In the Haber reaction, nitrogen and hydrogen gas are converted into ammonia. In
ID: 986213 • Letter: I
Question
In the Haber reaction, nitrogen and hydrogen gas are converted into ammonia. In the following process, a mixture of 100 mol/min N2 and 300 mol/min H2 comprise the fresh feed. The stream out of the reactor is sent to a separator. One stream out of the separator isolates 200 mol/min pure ammonia with no nitrogen or hydrogen gases, which leaves the process. The other stream contains 400 mol nitrogen and 1200 mol hydrogen (with no ammonia) and is recycled back to a point upstream of the reactor, joining the fresh feed as the input to the reactor. There is no purge line. What is the single-pass conversion of this process?
20%
100%
60%
30%
15%
Please be precise
Explanation / Answer
The reaction between N2 and 3H2 is given as N2+3H2 --->2NH3
Feed entering the reactor = Fresh Feed + recycle feed = 400 (100N2+300 H2) +1600 (400N2+1200H2) = 2000 mol/min
4 mole of N2 and 3H2 on 100% conversion produces 2 moles of NH3
2000 mol/min should produce 1000mole/min of NH3
But NH3 produced = 200 mol/min
Percentage conversion per pass= 100*200/1000= 20% ( A is correct answer)