Sharif Digital Repository

In this paper, control of a non-isothermal continuous stirred tank reactor in which two parallel autocatalytic reactions take place has been addressed. The reactor shows chaotic behavior for a certain set of reactor parameters. In order to control the product concentration, an optimal state feedback controller has been designed. Since concentrations of reactor species are not measured, an observer has been designed for implementation of the proposed control scheme. The local asymptotic stability of the closed-loop system including observer dynamics has been shown via the Lyapunov stability theorem. effectiveness of the proposed controller in load rejection and set point tracking has been... 

A dense membrane of La0.6Sr0.4Co0.8Fe0.2O3- δ (LSCF) perovskite was prepared by a new chelating agent, ethylene diamine N,N,N′,N′-tetra N-acetyl diamine (EDTNAD). As a potent ligand, EDTNAD provided a facile one-step method to form complexes of the four metal ions, simultaneously. The oxygen permeation flux through the pure perovskite LSCF dense membrane was measured over temperature range of 1073-1223 K, thickness of 0.7-1.0 mm and oxygen partial pressure of 0.1-1.0 bar. Oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) reaction using LSCF disk in the atmospheric membrane reactor and over the temperature range of 1073-1173 K showed a C2 selectivity of 100% and C2 yield of 5.01% at 1153 K. Furthermore,... 

In this paper, two nonlinear observer based controllers for temperature control of a continuous stirred tank reactor in which a special class of parallel exothermic reactions take place are proposed. A reduced order nonlinear observer is constructed to estimate the concentration in the reactor. The observer is coupled with two nonlinear controllers, designed based on two well-known techniques, namely input-output linearization and backstepping for controlling the reactor temperature. For dampening the effect of observer error dynamics, a compensating term is used in each control law. The asymptotical stability of the closed-loop system is shown by the Lyapunov's stability theorem. The... 

Due to advantages of tubular polymerization reactors, a tubular reactor was used as the postpolymerizer for thermal bulk polymerization of styrene. By solving the mathematical model, static and dynamic simulations were carried out to study the reactor's behavior. In order to have a desired product regarding the monomer conversion and polydispersity at the reactor outlet, a specific temperature profile must be kept along the reactor's length. Based on the desired profile and using the system model, a trajectory for the jacket temperature was obtained. To apply the desired jacket temperature, the jacket is divided into three zones. The set-point of each zone has been obtained by discretizing... 

The effects of several variables on zinc recovery in column bioleaching have been investigated. The ore contained sphalerite and pyrite as the main sulfide minerals and chalcopyrite and galena as minor minerals. Tests were carried out using a bench-scale column leach reactor which was inoculated with mesophilic (Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans) and thermophilic (Sulfobacillus) iron oxidizing bacteria; initially isolated from the Sarcheshmeh chalcopyrite concentrate (Kerman, Iran) and Kooshk sphalerite concentrate (Yazd, Iran), respectively. In the inoculated column, jarosite and elemental sulfur were formed. The leaching rate of sphalerite tended to increase with dissolved ferric ion... 

Catalytic hydrocracking of topped Athabasca bitumen was investigated in a continuous stirred-basket 0reactor, using a fresh and spent commercial catalyst, as well as in the presence of no catalyst. A continuous lumping model was developed for kinetic analysis of hydrodenitrogenation and hydrocracking reactions. The normalized boiling point was used to describe the reactant mixture as a continuous mixture. The continuous model, with five adjustable parameters, was used to describe hydrocracking reactions. Reactions of nitrogen compounds were described by series reactions, involving cracking to lower molecular weight products, as well as direct denitrogenation. The model was able to accurately... 

Unsymmetrical dimethyl hydrazine (UDMH) is a strong propellant, which due to its very good physical properties and high power of repellency has been utilized as a liquid fuel for fighter jet engines for so many years. There are different methods for production of this material. One of the more efficient ones which results in higher yields compared to others is the catalytic hydrogenation of Nitroso Dimethylamine (NDMA). In this work hydrogenation of NDMA to UDMH on a 5% Pd/C in aqueous solution of NDMA was studied experimentally. Experiments were carried out in a Semi-batch three phase STR reactor under constant pressure and temperature in the range of 40 to 70°C, pressures of up to 15 bar... 

In this paper, an adaptive fuzzy temperature controller is proposed for a class of continuous stirred tank reactors (CSTRs) based on input-output feedback linearization. Since for control implementation concentrations of all species are needed, based on the observability concept, a fuzzy logic system is used to estimate the concentration dependent terms and other unknown system parameters in the control law, using temperature measurements. It has been shown that the H∞ tracking control performance with a prescribed attenuation level is achieved, by using the proposed controller. Finally the effectiveness of the proposed controller has been demonstrated by applying it to a benchmark chemical... 

