Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.

1993,32, 2671-2680

2671

Simulation of a Urea Synthesis Reactor. 2. Reactor Model

Horacio A. Irazoqui' and Miguel A. Isla
Znstituto de Desarrollo Tecnolbgico para la Industria QuEmica (Consejo Nacional de Znuestigaciones
Cientlficas y Tkcnicas-Uniuersidad Nacional del Litoral), Giiemes 3450,3000 Santa Fe, Argentina

Carlos M. Genoud
Ftrbrica de Fertilizantes PETROSUR, Pasa Petroqulmica Argentina S.A., Ruta 9,
K m 79.4,2804 Campana, Argentina

This paper is concerned with the physicochemical and mathematical modeling of a urea synthesis
reactor for simulation and optimization purposes, and with the computer implementation of a
reactor simulation module. Simulation results are compared with data from a production-scale
plant. The agreement between predicted and observed reactor sensitivity to changes in its operating
conditions is also discussed. The module allows comparison of the performance of reactors with
different configurations and different degrees of concentration back-mixing.

Introduction
Ureais commercially synthesized by the reaction of COz
and NH3 at high pressures (13-30 MPa) and temperatures
(170-200 "C). In the first of two consecutive reactions,
ammonium carbamate is formed as an intermediate
compound. At pressures above its dissociation pressure
the formation of ammonium carbamate from C02 and NH3
is fast and complete.
The second reaction is the carbamate dehydration
reaction giving urea and water. This reaction is slower
than the first one and does not proceed to completion. At
urea synthesis conditions the equilibrium conversion of
COz to urea may reach values close to 80% (Lemkowitz
et al., 1972).
To get around the limitation imposed by chemical
equilibrium on the one-pass conversion to urea, several
urea technologies include total or partial recycle of
unreacted C02 and NH3 (Chao, 1967; Jojima et al., 1981,
1982; Uchino, 1986; Stamicarbon Staff, 1986).
In a typical recycle process, the synthesis mixture from
the reactor is first let down in pressure in a mediumpressure separator. In this operation, most of the excess
ammonia and part of the unconverted COZand NH3 that
remained in the form of ammonium carbamate are
separated from the solution by flashing.
The solution from the medium-pressure separator is
sent to a low-pressure decomposer. In this equipment,
most of the remaining ammonium carbamate is decomposed and the generated C02 and NH3 are removed from
the liquid by the combined effect of pressure reduction,
heating, and stripping. In this operation, part of the C02
makeup is used as the stripping agent.
Residual C02 and NH3 remain in the urea solution when
it leaves the low-pressure carbamate decomposer. These
volatile components are removed from the liquid phase at
the urea concentration section. After condensation, the
mixture of recovered residual gases is fed to stripping units
for its concentration.
The overhead stream leaving the strippers consist of
recovered COz and "3,
together with a small amount of
HzO. This stream is condensedand returned to the process
where it is used first as the solvent in the low-pressure
absorption of the overhead gaseous mixture from the lowpressure decomposer.

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

0888-588519312632-2611$Q4.0Q1
0

The liquid mixture from the low-pressure absorber is

compressed and used as the absorbing solution in the
medium-pressure absorber, where it is mixed with the
gaseous stream from the medium-pressure decomposer.
The liquid stream from the medium-pressure absorber
containing C02, "3,
HzO, and a small amount of urea is
compressed and fed to the synthesis reactor. The unfavorable effect that H20 and urea have on the equilibrium
conversion (Isla et al., 1993) is compensated by feeding
the reactor with NH3 in excess over ita stoichiometric ratio
to coz.
Effect of NH,/C02 Feed Ratio on Reactor OperatingPressure. The isothermal bubble pressure of "3CO2 mixtures as a function of the NH3/C02 mole ratio
show a minimum in the range 2.3 5 NHdC02 I 4.0 for
temperatures in the interval 160 "C I T I 220 "C
(Lemkowitz et al., 1973).
The minimum bubble pressure divides each isotherm
into two branches. The branch on the side of CO2-rich
mixtures is steeper than the one on the "3-rich
side. In
either case the isothermal bubble pressure increases rapidly
as the NHdC02 ratio is farther away from the minimum
point.
From these considerations it can be concluded that the
maximum local temperature and the NH3/C02 feed ratio
will strongly influence the reactor operating pressure.
Effect of the Reactor Outlet Temperature on the
Product Maximum Yield. The reaction

C02(1) 2NH3(l)

H2NCOO- + NH4+

is exothermic ( A H 2 6 o c = -84 kJ mol-', calculated from

standard enthalpy of formation data (Weast, 1980)).
Therefore, the value of its equilibrium constant decreases
as the reaction temperature increases. This reaction is
followed by the dehydration reaction

H,NCOO- + NH4+ H,NCONHz(l) + H20(1)

which is slightly endothermic ( A H 2 5 oc = 23 kJ mol-l
(Claude1 et al., 1986)).
The overall synthesis reaction

C02(1)+ 2NH3(l) HzNCONH2(1)+ HzO(l)

is exothermic. Consequently, the value of its equilibrium
constant decreases as the temperature increases.
If the first two reactions were the only reactions occurring
in the liquid phase, lower equilibrium conversions of C02
to urea would correspond to higher reaction temperatures.
0 1993 American Chemical Society

