Classroom Analysis of a Packed Bed Reactor with and without the Use of Effectiveness Factor

Classroom analysis of a packed bed reactor with and without the use of effectiveness factor (η) is discussed in this article. The use of (η) in the calculation of an isothermal packed bed reactor with convection and first-order reaction rate is analyzed. An analytical model has been developed with and without (η). The model without (η) was presented in a 50-min lecture and later used in a 50-min computational laboratory session with various groups of two students to calculate the length and catalyst mass in a packed bed reactor. In another class, the students calculated the model using (η). Four or five class activities were tested every month in pairs of students in the place of traditional exams. A questionnaire was prepared to verify the students’ level of difficulty in understanding two theoretical topics taught in the last two classes, difficulty in doing the requested calculations, as well as among calculations using the effectiveness factor and without it. We have included a question in the questionnaire on how the students felt about the elimination of one traditional monthly exam in Chemical Reactor Design. In the two semesters when the questionnaire was applied to the Chemical Reactor Design class, on average, 86% of the students preferred various class group activities as opposed to traditional exams, 80% of the students reported that they had little difficulty in understanding the two theoretical sections in the last two classes, 57% stated that they did not have any difficulty in doing the requested calculations and 51% reported that the calculation methods with the use of (η) and without its use were somewhat similar.