Chemical processes are designed to give maximum efficiency. Here, efficiency referred to as conversion of raw material into products.
If we can’t approach to total conversion, at least it’s possible to reach as close as possible to maximum conversion that can achieve.
In the chemical industry, people maintain & operate plant parameters based on their experience & monitoring the data.
But, how conversion increase in practical ?
Here, are some practical approaches to consider, when to think about the increase in conversion.On a molecular scale, all matters on how much energy we are giving to the reaction.
A general practice can we make while increasing the energy rate we are providing, In the process we are providing reaction to the energy in the forms of (temperature, pressure, and flow), while changing & operating these forms or parameters like Temperature, pressure and flow as we can get to the maximum possible conversion we can achieve.
Providing extra space for reaction
Often for many chemical processes, we are using a catalyst. As we know catalyst decrease activation energy but also providing the extra space for a reaction where reactant molecules get accumulated in pores of catalyst & get reacted to form a product. This depends on the reaction & based on the size & shape of the catalyst.Catalyst shape is selected for a particular reaction, with the observation of experimental trials using different shapes.
Removing resistance for the reaction
Reactant molecules should be contacted with each other for the maximum conversion. After 1st stage reaction when the reactant gets partially converted (25, 50 or more %).To achieve maximum possible total conversion, we need to remove the unconverted reactant from the reaction mass. In 2nd stage reaction, product molecules will be the resistance for the unconverted reactant molecules to contact with each other.
Reactant surface area
When reactant having less surface area, it’s difficult to transferring energy to each molecule. Surface area is the important factor in some reaction. It could be a reaction rate controlling factor.Increasing surface area affects the conversion & we can ensure the maximum energy is transferring to each reactant molecules.
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