Separating Product and Recycling Unreacted Reactants Flashcards

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In an industrial chemical process, what does "separating the product" mean?

It means taking the wanted chemical out of the reaction mixture so it is on its own.

At equilibrium the mixture has both reactants and products, so we must separate the product to collect it and allow more reactants to be reused.

The gas mixture is cooled so that ammonia condenses to a liquid, which is then removed.

Ammonia has a higher boiling point than nitrogen and hydrogen, so it turns to liquid first when cooled.

They are recycled and fed back into the reactor to react again.

Recycling saves raw materials, cuts costs, reduces waste and increases the overall amount of product made.

Yield per pass is the percentage of reactants that turn into product each time the mixture goes through the reactor once.

Recycling makes the overall yield much higher, because reactants get many chances to react, not just one.

Because the reaction reaches equilibrium, where forward and backward reactions are equal, so some reactants always remain.

A cooling system with a condenser is used to cool the gases so ammonia liquefies and can be removed.

It reduces waste gases, uses fewer raw materials and can lower the energy used per tonne of product.