Ethanol is produced commercially by the hydration of ethylene: C2H4 (g) + H2O (v) C2H5OH (V) some of the product is converted to diethyl ether in the undesired side reaction 2 C2H5OH (v) = (C2H5)2O (v) + H2O (v) the combined feed to the reactor contains 53.7 mole% C2H4, 36.7% H2O and the balance nitrogen which enters the reactor at 310°C. The reactor operates isothermally at 310°C. An ethylene conversion of 5% is achieved, and the yield of ethanol (moles ethanol produced/mole ethylene consumed) is 0.900.

(a) Calculate the reactor heating or cooling requirement in kJ/mol feed.

(b) Why would the reactor be designed to yield such a low conversion of ethylene? What processing step (or steps) would probably follow the reactor in a commercial implementation of this process?