(Comprehensive Term Problem) T-Amyl Methyl Ether (TAME) is an oxygenated additive for gree...

(Comprehensive Term Problem) T-Amyl Methyl Ether (TAME) is an oxygenated additive for green gasolines. Besides its use as an octane enhancer, it also improves the combustion of gasoline and reduces the CO and HC (and, in a smaller extent, the NOx) automobile exhaust emissions. Due to the environmental concerns related to those emissions, this and other ethers (MTBE, ETBE, TAEE) have been lately studied intensively. TAME is currently catalyti- cally produced in the liquid phase by the reaction of methanol (MeOH) and the isoamylenes 2-methyl-l-butene (2M1B) and 2-methyl-2-butene (2M2B). There are three simultaneous equilibrium reactions in the formation and splitting of TAME (the two etherification reactions and the isomerization between the isoamylenes):

These reactions are to be carried out in a plug-flow reactor and a membrane reactor in which MeOH is fed uniformly through the sides. For isothermal operation:

(a) Plot the concentration profiles for a 10-m3 PFR.

(b) Vary the entering temperature, T0, and plot the exit concentrations as a function of T0.

For a reactor with heat exchange (U = 10 J m-2 • s-l K-1):

(c) Plot the temperature and concentration profiles for an entering temperature of 353 K.

(d) Repeat (a) through (c) for a membrane reactor.

Additional information:

The data for this problem are found at the end of the Additional Homework Problems for Chapter 8 on the CD-ROM and on the web. [Problem by M. M. Vilarenho Ferreira, J. M. Loueiro, and D. R. Frias, University of Porto, Portugal.]

The feed to the reactor is equimolar in both ///-xylene and o-xylene (species A and B). For a total feed rate of 2 mol/min and the reaction conditions below