HYDRAULIC SIMULATION OF HOMOGENEOUS CHEMICAL-SYSTEMS MULTIPLE REACTIONS

The laminar circulation of a liquid through a capillary is described b y the Hagen-Poiseuille equation, which establishes the proportionality between the flow circulating and the driving force. Therefore, the ex perimental measurement of the emptying through a number of parallel ca pillaries of a liquid contained in a cylindrical tube enables us to si mulate systems of first order parallel irreversible reactions. It is s hown that systems of parallel irreversible reactions of any order may also be simulated, with the use of tubes of a diameter that varies wit h height, according to a function determined by the order of the react ions to be simulated. The use of cylindrical tubes, arranged verticall y such that each discharges into the one below, enables the simulation of first order irreversible reactions in serie. Reversible reactions may be simulated by using tubes with different sections connected by a capillary at the bottom. The possibility of obtaining accurate measur ements with low cost experimental apparatus and simple procedures enab les a detailed study of the application of the integral and differenti al methods for the interpretation of kinetic results.