2672 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 32, No. 11, 1993

However, dissolved COZ and NH3 react according to a

complex chemical reaction scheme. Therefore, the equilibrium yield of urea depends not only on the value of the
overall synthesis reaction constant but also on those of
the other competing reactions.
Experimental data reported independently by several
authors show that the equilibrium conversion of COz to
urea increases with increasing temperatures in the range
160 "C < T < 180 "C, showing a trend opposite that
predicted by considering the overall synthesis reaction
alone. These data have been used to adjust a correlating
expression between temperature, the initial NH3/C02 and
HzO/C02 mole ratios, and the equilibrium yield of urea
(Gorlovskii and Kucheryavyi, 1980).
Usually, the synthesis reactor is operated at temperatures close to the critical temperature of the reacting
mixture. At the critical temperature, where no distinction
between gas and liquid phase can be made, formation of
urea occurs directly from COZand NH3 in the single fluid
phase according to
CO,(f) + 2NH3(D* H,NCONH,(f)

+ H,O(f)

This reaction has been reported to be exothermic.

Therefore, increasing the reaction temperature beyond
the critical temperature of the reacting mixture will lower
the equilibrium yield of urea.
Experimental results indicate that, as a consequence of
critical phenomena, the equilibrium yield of urea in a
mixture with an initial mole ratio NH3/C02 = 4 diminishes
when the reaction temperature approaches 200 "C
(Yoshimura, 1970). For this reason it is important to
maintain the temperature of the reactor outlet stream at
values below the critical temperature.

Phase and Chemical Equilibrium at Urea

Synthesis Conditions
In part 1of this series (Isla et al., 1993)a thermodynamic
model capable of reproducing the phase and chemical
equilibrium in COz-NH3-HzO-urea mixtures over a wide
composition range was proposed.
However, not all the chemical reactions considered for
that purpose are important at urea synthesis conditions.
The formation of carbamic acid from dissolved COZand

Table I. Assignment of Subscripts to System Components

subscript
component
subscript
component
1
5
HCOaH2O
2
6
H2NCOO"3
3
7
HzNCOOH
c02

CO,(1)
CO,(l)

+ 2NH3(l)

H,NCOO-

+ NH3(l) + H,0(1)

+ NH4+

HCO;

(4)

+ NH4+

(5)

H,NCOO- NHC * H,NCONH,(l) + H,0(1) (6)

At phase equilibrium, the following nonlinear equations
must be satisfied for water (i = 1)and ammonia (i = 2)
xiyi(T,x) fi"(TP= 0) exP(qP/RGT) = PY$i(TQ,Y),
i = 1,2 (7)
while for carbon dioxide (i = 3) the phase equilibrium
condition is
'373"

(T,x) H3,1(T,Pv,l(0)exp (v3m(P-P~,l(T ))/RGT) =

P Y ~ @ ~ ( ~(8)' P , Y )
The i-component fugacity coefficient, @i( TQ,y), is
estimated using the equation of state proposed by Nakamura et al. (1976).
The chemical equilibrium conditions are (see assignment
of subscripts to system components in Table I)
K4(T) = Kx,4(x)Ky,4(T,x)

(9)

K5(T) = Kx,5(x)Ky,5(T,x)

(10)

K6(T) = K Z , ~ Ky,,(T,x)
(~)

(11)

where

3"

CO,(1) + NH3(l) * H,NCOOH(l)

will be appreciable only in dilute solutions, with concentrations far from those found in the synthesis section
(Hatch and Pigford, 1962; Buckingham et al., 1986).
The ionic dissociations of ammonia and water
NH3(l) + H,0(1)
H,0(1)

(13)

(14)
and

NH4++ HO-

HO- + H+

have very small extents of reaction and therefore can be

They
neglected in the calculation of reacted COPand "3.
may be used, however, to compute the pH of the reaction
mixture.
Considering the conditions prevailing in the reactor,
chemical and phase equilibrium is assumed to be described
satisfactorily by the following reaction scheme.

where x and y are the arrays of mole fractions in the liquid

and gas phase, respectively.

Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 32, No. 11, 1993 2673
Ineq 7 and in eqs 15-17 ri(T,x)is the activity coefficient
of species i in the rational symmetric scale, while in eq 8
and in eqs 15-17, rio(T,x)is the activity coefficient in the
rational unsymmetric scale.
An extended UNIQUAC-Debye-Huckel model (Sander
et al., 1986) was adopted to estimate the activity coefficients in the liquid phase.
The temperature dependence of the pure liquid reference fugacity of NH3 at zero pressure was approximated
with the expression
In f20(T)= (A,/T)

+ A, In T + A3T + A,

(19)

with H3,1in kPa. In eq 19, 43 isthe UNIQUAC surface

parameter of C02 and 731 = exp(-ua,l/T), where a3,1is the
UNIQUAC binary interaction parameter between C02 and
H2O.
The following functional form was adopted to model
the temperature dependence of the equilibrium constants
of the chemical reactions in the liquid phase, i.e.,
In Ki(T) = (Cl,i/T) + COiIn T + C3,,T+ C4,i (20)
The values of the parameters of the phase and chemical
equilibrium model, which were estimated by a nonlinear
regression of experimental data using the maximum
likelihood principle (Anderson et al., 19781, have been
reported elsewhere (Isla et al., 1993).

