Derivation and Application of a Steady Stale Mathematical Model of an Isopropanol-Acetne Reactor

• Main Authors: A. D. G. Hazlerigg BSc, PhD, A. Poll BSc, ARIC, C. J. Potter, W. Smith PhD, DIC, CEng, MIChemE
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publishing 1969-11-01
• Series: Measurement + Control
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1177/002029406900201103

As a part of the study of the computer control and optimisation of a pilot scale plant, a mathematical model is derived for the steady-state of the process in which acetone and methyl-isobutyl ketone are made from isopropanol by heterogeneous catalysis in a tubular reactor. Using the model as an analogue computer program, the kinetics of the two reactions involved have been evaluated from results taken from a laboratory reactor. Using these kinetics and the model written as a digital computer program, the behaviour of a pilot-scale reactor has been calculated and this is compared with measured performance. A phase-space analysis of the model is made to illustrate how this technique may be used to predict the expected control characteristics of the process.