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Chemical Engineering vocabulary · Reactions and Reactors

Reaction rate

Meaning in chemical engineering, with examples

nounCore term

In chemical engineering, reaction rate means: How fast reactants are used up or products are formed, usually given as moles per unit volume per unit time. It depends on temperature, concentration and catalyst.

In Turkish: reaksiyon hızı, tepkime hızı

How it is used

Used in kinetics, reactor design and safety studies. Engineers measure the reaction rate, write a rate equation (rate law) and find the rate constant. 'Kinetics' is the general word for the study of reaction rates.

Example sentences

  1. As a rough rule, the reaction rate doubles for every 10 °C rise in temperature.

  2. We need lab data to fit the reaction rate before we can size the reactor.

Common collocations

  • reaction rate constant
  • rate of reaction
  • increase the reaction rate
  • rate law
  • activation energyThe minimum energy that reacting molecules need for a reaction to happen. A high value means the rate is very sensitive to temperature; a catalyst lowers it.
  • rate-limiting stepThe slowest step in a series of steps, such as reaction, diffusion or heat removal, which controls how fast the whole process can go.
  • catalystA substance that makes a reaction go faster, or more selectively, without being used up itself. In industry it is often a solid in pellets placed in a reactor bed.
  • conversionThe fraction of a reactant that has reacted, usually given as a percentage of the amount fed to the reactor.
  • residence timeThe average time that material spends inside a vessel or reactor, found for a simple case by dividing the volume by the volumetric flow rate.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Reactions and Reactors

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