Rate of the Urea Synthesis Reaction

The kinetic model proposed by Kummel et al. (1981)
relies on the assumption that, at synthesis conditions, all
of the C02 in the reaction mixture is in the form of
ammonium carbamate.
The rate of the forward reaction was found to be
proportional to the total ammonium carbamate concentration. Since all of the ammonium carbamate in the
mixture is dissociated into H2NCOO- and NH4+ ions, the
rate of the forward reaction according to this model can
be written
Rkvard

= k6C'I%

STEAM
-

(18)

where f2O is in kPa and T is in K.

The temperature dependence of the pure liquid reference fugacity of C02 at zero pressure, f3O, was approximated
by an expression of the same type as that adopted for f2"
(eq 18). Considering the limiting form of the UNIQUAC
expression of the activity coefficient of C02 in the rational
symmetric scale taken as X I - 1, it was shown that the
expression giving the temperature dependence of Henry's
constant of C02 in water, at the pure water vapor pressure,
H ~ Jis, given by (Isla et al., 1993)
In H3,1(T)= (B1/T) B2 In T + B3T + B4- 43731

CARBAMATE
RECYCLE

(21)

where CT is the total molar concentration.

The expression of the backward reaction rate can be
found from the chemical equilibrium condition. With this
procedure, the following form for the reaction rate of the
urea synthesis was obtained

The experimental values of the preexponential factor

and the activation energy in the Arrhenius expression of
k6 are A = 2.5 X los s-l and E = 100 kJ mol-l, respectively.

C O N D E F

1
i

t
3

Figure 1. Urea synthesis reactor.Approximatecomposition (wt %)

of carbamate recycle stream is 41% NH3,36% COS,22% HzO,l%
urea. Approximate composition (wt %) of product stream is 37%
"3,
11% COz, 20% HzO, 32% urea.

Urea Synthesis Reactor: Description

The type of reactor schematically shown in Figure 1has
been chosen for the present study.
In a typical situation, subcooled liquid NH3 is fed to the
reactor at about 100 OC and 22 MPa. To control the
temperature profiles along the reactor, part of the NH3
makeup is fed at the reactor top and the remainder is fed
at the bottom.
Neglecting losses, 1mol of fresh COZhas to be fed to the
process for each mole of urea produced. Part of the fresh
COZmakeup is directly fed to the reactor a t supercritical
conditions. As was pointed out in the previous section,
the remainder is fed at different injection points in the
process where it is first used as a stripping agent for the
recovery of unconverted NH3 and C02 and then recycled
to the reactor with the recycle stream in the form of
ammonium carbamate.
The reactor feed streams are adiabatically mixed in a
mixing chamber in which the outlet stream is led through
an internal coil to the reactor bottom section.
For reasons already discussed in the previous section,
the flow of each feed stream is controlled so as to ensure
a mole ratio of total NH3 to total COz in the range 4.0 I
NH$C02 54.6at the coil inlet. This confines the reaction
mixture to the "3-rich
side of the isothermal bubble
pressures of the NH3-C02-H20 mixture.
The operation pressure in the reactor should be higher
than the highest local bubble pressure of the reacting
mixture, so that all of the reactor volume is occupied by
the liquid phase.
Fast reactions between CO2 and NH3 reach chemical
equilibrium within a small distance from the coil inlet. As
the mixture continues flowing through the coil, this
equilibrium is displaced by countercurrent heat exchange
with the reacting mixture flowing upward in the main
cavity. With the exception of the slow carbamate dehydration reaction, all of the other reactions occurring in the
mixture are instantaneous, so that these reactions can be

2674 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 32, No. 11, 1993

The CSTR that simulates the bottom section of the

synthesis reactor differs from the rest in that it is adiabatic
and has two feed streams: the stream delivered to the
bottom section by the internal coil and the bottom feed
of fresh "3.
Throughout the following derivations, CSTRs in both
sequences will be referred to as stages, numbered pair by
pair from top to bottom.
The j subscript corresponds to the stage number, the
i subscript will designate component in a mixture, and the
r superscript indicates the independent reaction being
considered. A stream in any of the two CSTR sequences,
and its corresponding properties, will be assigned the same
j subscript as the stage it leaves.
It is important to remark that this model allows sweeping
of operating conditions with different degrees of concentration back-mixing by selecting different numbers of
stages.
On one extreme, with a single stage, the reactor is
assimilated to a CSTR with perfect mixing, while on the
other extreme, with a sufficiently large number of stages,
the reactor approaches the behavior of a tubular, plug
flow reactor without concentration back-mixing.
Carbamate Stream: Stage Mass Balance. The
steady-state balance for species i on stage j of the
carbamate sequence (Le., the sequence of elementary
CSTRs simulating the internal coil) is

ei- e-l,iVc..a:RLj;
ei
r=6

t
,

Figure 2. Urea synthesis reactor. Model scheme.

thought of as evolvingthrough a succession of equilibrium

states driven by the heat exchange process.
The slow carbamate dehydration reaction shows no
detectable progress at the coil exit. This is due to the
small residence time of the reacting mixture in the internal
coil.
The temperature in the synthesis chamber is kept as
high as possible, ranging from 190 to 200 "C. Restrictions
on the maximum reaction temperature are imposed to
keep the reactor pressure at manageable values and to
avoid critical phenomena.
To increase the one-pass conversion, baffle plates are
frequently installed inside the reactor main cavity to
control concentration back-mixing and to approach a plug
flow pattern (Uchino, 1986).

