustration of Solving Transport Phenomena Problems in Engineering |
| title_full | Ideal Reactors as an Illustration of Solving Transport Phenomena Problems in Engineering |
| title_fullStr | Ideal Reactors as an Illustration of Solving Transport Phenomena Problems in Engineering |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ideal Reactors as an Illustration of Solving Transport Phenomena Problems in Engineering |
| title_short | Ideal Reactors as an Illustration of Solving Transport Phenomena Problems in Engineering |
| title_sort | ideal reactors as an illustration of solving transport phenomena problems in engineering |
| topic | problem-solving in engineering ideal reactors mass conservation integral equation Riccati equation second-order kinetics |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2311-5521/8/2/58 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT santiagolain idealreactorsasanillustrationofsolvingtransportphenomenaproblemsinengineering AT marioagandini idealreactorsasanillustrationofsolvingtransportphenomenaproblemsinengineering |