(40e) Preliminary Work On an Expert System for Mixed Reactor Design

Choices of the method needed to design a reactor with mixing as an important aspect of its operation are frequently difficult to make and false starts are not uncommon.  This presentation will outline the start of an effort to develop a system to aid the designer in determining which style of reactor to propose for the job and to lead that person in finding a design method which best fits the needed reactor and its characteristics.  Such an approach will help the designer avoid choosing a reactor type based on a preceived bias based on previous experience and/or company history.  The first aspect of the system is the determination of how much mixing rate affects the reaction and its yield of desired product.  Then the needed mixing rate is determined and various choices for achieving that rate are explored via a set of approximate methods for each type of reactor deemed likely.  Types of reactors included in this part of the procedure are single impeller mixed vessel, multiple impeller mixed vessel (with aspect ratio variations), impeller type and location variations, gas sparging method and location, pipe reactor with and without internal mixing (static or dynamic), stirring intensity based on solids suspension, stirring or static mixing limits based on needed gas dispersion and flooding limits.  Liquid-liquid reactors (such as suspension polymerization) are not yet considered.  Finally, the designer will be led to the most likely design method for the reactor type selected.