j = 1, 2, ...,N - 1

(23)

r=4

where
is the molar flow rate of component i leaving
stage j in the carbamate sequence, VCis the stage volume,
a: is the stoichiometric coefficient of species i in reaction
r, RLj is the rate of reaction r in stage j of the carbamate
sequence, and N is the total number of stages.
The extent of reaction r in stage j of the carbamate
sequence, ,:e; can be related to
as follows:

Ci

where
is the molar flow rate of species i fed at the
reactor top and Giis the flow rate of species i in the
recycle stream. Substitution in eq 23 gives

Urea Synthesis Reactor: Mathematical Model

The mathematical model developed for the urea synthesis reactor is aimed at serving simulation purposes.
Therefore, the model is required to be an optimal
compromise between the search for accuracy and the
practical need for rapid answers, thus keeping the computer time as low as possible.
Both the internal coil and the main reactor cavity are
tubular reactors. For simulation purposes they will be
approximated as two parallel sequences of continuous
stirred tank reactors (CSTRs). This is done by considering
cross sections along the reactor, separated from one another
by a small distance compared to the overall synthesis
reactor length.
Each pair of neighboring cross sections defines two
CSTRs, one on the coil side and the other on the main
cavity side. These two elementary reactors are thermally
coupled with each other by heat exchange. The reactor
thus conceived is schematically shown in Figure 2.

Since it has been assumed that the slow carbamate

dehydration reaction does not progress in any measurable
extent due to the short residence time of the reaction
mixture in the coil, then e: . = 0 for j = 1,2, ...,N - 1.The
other (fast) reactions in tde scheme are only driven by
heat exchange with the mixture in the main reactor cavity,
following a sequence of local chemical equilibrium states.
Carbamate Stream: Stage Energy Balance. The
steady-state energy balance on stage j of the carbamate
sequence is

where

and

Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 32, No. 11, 1993 2675

Urea Stream: Stage Energy Balance. The steadystate energy balance on stage j of the urea sequence is

i=8

mcj= za;qi
i=l

are the partial molal enthalpy of component i and the

heat of reaction r at stage j of the carbamate sequence, of
which the temperature is
The extents of reaction are
e; j, r = 4,5, and Q j is the heat exchanged locally between
the carbamate stream and the urea stream, defined as a
positive quantity when heat is transferred from the
carbamate side to the urea side.
Combining eqs 25 and 26 to eliminate the reaction rates
in the latter,

e.

where

and
i=8

(37)

r=5

i-8

(29)
The chemical equilibrium relationships for the subset
of fast reactions
-Qj

K r ( q = K x , r ( e ~ j , 6 i j ) K Y ~ ( ~ , ~ ~ j (30)
,eij)
r = 4,5, together with eq 29, form a set of three equations
e; j, ti2 It can be solved for every
in the unknowns Qj,
given value of Qj.
Adiabatic mixing of streams occurs in the mixing
chamber at the reactor top (stage 0) and in the reactor
bottom section (stage N)where the downcomingcarbamate
stream is mixed with the bottom NH3 fresh feed.
To calculate the adiabatic mixing temperature at the
outlet of stage 0, eqs 29 and 30 can also be used with the
only additional restriction that the heat exchanged must
be set equal to zero (80= 0).
The same restriction must be imposed when the
adiabatic mixing temperature at the outlet of stage N is
calculated, but in this case a new definition of the extent
of reaction is needed (see eq 32, below).
Urea Stream: Stage Mass Balance. Thesteady-state
balance for component i on stage j of the urea sequence
is

are the partial molal enthalpy of component i and the

heat of reaction at stage j of the urea sequence, of which
the temperature is TY and the extents of reaction are
e;.
r = 4, 5, 6.
combining eqs 33 and 35 to eliminate the reaction rates
for r = 4, 5, then

e,

- F s l , i = V,XCY[R;~; j = 1,2, ...,N - 1 (31)

r=4

where F!i is the molar flow rate of component i leaving

stage j in the urea sequence, VUis the stage volume, a;is
the stoichiometric coefficient of species i in reaction r,
and RLj is the rate of reaction r at the stage j of the urea
sequence. The extent of reaction r at stage j of the urea
sequence, e b j , can be related to Fzi as follows:

where is the molar flow rate of the fresh feed of species

i entering the reactor at the bottom. Substituting in eq
31 gives

The rate of the carbamate dehydration reaction at stage

j of the urea sequence, Rtj, is given by an expression of

the following generic form:

The instantaneous reactions in the scheme follow the

progress of the dehydration reaction through a sequence
of local chemical equilibrium states.

eLj+l)A&j

+ VURtjauj

= Q j (38)

The chemical equilibrium relationships for the subset

of fast reactions
Kr(TY)= Kz,r(cij,&,&) KYJTju,eujttLj&j)
4
(39)

r = 4, 5, together with eqs 34 and 38, form a set of four

equations in the unknowns Qj,
e k j , e L j , 6; j, which can
be solved for every given value of 8,.

