Levenspiel plot


A Levenspiel plot is a plot used in chemical reaction engineering to determine the required volume of a chemical reactor given experimental data on the chemical reaction taking place in it. It is named after the late chemical engineering professor Octave Levenspiel.

Derivation

For a continuous stirred-tank reactor, the following relationship applies:
where:
For a plug flow reactor, the following relationship applies:
If is plotted as a function of, the required volume to achieve a specific conversion can be determined given an entering molar flow rate.
The volume of a CSTR necessary to achieve a certain conversion at a given flow rate is equal to the area of the rectangle with height equal to and width equal to.
The volume of a PFR necessary to achieve a certain conversion at a given flow rate is equal to the area under the curve of plotted against.