Additional Homework Problems

CDP8-O_C

Oleic acid epoxide (E) is produced by the catalytic epoxidation of oleic acid (OA)[[J. Fotopoulos, C. Georgakis, and H. Stenger,Chem. Eng. Sci., 51, 1899 (1996)]. The raw materials are pure benzaldehyde (B) and oleic acid (OA). Unfortunately, undesired products are also formed, including benzoic (BA) and perbenzoic acids (PBA). The reaction sequence is

(1)   O₂ + B PBA

(2)   PBA + OA E + BA

(3)   B + PBA 2BA

Additional information:

Concentration of pure B=9.8 kmol/m³
Concentration of pure OA=3.15 kmol/m³
Catalyst concentration =4 X 10^-5 kmol/m³

How should the reaction be carried out (e.g. type of reactor(s), volume, temperature, feed rate) to produce 100 kmol of oleic acid expoxide (E) per day? ther will be a prize for the solution that meets this criteria and minimizes the undesirable products. If equipment costs are available they should be included.