CRE_Irreversible Reaction (original) (raw)

A BRIEF HISTORY OF CHEMICAL KINETICS (AND OF CRE

• 1850: Wilhelmy (Germany) studied the rate of inversion of sucrose (hydrolysis into D-(+)-glucose and D-(-)-fructose in the presence of an acid) and found it to be proportional to the concentrations of both the sugar and the acid. • 1864: Goldberg and Waage (Norway) formulated their "law of mass action," according to which the reaction "forces" are proportional to the product of the concentrations of the reactants: K=[R] r [S] s /([A] a [B] b) where a, b, r and s are the stoichiometric coefficients in the chemical equation A+B=R+S. So the rate of the forward reaction is proportional to [A] a [B] b and that of the reverse reaction is proportional to {R] r [S] s. • 1865: Harcourt and Esson (UK) analyzed the reactions between H2O2 and HI and between KMnO4 and (COOH)2. They wrote the corresponding differential equations, integrated them and determined the concentration vs. time relationships. They also proposed an equation for the temperature dependence of the reaction rate, k = A T C .

Thermodynamics of Irreversible Processes and the Teaching of Thermodynamics in Chemical Engineering

2009

In this paper the some aspects of the teaching of Irreversible Thermodynamics are discussed, emphasizing relevant concepts needed by the engineering student, and future professional. The irreversible nature of real processes is presented to the student in the introductory level, in place of the more traditional disciplines concentrated on Classical Thermodynamics, which describes systems undergoing reversible processes, and which associates with the tendency of disappearance of structures. Impacts of irreversibility are depletion of natural resources and ecological damage, as we face today. Irreversible, open, non-linear systems are presented as of great interest to the Chemical Engineer. Coherent, purposive, and irreversible biological systems are also considered. Irreversible thermodynamics is presented as an element for the unification of a wide range of disciplines subjected to a fragmentation of a somewhat bureaucratic nature. This integration, resulted from the enormous develo...