Producing Acetylene via Catalytic Reaction of Methane and Oxygen

Question

One method of producing acetylene is via the catalytic reaction of methane and oxygen as shown in the reaction below:

6CH₄ + O₂ – 2C₂H₂+ 2CO+ 10H₂

A schematic of the reaction is shown in Figure 2.  Stream 1, containing 97 mol% methane and 3.0 mol% carbon dioxide and stream 2, containing 5% excess air, air are fed into the reactor. Stream 3, exiting the reactor, is monitored and found to contain 10.4 mol% acetylene.  Stream 3 is subsequently fed into a flash drum where 95 percent of the acetylene is liquefied and comes out in stream 4.  The flow rate of Stream 1 is 15,000 lb-mol/hr.

 

a) Determine the flow rate (in lb-mol/hr) of stream 2.
b) What are the conversions of methane and oxygen?
c) Determine the flow rates (in lb-mol/hr) of Stream 4.

 
Summary

The question belongs to Chemical Engineering and the question is about acetylene production by catalytic reaction of methane and oxygen. The production of acetylene after the reaction has to be calculated.

Total Word Count 184