A perfectly mixed batch reactor, containing 7500 lbm of liquid with a heat capacity of 1 BT U/lbm ◦F is

surrounded by a cooling jacket that is filled with 2480 lbm of perfectly mixed cooling water.
At the beginning of the batch cycle, both the reactor liquid and the jacket water are at 203◦F. At this point in
time, catalyst is added to the reactor and a reaction occurs which generates heat at a constant rate of 15300
BTU/min. At this same moment in time, makeup cooling water at 68◦F is fed into the jacket at a constant 832
lbm/min flow rate.

The heat transfer area between the reactor and jacket is 140 ft2. The overall heat transfer coeffi- cient is 70
BTU/h◦Fft2. Mass of the metal walls can be neglected. Heat losses are negligible.

(a) Develop a mathematical model of the process.

(b) Use Laplace transforms to solve for the dynamic change in reactor temperature T(t).

(c) What is the peak reactor temperature and when does it occur? (d) What is the final steadystate reactor
temperature?

Solution

dT Ah Q
(a) The reactor (T) and jacket (Tj) temperatures can be described by: =−(T−Tj) +

dTj Ah FMU
dt MCp MCp =(T−Tj) + (TMU−Tj)
dt MjCpj Mj
(b) Applying the Laplace transform, and replacing the numerical values of the parameters, we get

(for time in hours):

sT − 203 = −(T − Tj )1.3067 + 122.4/s (1) sTj − 203 = (T − Tj )3.9516 − 20.129Tj + 1368.8/s (2)

From equation (2) we obtain an expression for Tj:

3.95T s + 203s + 1368.77
Tj =

s(s + 24.08) 19
Figure 10: Reactor temperature as a function of time. Replacing the previous expression in equation (1), we get
an expression for T :

203s2 + 5276s + 4736 s3 + 25.39s2 + 26.30s

T(s) =

180.1 29.21 6.311

T(s) = + −
s s+1.082 s+24.31

T(t) = 180.1 + 29.21e−1.082t − 6.311e−24.31t (c) The peak temperature corresponds to a time derivative equal to
zero:

0 = −1.082 ∗ 29.21e−1.082t + 24.31 ∗ 6.311e−24.31t t = 0.06802

The peak temperature is equal to T (0.06802) = 206◦F . (d) The steady state reactor temperature is 180.1◦F.

A plot of reactor temperature against time is shown in Figure 10.

Code(s) used: P22AlgebraicOperations.py P22MakeFigure.py P22NumSol.py

Problem 23

A milk tank on a dairy farm is equipped with a refrigeration compressor which removes q (BTU/min) of heat
from the warm milk. The insulated, perfectly mixed tank is initially filled with V0 (ft3) of warm milk (99.5 ◦F).
The compressor is then turned on and begins to chill down the milk. At the same time fresh warm (99.5 ◦F) milk
is continously added at a constant rate F (ft3/min) through a milk pipeline from the milking parlor. The total
volume after all cows have been milked is VT (ft3).

Derive the equation describing how the temperature T of the milk in the tank varies with time. Solve for T(t).
What is the temperature of the milk at the end of the milking? How long does it take to chill the milk down to 35
◦
F? Parameter values are F = 1 ft3/min, ρ = 62.3 lbm/ft3, Cp =1BTU/lbm◦F,V0 =5ft3,VT =100ft3,q=300BTU/min.
20

Solution

d(VT) q
From t = 0 to t = 95 min, the temperature variation in the tank and volume are described by: =FT0− (1)

(2) (3)

After t = 95 min, temperature variation is decribed by: dT q

=−

The product VT as a function of time is:

dt Cpρ V = V0 + F t
 q1
dt Cp ρVT sTV−T0V0=FT0−

TV q1
ρCp s TV= 0 0+FT0−

q
s ρCps2 TV(t)=T0V0+FT0− t

ρCp
The value of temperature is obtained dividing the previous expression by V0 + F t:

ρCp
T0V0+FT0− q t T(t) =
V0 +Ft
At the end of the milking process, the temperature is T95 = 94.9◦F. After the milking process, we

have:

valve:

τs Pv(s) τs+1 CO(s)

G(s) = =

qt
T=T95− Cp ρVT

The time required to cool the milk to 35◦F is 1244 min. Problem 24

The flow of air into the regenerator on a catalytic cracking unit is controlled by two control valves. One is a
large, slow moving valve that is located on the suction of the air blower. The other is a small, fast acting valve
that vents to the atmosphere (Figure 11).
The fail safe condition is to not feed air into the regenerator. Therefore, the suction valve is air to open and the
vent valve is air to close. What action should the flow controller have, direct or reverse?

The device with the following transfer function G(s) is installed in the control line to the vent

The purpose of this device is to cause the vent valve to respond quickly to changes in CO but to minimize the
amount of air vented (since this wastes power) under steady state conditions. What will be the dynamic response
of the perturbation in Pv for a step change of 10 percent of full scale in CO? What is the new steady state value
of Pv?

Solution

When air flow to the regenerator increases, the signal to the air suction valve must decrease, and the signal to
the vent valve must increase, so the control action is reverse.
The dynamic response to a step change in CO is:

∆COτ
Pv,(s) = τs+1

Pv,(t) = ∆COe−t/τ 21
The new steady state value of Pv is 0.

Problem 25

s
An openloop process has the transfer function: GM=

Figure 11: Air flow control system.

τs+1
Calculate the open loop response of this process to a unit step change in its input. What is the

steady state gain of this process?

Solution

1
The open loop response for a dependent variable x is: x(s)=

The steady state gain is:

Problem 26

s
xss = lim = 0 s→0 τs+1