q,

Urea Synthesis Reactor: Simulation Module

A reactor simulation module has been developed on the
basis of the mathematical model discussed in the previous
section. A program strategy was designed which allows
the running of the simulation module in two options.
In option 1,the temperature of the product stream is
specified while the temperature of the carbamate recycle
stream is one of the simulation results.
Option 2 differs from option 1in that the temperature
of the carbamate recycle stream is specified instead of the
temperature of the product stream, which in this option
is a result of the simulation.
The reactor volume and height, and the coil heat-transfer
area, are reactor fixed parameters that have to be fed in
each run, irrespective of the selected option. This is also
valid for the total number of stages, which is a program
fixed parameter.
In option 1, the program input variables are the
following:
11. temperature and flow rate of the subcooled liquid
NH3 top feed
12. temperature, pressure, and flow rate of the supercritical COZfeed
13. effective concentrations of "3,
COZ,and HzO; the
urea concentration and the flow rate of the subcooled
carbamate recycle stream
14. temperature and flow rate of the subcooled liquid
NH3 bottom feed
15. pressure of operation
16. temperature of the product stream
In operating option 1, the reactor module calculates the
following:
01. detailed composition of all inlet and outlet streams
0 2 . temperature of carbamate recycle stream

2676 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 32, No. 11, 1993

03. partial molal enthalpies of all components in each

inlet and outlet stream
04. temperature, detailed concentration, and partial
molal enthalpy profiles for the downcoming carbamate
stream and the upgoing urea stream along the reactor
05. local rate of the synthesis reaction along the reactor
06. local heat flow along the reactor
07. highest local bubble pressure
08. outlet conversion and final approach to equilibrium
Option 1. Solution Strategy. The solution of the
mathematical model proceeds through the followingsteps.
S1. Enthalpy flows of all inlet streams, except that of
the carbamate recycle stream, are calculated.
S2. An initial estimated value of the synthesis reaction
extent in the product stream, e&, is chosen.
53. With the current value of e& and the input value
of TY, the detailed composition of the outlet stream is
calculated by means of the chemical equilibrium relationships for the subset of fast reactions
U 4

subset of fast reactions

5

K~(T;) = ~ z , r ( 4 , 2 , 4 , 2 , c~y,r(~;,c6,2,eU,2,tU,2)
t,~
r = 4, 5. The calculated state vector (TY,~t,~,ek,~,et,~)
is
also the current state vector of stage 2 of the urea sequence.
S12. With the current state vector (Ty,e4U,2,ek,2,eb,2),
the enthalpy flow associated with the stream leaving stage
2 of the urea sequence can be calculated.
S13. The local heat flow between the downcoming
carbamate stream and the upgoing urea stream in stage
l,Q1, can be computed as the difference between the stage
outlet and inlet enthalpy flows of the urea stream (already
calculated in 54 and S12, respectively).
S14. The outlet enthalpy flow from stage 1 of the
carbamate sequence,
can be estimated as the algebraic sum of the stage inlet enthalpy flow,
and the
local heat flow 81, i.e.,

e,

e,

Kr(TY) = Kz,r(e6,1,eL,l,et,l)K,,r(Tl ~cu,1~eu,1~cu,1)

@=$+Ql
r = 4,5, the resulting state vector (TY,
is also
S15. The temperature of stage 1 of the carbamate
the current state vector of stage 1of the urea sequence.
sequence,
can be calculated by solving the system of
S4. With the current state vector (TY,e~,l,e~,l,~~,l),
the
nonlinear equations
enthalpy flow associated with the stream leaving stage 1
of the urea sequence, HY, can be calculated.
= Kz,r(e&,e;,l) Ky,r(G,&,&,l)
S5. The enthalpy flow associated with the carbamate
r = 4,5, together with
recycle stream,HCR,is calculated so as to satisfy the energy
balance between the reactor inlet and outlet streams.
i=A
S6. The temperature of the carbamate recycle stream,
TCR,can be calculated by solving the system of nonlinear
equations
This set of three equations in the unknowns
e&,
4
5
Kr(TcR) = Kz,r(&,&)
Ky,r(TCR,eCR,eCR)
and e& can be solved for every value of @ obtained in
s12.
r = 4,5, together with
S16. The value of Q1 calculated in S11 is compared
i=8
with the value 81 obtained from

e,
~r(c)

e,

This set of three equations in the unknowns TCR,e&, and

can be solved for every value of HCRobtained in 55.
57. The enthalpy flow at the outlet of the adiabatic
mixing chamber (j = 0), $, can be calculated as the sum
of the enthalpy flows of the streams at the inlet of that
chamber.
S8. The temperature of the adiabatic mixing chamber
of the carbamate sequence,
can be calculated by
solving the system of nonlinear equations

e,

~r(c)

= ~ z , j - ( e & , & , o ) Ky,r(cte&,&J

r = 4,5, together with

i=8

= ~ F & ( E : , o , c ; p ) fii(c$&,E;,o)
131

e,

This set of three equations in the unknowns

and
4,g can be solved for every value of @ obtained in S7.
9. With the results obtained in S3, the rate of the
synthesis reaction in stage 1of the urea sequence, Rt,l,
and the extent of reaction et,2 at the outlet of stage 2 can
be calculated.
S10. The value of the temperature of the stream leaving
stage 2, TY, is guessed.
,911. With the current values of et,? and TY, the
detailed composition of the outlet stream is calculated by
means of the chemical equilibrium relationships for the

Q[

= ( U A ) l ( c - TIT)

