[paui]

 Hello!
I've been stuck with this problem for 2 days now..
Please, could you lead me in the right direction? 

The Process:
     The feed gas to a methanol synthesis reactor is composed of 75 mol% H1, 15 mol% CO,
5 mol% CO2, and 5 mol% N2. The system comes to equilibrium at 550K and 100bar with respect
to the reactions: (The plant has a capacity of 75 moles per operation of feed gas)

2H2 + CO = CH3OH
H2 + CO2 = CO + H2O

with k1 = 6.749x10_4
and k2 = 0.01726

     Assuming ideal gas, i have to determine the composition of the equilibrium mixture..

----> from the equations, i can see that this is a 2-step series-parallel reaction, (or correct me if
i'm wrong) with CH3OH as the desired product. Although the second reaction competes for H2, it also produces CO
which is used for production of CH3OH.

----> at equilibrium, dC/dt = 0, so I can find conversion (X).

but then i'm confused.. am i in the right track here? what next?


  help me please..
Thanks in advance...

[paui]

hmm...

[eugenedakin]

Hello paui,

Unfortunately, I cannot do the work for you (forum rules), but I can provide helpful suggestions to get you on the right track.

As a hint, try working backwards. If you know what the final capacity, then how many moles of each component do you need to make this capacity?

 
Sincerely,

Eugene

[paui]

i'll work on that hint..
thanks so much eugenedakin...