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Designing a C5/C6 Isomerization unit

As a final year student we need to design a catalytic isomerization unit that effectively rises the octane number by isomerization of n-butane, n-pentane and n-hexane into their respective isomers. I was responsible for the design of the reactor, this was probably the most difficult thing I have done in engineering since I started the course. It took a lot of hard work, but in return I am most certainly a much better engineer.... (P.S. The most difficult part of the project was finding the correct reaction kinetics, and just a note to the reader, I do not fully trust the kinetics that was used in this design.) 3.1        Reactions and Kinetics n-Butane In a process such as the Penex process where carbon strings from C4-C6 are present a large amount of possible reactions can take place in the form of isomerisation and cracking. We will begin by considering the short straight chains and their reaction and kinetics first then move to the cyclic molecules and their reactions. Con