8.

A company has a large ethane (C2H6) stream available and has demands for both ethylene
(C2H4) and acetylene (C2H2). The relative amounts of these two chemicals required varies from
time to time, and the company proposes to build a single plant operating at atmospheric pressure
to produce either material.
(a) Using the data below, calculate the maximum temperature at which the reactor may operate
and still produce essentially ethylene (not more than 0.1% acetylene).
(b) Calculate the minimum temperature at which the reactor can operate and produce essentially
acetylene (not more than 0.1% ethylene).
(c) At what temperature will one produce equimolal quantities of acetylene and
ethylene?
Data and Notes: Assume that only the following reactions occur.
C
2
H
6
C
2
H
4
+ H
2

C
2
H
6
C
2
H
2
+ 2H
2

Neglect the effect of temperature on H
0
.
Answer :
Data from Appendix A An Introduction To Chemical Engineering Kinetics and Reactor
Design by Charles G Hill p.570 and 571
1. Ethylene (C
2
H
4
)
G
f
0
= 16.282 kcal/gmole
H
f
0
= 12.496 kcal/gmole
2. Acetylene (C
2
H
2
)
G
f
0
= 50 kcal/gmole
H
f
0
= 54.194 kcal/gmole
3. Ethane (C
2
H
6
)
G
f
0
= -7.860 kcal/gmole
H
f
0
= -20.236 kcal/gmole

C
2
H
6
C
2
H
4
+ H
2

G
1
0
= 1G
f
0
C
2
H
4
-

1G
f
0
C
2
H
6
= 1(16.282 kcal/gmole) 1(-7.860 kcal/gmole)
= 24.142 kcal/gmole
H
1
0
= 1H
f
0
C
2
H
4
-

1H
f
0
C
2
H
6

= 1(12.496 kcal/gmole) 1(-20.236 kcal/gmole)
= 32.732 kcal/gmole

C
2
H
6
C
2
H
2
+ 2H
2

G
2
0
= 1G
f
0
C
2
H
2
-

1G
f
0
C
2
H
6
= 1(50 kcal/gmole) 1(-7.860 kcal/gmole)
= 57.860 kcal/gmole
H
2
0
= 1H
f
0
C
2
H
2
-

1H
f
0
C
2
H
6

= 1(54.194 kcal/gmole) 1(-20.236 kcal/gmole)
= 74.43 kcal/gmole
a. G
1
0
/(T
2
-T
1
) = H
1
0
/T.............................................................................persamaan 2.2.8 page 8
Neglect the effect of temperature on H
0
.
24.142 kcal/gmole / (T
2
-298.15K) = 32.732 kcal/gmole
32.732 T
2
9759.0458 = 24.142
32.732 T
2
= 9783.1878
T
2
= 298.888 K
b. G
2
0
/(T
2
-T
1
) = H
2
0
/T.............................................................................persamaan 2.2.8 page 8
Neglect the effect of temperature on H
0
.
57.860 kcal/gmole / (T
1
-298.15K) = 74.43 kcal/gmole
74.43 T
2
2,2191.3045 = 57.860
74.43 T
2
= 2,2249.1645
T
2
= 298.927 K