Packed columns are used for distillation, gas absorption and liquid-liquid extraction.

The gas-liquid contact in a packed column is continuous, not stage-wise, as in a

plate column. The liquid flows down in the column over a packing surface and the
vapor (or the gas) moves counter-currently, up the column.
Equilibrium Reactor

Simulates multiple reactions at once

Requires equilibrium data or conversion for each reaction

Uses ChemCAD component thermodynamic data

More complex version of the stoichiometric reactor

Assumes reaction is run to close to equilibrium

Approximates a reactor with a high residence time

Estimates final conversion based on component equilibrium data and reaction stoichiometry

Select base component (for example, CH4)

Select conversion

Enter stoichiometric coefficients for reaction 1

The Gibbs minimization reactor is a simplified reactor model for which the reaction
equilibrium is calculated by minimizing the Gibbs free energy (at specified temperature and
pressure) or maximizing entropy (at specified pressure and heat duty).
Gibbs Reactor

After setting up the Gibbs reactor, input the following operating conditions and reactor
specifications:

Temperature

Pressure

Inlet flow rates

Thermal mode

Reaction phase

Gibbs Reactor Outputs

ChemCAD outputs:

Temperature

Pressure

Composition
 Heat of Reaction (inerts that take up heat can be taken into account)

Advantages

Allows all potential reaction to happen by employing an element matrix (ChemCAD generated)
and then minimizes the Gibbs free energy of the products to obtain output compositions and
conditions

Disadvantages

Relies heavily on the specified thermal mode and thermodynamic model, but it is not clear how
close the actual reaction comes to equilibrium

Reactive distillation is a process where the chemical reactor is also the still. Separation
of the product from the reaction mixture does not need a separate distillation step,
which saves energy (for heating) and materials.

Increased speed
Lower costs reduced equipment use, energy use and handling
Less waste and fewer byproducts
Improved product quality reducing opportunity for degradation because of less heat

Partial Pressures of Aqueous Mixtures K-values (PPAQ)

This K-value method is for modeling the vapor-liquid equilibrium of compounds dissolved in
water using partial pressures to calculate the equilibrium of the solute.

Gibbs Phase Rule

The Gibbs Phase Rule describes the possible number of degrees of freedom (f)
in a closed system at equilibrium, in terms of the maximum number of stable
phases (M) and the number of system components (N):

in other words, the number of degrees of freedom for a system at equilibrium is

the number of intensive variables (often taken as the pressure, temperature,
and composition fraction) that may be arbitrarily specified without changing the
number of phases. In a region with M stable phases, the values of N-M+2 state
variables can be changed independently and preserving the same set of stable
phases.

Gibbs free energy is a thermodynamic potential that can be used to calculate the maximum of
reversible work that may be performed by a thermodynamic system at a
constant temperature and pressure (isothermal, isobaric).

In thermodynamics, an isentropic process is an idealized thermodynamic process that is

adiabatic and in which the work transfers of the system are frictionless; there is no transfer of
matter and the process is reversible.

Activation energy may also be defined as the minimum energy required to start a chemical reaction.
The activation energy of a reaction is usually denoted by Ea and given in units of kilojoules per
mole (kJ/mol) or kilocalories per mole (kcal/mol).

frequency factor: in the Arrhenius equation, a constant indicating how many collisions
have the correct orientation to lead to products