2. Compound A undergoes a reversible isomerization reaction, A→B, over a supported metal catalyst. Under pertinent conditions, A and B are liquid, miscible, and of nearly identical density; the equilibrium constant

for the reaction (in concentration units) is 5.8. In a fixed- bed isothermal flow reactor in which backmixing is negligible (i.e. plug flow), a feed of pure A undergoes a net conversion to B of 55%. The reaction is elementary. If a second, identical flow reactor at the same temperature is placed downstream from the first, what overall conversion of A would you expect if: a) The reactors are directly connected in series? b) The products from the first reactor are separated by appropriate processing and only the unconverted A is fed to the second reactor? Hint: You don't have values for several constants such as k and the flowrates. But you can group these unknowns together and solve for that term in the first reactor and then use it to find conversion in the second reactor.