TITLE:
The Statistical Experimental Design for Chemical Reactors Modeling
AUTHORS:
Graciela Prieto, Oscar Prieto, Teresa Unzaga, Carlos Gay, Kazunori Takashima, Akira Mizuno
KEYWORDS:
Chemical Reactors Modeling, Statistical Experimental Designs, Nonthermal Plasma Chemical Reactors
JOURNAL NAME:
Applied Mathematics,
Vol.7 No.14,
August
24,
2016
ABSTRACT: The Statistical Experimental Design
techniques are the most powerful tools for the chemical reactors experimental
modeling. Empirical models can be formulated for representing the chemical
behavior of reactors with the minimal effort in the necessary number of
experimental runs, hence, minimizing the consumption of chemicals and the
consumption of time due to the reduction in the number of experimental runs and
increasing the certainty of the results. Four types of nonthermal plasma
reactors were assayed seeking for the highest efficiency in obtaining hydrogen
and ethylene. Three different geometries for AC high voltage driven reactors,
and only a single geometry for a DC high voltage pulse driven reactor were studied.
According to the fundamental principles of chemical kinetics and considering an
analogy among the reaction rate and the applied power to the plasma reactor,
the four reactors are modeled following the classical chemical reactors design
to understand if the behavior of the nonthermal plasma reactors can be regarded
as the chemical reactors following the flow patterns of PFR (Plug Flow Reactor)
or CSTR (Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor). Dehydrogenation is a common
elimination reaction that takes place in nonthermal plasmas. Owing to this
characteristic, a paraffinic heavy oil with an average molecular weight corresponding
to C15 was used to study the production of light olefins and hydrogen.