Techische Universität Dortmund
Department of Biochemical and Chemical
Engineering (BCI)
Process Dynamics and Operations Group Y N
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Sebastian Engell D
Batch Process Operation
Spring Semester 2010
Tutorial 1:
Modeling and Linearization
Alireza Hosseini
Warm-up: Batch process
(a) Fill in the sheets ”comparison between batch and continuous processes” to the best
of your knowledge.
(b) List some advantages and disadvantages of batch reactors.
(c) Briefly discuss the differences between a batch and continuous reactor, when consid-
ering the steady state.
Warm-up: Modeling
(a) A jacketed batch reactor assumed to have no heat loss is heated by a heating medium
the inlet temperature of which is at Tj,in = 96.3◦ C. What will be the steady state of the
temperature inside the reactor for an exothermic reaction, an endothermic reaction and
no reaction? (assume the reaction rate remains the same)
(b) A semi-batch reactor, before the feed stage, contains a liquid with initial height
h0 . The level of the liquid measured over time ’t’ is termed as h(t). When the feed is
switched on, is there is steady state for h(t)? Validate your answer by writing down the
differential equation and analyze its stability.
(c) What is a transient state and a steady state?
(d) What is the Jacobian matrix?
(e) Work through the linearization of a general process model and explain the difference
between linearization around a transient and a steady state.
(f) What is a trajectory? Is a step change in the input variables a trajectory? Is a constant
temperature a trajectory?
Task: Modeling
Model the following semi-batch reactor and write the system in state space including the
measurement equations:
TA,in nA
TJ,in mJ, in TJ mJ, out
TR A B C
Figure 1: Semi-batch reactor
The reaction in the reactor can be described as follows:
A −→ B (1)
A+B ⇋C (2)
All reaction are 2nd or 1st order respectively. Assume the density of the material A, B
and C are constant and holds the relation ρa ≈ ρb ≈ ρc . The reaction rate constants are
given as kA , kAB and kC and depend on the following algebraic relationships.
−EA
kA = kA0 · e RT (3)
−EAB
kAB = kAB0 · e RT (4)
−EC
kC = kC0 · e RT (5)
(a) Write down the differential and algebraic equation(s) governing the systems behavior
and the measurement equation(s) for measuring the concentration of the materials A and
B, and the temperatures.
(b) Is the system linear or nonlinear?
(c) What is the order of the system?
(d) If the system is nonlinear, symbolically linearize it around a given state Xs .