Question

1. Acrylonitrile is produced by the reaction of propylene, ammonia, and oxygen
C3H6 + NH3 + O2 ​ C3H3N + 3H2O
The feed contains 10 mole% propylene, 12% ammonia, and 78% air. A fractional conversion of 30% of the limiting reactant is achieved. Determine which reactant is limiting, the percentage by which each of the other reactants is in excess, and the molar flow rates of all product gas constituents for a 30% conversion of the limiting reactant, taking 100 mol of feed as a basis.
[15 marks]

2. A mixture containing 45% benzene (B) and 55% toluene (T) by mass is fed to a distillation column. An overhead stream of 95 wt% B is produced, and 8% of the benzene fed to the column leaves in the bottom stream. The feed rate is 2000 kg/h. Determine the overhead flow rate and the mass flow rates of benzene and toluene in the bottom stream.
[7 marks]

3. Consider the following pair of reactions.
A → 2B ​(desired)
A → C ​(undesired)
100 moles of A are fed to a batch reactor and the final product contains 10 mol of A, 16 mol of B and 10 mol of C. Calculate
(i) percentage yield of B
(ii) the selectivity of B relative to C
(iii) the extents of the reactions
[8 marks]

4. The reactions
C2H6 C2H4 + H2​
C2H6 + H2 2CH4
take place in a continuous reactor at steady state. The feed contains 85.0 mole% ethane (C2H6) and the balance inerts (I). The fractional conversion of ethane is 0.501, and the fractional yield of ethylene is 0.471. Calculate the molar composition of the product gas and the selectivity of ethylene to methane production
​​​[20 marks]

Answer 1