If their difference is larger than the required precision, a

new estimated value of TY is chosen and calculations are
resumed back a t step S11. The procedure is repeated
until convergence.
S17. Steps S9 to S16 are repeated for j = 2,3, ...,N 1 instead of j = 1, and j = 3, 4, ...,N instead of j = 2,
successively. If the value of etfl thus obtained differs
from 0 by an amount larger than the precision required,
then calculations are resumed back at step 53 with a new
estimated value of the synthesis reaction extent in the
product stream, e&. The procedure is repeated until
convergence.
It should be noticed that the proposed computational
scheme guarantees stage-by-stage closure of both mass
and energy balances.
Option 2. Solution Strategy. The solution strategy
for option 2 is quite similar to that for option 1. They only
differ in the following few steps.
S1. Enthalpy flows of all inlet streams are calculated.
Their sum equals the enthalpy flow of the product outlet
stream, HY.
S3. With the current value of
and the value of
HY obtained from S1, the temperature and the detailed
composition of the outlet stream is calculated by solving
the following set of equations:

et,,

------

70
0 200

3
L

COIL INSIDE
CAVITY

-MAIN

75

65

8
G
U

20

40

60

80

100

% OF REACTOR HEIGHT

60

Figure 4. Simulatedreactor temperatureand composition profiles.

55

NUMBER OF STAGES
Figure 3. Influence of model number of stages on reactorsimulator
performance.

total heat exchange area to the number of stages in which

it is contained.
Different reactors can be simulated by choosing the Aj
values adequately. The choice (Aj = 0, j = 1,...,N), allows
simulation of reactors without an internal coil, whereas
the choice (Ai # 0 , j S k ; Aj = 0,j > k;1 1k IN) represents
intermediate situations found in practice. The latter of
these two choices still allows for different, nonzero values
of Aj, j 5 k.

Discussion of Results

r = 4, 5 , together with

This is a set of three equations in the unknowns T:)

%,1, and
Steps S4, 55, and S6 should be overlooked when the
computation of option 2 is under way. The remaining
steps must be executed as in option 1.
4

4,l.

Impact of Program and Reactor Fixed Parameters

With a single stage the reactor is reduced to a single
CSTR with perfect mixing, while on the other extreme,
when a sufficiently large number of stages is chosen, the
reactor approaches the behavior of a tubular, plug flow
reactor without axial concentration back-mixing.
Figure 3 shows the impact of the number of stages on
the predicted outlet conversion corresponding to a given
set of operating conditions. In this case, as in all the other
cases that have been checked within the range of practical
operating conditions, a number of stages greater than 25
(N> 25) approachesthe plug flow limiting behavior within
the error of control instruments as well as that of sampling
and laboratory techniques.
With operating conditions similar to those found in a
typical urea recycle process and with a number of stages
N = 25, each simulation run is completed in about 3 min
on a 386 based PC, Intel 80387 Math CoProcessor, DOS.
The simulation program has been written in MS-FORTRAN.
The amount of heat exchanged between the two CSTRs
belonging to the j t h stage can be expressed as

Qj = (UA),AT,
where ATj =
- TY and (UA)j represents the product
of the overall heat-transfer coefficient U,which can be
consideredapproximately constant along the coil, and the
stage heat-transfer area Aj, calculated as the ratio of the

Figure 3 shows how simulation results depend on the

number of stages adopted. It can be seen that little
accuracy is gained when the number of stages is increased
beyond a total number of 25.
There is a physical interpretation that can be given to
the results shown in Figure 3. They also approximate the
behavior of reactors with different degrees of concentration
back-mixing, the average back-mixing length being estimated by the ratio of the total reactor height to the number
of stages.
A simulation output for usual operating conditions is
shown in Table 11. Key simulation results are compared
against plant data in Table 111, showing a very good
agreement between predicted and measured outlet C02
to urea conversion and with temperature at different
locations along the reactor.
Detailed temperature profiles of both the internal coil
and the main reactor cavity are shown in Figure 4. Under
operating conditions, the temperature profile along the
urea synthesis cavity shows a maximum a t about half the
total reactor height.
Under average operating conditions the chemical equilibrium shift of the fast reactions driven by the urea
synthesis reaction is an overall exothermic process which
tends to heat the reaction mixture. This effect competes
with the cooling effect due to the heat transferred to the
mixture flowing countercurrent inside the coil.
Near the bottom of the reaction cavity, the backward
rate of the synthesis reaction is very small since urea is
present in small amounts. In this section, heat transfer
between streams becomes the slow process and the
temperature of the reaction mixture rises.
As urea concentration builds up, the synthesis rate
decreases and the heating effect due to the overall synthesis
reaction becomes less important compared to heat exchange between streams, until it becomes the slow, ratecontrollingprocess, thus explainingthe maximum observed
in the temperature profile.
The internal coil is a means to ensure quasi isothermal
synthesis conditions, allowing the control of the reaction
mixture temperature within a narrow band of few degrees

2678 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 32, No. 11, 1993
Table 11. Simulation Output for Usual Operating Conditions
Input Summary
mode
option 1
L at top
UA (W/K)
0.3489 X 105
bottom/top NH3 feed ratio
pressure (MPa)
22.06
W = HzO/COz ratio
L = NHs/COz ratio
4.1015
Output Summary
106.9
179.3
182.6

carbamate recycle temp ("C)

mixing chamber outlet temp ("C)
main cavity inlet temp ("C)

pressure ( m a )
temp ("C)
molar flow (kmol/h)
mass flow (kg/h)
energy flow (GJ/h)
composition (mole fraction)
"3

