High School

The reaction between [tex]C_2H_4[/tex] and [tex]HBr[/tex] to form ethyl bromide ([tex]C_2H_5Br[/tex]) is carried out in a continuous reactor. The product stream is analyzed and found to contain 51.7 mol% [tex]C_2H_5Br[/tex], 17.3 mol% [tex]HBr[/tex], and 31 mol% [tex]C_2H_4[/tex]. The feed to the reactor contains only ethylene and [tex]HBr[/tex], and the total molar flow rate of the feed stream is 165 mol/s.

Calculate the following:

1. The fractional conversion of the limiting reactant.
2. The percentage by which the other reactant is in excess.

Answer :

Final answer:

The limiting reactant is HBr, with a fractional conversion of 82.7%. The C₂H₄ reactant is in excess by 13.7%.

Explanation:

The reaction between C₂H₄ and HBr to form ethyl bromide (C₂H₅Br) can be represented as follows:
C₂H₄ + HBr -> C₂H₅Br

From the given information, 51.7 mol% of the total amount is C₂H₅Br, 17.3 mol% is HBr and 31 mol% is unreacted C₂H₄. Since both C₂H₄ and HBr are the feed to the reactor, the amount of unreacted HBr will be the difference between the initial amount and the amount found in the product stream, or the fractional conversion.

The limiting reactant will be the one that is completely consumed, thus we need to identify if the converted amount is larger for C₂H₄ or HBr. Subtracting the found values from 100 percent gives the percent reacted for each potential reactant (69 mol% for C₂H₄ and 82.7 mol% for HBr). Hence, it shows that HBr is the limiting reactant as it has a higher conversion rate.

To calculate the percentage by which the other reactant is in excess, simply subtract the percent reacted of the limiting reactant from the percent reacted of the excess reactant. This yields a 13.7% excess of C₂H₄.

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