Kinetic modeling is an important issue, whose objective is the accurate determination of the rates of various reactions taking place in a reacting system. This issue is a pivotal element for the process design and development particularly for novel processes which are based on reactions taking place between various types of species. In this paper, the Genetic Algorithms have been used to develop a systematic computational framework for kinetic modeling of various reacting systems. This framework can be used to find the optimum values of various parameters that exist in the kinetic model of a reacting system. The Fischer-Tropsch (FT) reactions have been used as the kinetic modeling bench... 

The Unsymmetrical dimethyl hydrazine (UDMH) apart from its use as a versatile rocket fuel, finds numerous industrial applications. Interest in UDMH for various applications in the missile and rocket industry has prompted the study of this member of hydrazine family to greater extent. It can be prepared in several ways but one of the most efficient ones which results in higher yields is the catalytic hydrogenation of Nitroso Dimethylamine (NDMA). In this work the kinetic of NDMA to UDMH hydrogenation on a 5% Pd/C in aqueous solution of NDMA was studied experimentally and optimum conditions of the reaction for maximum yield of UDMH in the presence of undesired dimethyl amine (DMA) product was... 

Multiphase impeller stirred tank reactors enhance mixing of reacting species used in a variety of chemical industries. Gas-liquid mixing and mass transfer between these phases is an important application in reactor design. One such an example is hydrogenation reaction of aqueous NDMA (Nitroso dimethyl amine) solution in which one of the parameters having a significant effect on the reaction rate is mass transfer. This parameter in turn is a function of impeller shape and rotational speed, gas flow rate and reactor scale. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is a useful tool in the analysis, design and scale up of stirred tank reactors via investigating hydrodynamics of gas and liquid flow,... 

This article presents the results of 2D and 3D simulations of a bubble column reactor at steady state conditions and low gas flow rates. The simulations have been done based on a two-fluid model with a k - ε model used for turbulence modeling. The experimental data have been obtained by differential pressure transducer. For analyzing of hydrodynamic parameters such as hold up and velocity profiles of phases, a system consists of water tank and air aerated from bottom is set up. The simulations have been done based on two different approaches which are mixture and eulerian approaches. Despite the fact that these approaches lead to similar results, the convergence and stability of eulerian... 

Catalytic decomposition of the ethyl mercaptan over an H-ZSM-5 zeolite in a newly designed microreactor was undertaken in this study. A numerically developed distributor possessing superior flow distribution was amended to 24 parallel microchannels with 64 mm length, 700 μm width, and 600 μm depth. Ethyl mercaptan complete conversion required 350 °C through the developed microreactor while in a conventional fixed-bed-reactor 400 °C was needed. Higher selectivity towards the main products of this decomposition (hydrogen sulfide and ethylene) were observed in this microreactor in comparison to that of a fixed-bed-reactor. In addition, lower selectivity towards formation of byproducts was... 

In this paper, the dynamic behavior and control of the low pressure methanol synthesis fixed bed reactor have been investigated. For simulation purpose, a heterogeneous one-dimensional model has been developed. First, the reactor simulation is carried out under steady-state condition and the effects of several parameters such as shell temperature, feed composition (especially CO2 concentration) and recycle ratio on the methanol productivity and reactor temperature profile are investigated. Using the steady state model and a trained feedforward neural network that calculates the effectiveness factor, an optimizer which maximizes the reactor yield has been developed. Through the dynamic... 

The effect of up velocity and influent COD concentration on the activity of sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB) in UASB reactors is discussed. To study these effects, four UASB reactors were built and utilized in parallel. Examinations were carried out in two different concentrations of molasses (500 mg COD/l and 1000 mg COD/l) and four different upward flow velocities. It was observed that at velocities greater than 1 m/h, SRB bacteria were easily washed out from the reactors due to lower density and lack of ability to form dense and firm granules. It was found that in low-strength wastewaters with a COD to sulphate ratio of 2, an upward velocity in the range of 1.5-2.5 m/h could be... 

Oxidative coupling of methane in a bench scale fixed bed tubular reactor over Mn-Na2WO4/SiO2 catalyst has been studied. Four kinetic models have been considered for oxidative coupling of methane reactions and compared through experimental data, and the best kinetic model has been selected. For removing the heat of reaction, a molten salt bath system surrounding the reactor tube has been proposed. Effects of different factors, such as CH4/O2 ratio, are investigated through experimental and simulation studies. A good agreement has been observed between simulation and experimental data. The reactor behaviors under isothermal and adiabatic conditions have also been simulated