Ha0

coz

urea
composition (% w/w)

top NH3 feed

22.06
96.00
881.18
14980.00
-0.5292 X lo2

bottom NH3 feed

22.06
96.00
105.29
1790.00
-0.6326 X 10

1.oo00
O.oo00
O.oo00

1.oo00
O.oo00

O.oo00

O.oo00

O.oo00

reactor outlet temp ("C)

COz to urea conversion (%)
equilibriumconversion
stream
COPfeed
carbamate recycle
22.06
22.06
89.40
106.91
188.86
971.28
8310.00
21800.00
-0.7536X lo2
-0.1952 X 103

reactor outlet
22.06
192.90
1898.20
46880.00
-0,3298X 103

O.oo00
O.oo00
Loo00
O.oo00

0.5391
0.2720
0.1846
0.0044

0.5338
0.2700
0.0631
0.1331

40.83
21.81
36.19
1.17

36.74
19.68
11.24
32.34

100.00
0.00
0.00
0.00

"3

HzO

coz

urea

7% of
reactor height
reactor top
96
92
88
84
80
76
72
68
64
60
56
52

inside
coil temp ("C)
179.55
179.78
180.01
180.25
180.48
180.72
180.96
181.21
181.45
181.70
181.94
182.19
182.43

3.8155
0.1067
0.7175

100.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
100.00
0.00
0.00
Temperatureand Conversion Profiles
main cavity
conversion
% of
temp ("C)
(%)
reactor height
192.90
67.47
48
193.30
67.03
44
193.71
66.51
40
194.13
65.90
36
194.54
65.18
32
194.94
64.34
28
195.34
63.36
24
195.73
62.21
20
196.09
60.87
16
12
196.41
59.31
196.68
57.50
8
196.88
55.42
4
196.99
53.03
reactor bottom

192.9
67.5
70.2

inside
main cavity
coil temp ("C)
temp ("C)
182.66
196.98
182.89
196.82
183.10
196.48
183.31
195.95
183.49
195.20
183.65
194.22
183.79
193.02
183.90
191.61
183.98
190.02
184.03
188.28
184.05
186.43
184.03
184.51
182.56

conversion
(%)

50.31
47.26
43.85
40.12
36.08
31.78
27.28
22.64
17.96
13.30
8.73
4.30

Main Cavity Composition Profile (mole fractions)

% of reactor height
reactor top
96
92
88
84
80
76
72
68
64
60
56
52

HzO
0.2700
0.2689
0.2676
0.2661
0.2644
0.2624
0.2600
0.2572
0.2540
0.2502
0.2459
0.2410
0.2354

coz

0.5338
0.5350
0.5365
0.5383
0.5403
0.5426
0.5454
0.5486
0.5523
0.5566
0.5616
0.5673

0.0631
0.0639
0.0648
0.0659
0.0672
0.0687
0.0705
0.0726
0.0749
0.0777
0.0809
0.0845

urea
0.1331
0.1321
0.1310
0.1297
0.1281
0.1263
0.1241
0.1217
0.1188
0.1154
0.1116
0.1072

0.5737

0.0886

0.1022

"3

about 197 "C. This needs an adequate temperature at the

coil inlet which in practice is controlled by the carbamate
recycle temperature. This temperature has to be adopted
when running the program in simulation mode, and is an
output variable when the module is used in design mode.
The impact of the coil surface available for countercurrent heat exchange between the feed stream and the
mixture in the urea synthesis section is shown in Table
IV.
Table V shows the impact of the reactor outlet temperature on other important operating variables. Con-

% of reactor height

48
44
40
36
32
28
24
20
16
12
8
4
reactor bothim

HzO
0.2291
0.2221
0.2144
0.2060
0.1971
0.1878
0.1782
0.1684
0.1587
0.1493
0.1401
0.1314

"3

0.5810
0.5991
0.5980
0.6076
0.6179
0.6287
0.6398
0.6511
0.6622
0.6732
0.6837
0.6938

coz
0.0933
0.0984
0.1041
0.1103
0.1169
0.1238
0.1309
0.1380
0.1452
0.1522
0.1589
0.1654

urea
0.0966
0.0904

0.0835
0.0760
0.0681
0.0597
0.0512
0.0425
0.0338
0.0254
0.0172
0.0094

version of COZto urea increases with increasing outlet

reactor temperature, but the effect is attenuated as the
outlet temperature approaches the maximum allowable
value of 200 OC.
The effect of the outlet temperature on the carbamate
recycle temperature follows a trend similar to that of the
C02 conversion to urea. For every 1-deg change in the
output temperature there is a corresponding change of
between 2 and 3 deg in the carbamate recycle temperature.
The approach to the equilibrium value of the exit
conversion of CO2 to urea, defined as

Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 32, No. 11, 1993 2679
Table 111. Reactor Simulation Module Performance.

plant
this
reactor simulator
carbamate recycle temp ("C)
108.8
106.9
mixing chamber outlet temp ("(2)
178.4
179.3
main cavity inlet temp ("C)
182.5
182.6
main cavity temp at 1/2reactor height ("C) 196.2
196.9
C02 to urea conversion (%)
67.8
67.5
a Comparison with plant data for usual operating conditions (see
Table 11).
Table LV. Influence of (UA)on Reactor Performance.

lO-'UA
W/K)

reactor outlet
temp ("C)

conversion

0
2.5
5.0
7.5

193.1
193.0
192.6
192.6

65.4
66.9
68.1
69.1

(%)

main cavity
mean temp ("C)
189.9
192.6
195.7
199.6

Feed and other operating conditions are the same as in Table 11.
Table V. Influence of Reactor Outlet Temperature on COz
to Urea Conversion.
outlet
carbamate
conversion
approach to
temp ("C) recycletemp ("C)
(5%)
equilib conversion (%)
187.5
91.5
64.0
91.0
190.0
99.0
65.8
93.7
192.5
105.9
67.3
95.8
68.2
97.3
195.0
112.1
197.5
117.8
68.9
98.3
200.0
123.1
69.2
98.9
a

Feed and other operating conditions are the same as in Table 11.

is also favored by an outlet temperature increase. For

outlet temperatures in the usual range, the approach to
equilibrium is always larger than 90% under average
operating Conditions.
Simulation results summarized in Table VI accurately
reproduce the unfavorable effect of excess water on the
final yield found in practice.

Conclusions
The reactor simulator has been tested against operating
data from a production-scale plant. The response to
different sets of input variables was accurate and fast.
The computational algorithm developed is simple and
robust. These features make the module a useful tool to
perform parametric studies in a short computing time.
Predicted trends reproduce the reactor sensitivity to
changes in NHdC02 and H20/C02 feed mole ratios, as
well as to the carbamate recycle temperature observed in
practice.
The module allows testing of different reactor configurations and estimation of the degree of concentration
back-mixing in operating equipment.

Acknowledgment
Financial support from Pasa Petroqu-mica Argentina
S.A., Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y
TBcnicas, and Universidad Nacional del Litoral is gratefully acknowledged.

Nomenclature
Aj = jth parameter in the correlation of pure liquid reference
fugacity of ammonia with temperature
aij = UNIQUAC binary interaction parameters between
components i and j
Bj = jth parameter in the correlation of Henry's constant of
carbon dioxide in water with temperature
CT = total molar concentration in the liquid phase
C k , r 4 t h parameter in the correlation of the equilibrium
constant of chemical reaction r with temperature
CSTR = continuous stirred tank reactor
= molar flow rate of component i fed at the reactor bottom
= molar flow rate of component i fed at the reactor top
= molar flow rate of component i leaving stage j in the
carbamate sequence
F& = molar flow rate of component i in the recycle stream
F:i = molar flow rate of component i leaving stage j in the
urea sequence
6 = pure liquid reference fugacity of component i at zero
pressure
Ri = partial molal enthalpy of component i
= partial molal enthalpy of component i at stage j of the
carbamate sequence
R:i = partial molal enthalpy of component i at stage j of the
urea sequence
= enthalpy flow associated with the stream leaving stage
j of the carbamate sequence
HY = enthalpy flow associated with the stream leaving stage
j of the urea sequence
= enthalpy flow at the outlet of the adiabatic mixing
chamber
mcj= heat of reaction r at stage j of the carbamate
sequence
muj= heat of reaction r at stage j of the urea sequence
H ~=
J Henry's constant of component i in solvent j
K, = equilibrium constant of chemical reaction r
It = reaction rate constant
N = total number of stages
P = pressure
Pv,i = vapor pressure of component i
Qj = heat exchanged locally between the carbamate stream
and the urea stream at stage j
qi= UNIQUAC surface parameter of component i
Rr = rate of reaction r
RLj = rate of reaction r at stage j of the carbamate sequence
RLj = rate of reaction r at stage j of the urea sequence
RG = gas constant
T = absolute temperature
= temperature of the stream leaving stage j in the
carbamate sequence

ci

Table VI. Influence of Water Content in Carbamate Recycle Stream on COa to Urea Conversion.
carbamate recycle stream composition (% w/w)
carbamate recycle
H2O mass flow in carbamate
recvcle stream (ke/h)
stream mass flow (kn/hl
NHa
cog
Hz0
urea
4000
21 045
42.29
37.49
19.01
1.21
4500
21 545
41.31
36.62
20.89
1.18
5000
22 045
40.37
35.79
22.68
1.16
5500
22 545
39.48
34.99
24.40
1.13
26.04
1.11
6000
23 045
38.62
34.23
a

Feed and other operating conditions are the same as in Table 11.

C02 to urea
conversion ( % )
68.6
67.8
67.1
66.3
65.4

2680 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 32, No. 11, 1993

TY = temperature of the stream leaving stage j in the urea

sequence
UA = product of the overall heat-transfer coefficient U and
the coil heat-transfer area A
VC= stage volume in the carbamate sequence
VU = stage volume in the urea sequence
vi = liquid molal volume of component i
u p = liquid molal volume of component i at infinite dilution
x i = mole fraction of component i in the liquid phase
x = array of the mole fractions in the liquid phase
yj = mole fraction of component i in the gas phase
y = array of the mole fractions in the gas phase
Greek Letters
af= stoichiometric coefficient of component i in reaction r
yi= activity coefficient of component i; rational symmetric

convention
yio = activity coefficientof component i; rational unsymmetric

convention
e k j = extent of reaction r at stage j of the carbamate sequence
= extent of reaction r at stage j of the urea sequence
ai= fugacity coefficient of component i in the gas phase

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Received for review February 8, 1993
Revised manuscript received July I, 1993
Accepted July 14, 1993.

* Abstract published in Advance ACS Abstracts, October 1,

1993.