Reverse reactions and Le Chateliers principle

  • #1
Retroactive
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TL;DR Summary
Yield in acid-base reaction low due to reverse reaction
In acid-base reactions, the reaction never goes 100% toward the product, right? A reverse reaction will occur and eventually reaction toward product and reactant will reach equilibrium. In lab/industry conditions where yield is important, how does they push the reaction toward product? I am guessing this is where Le Chatelier's principle may come in handy but I am having a hard time seeing it.
 

Answers and Replies

  • #2
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In industrial processes, if the reaction does not go to completion in the reactor, the reaction mixture next goes to a piece of separation equipment (like a distillation column) where the products and reactants are purified, and the reactants are recycled to the reactor to be combined with new reactants, while the products experience subsequent processing. This applies to both batch processes and continuous flow processes.
 
  • #3
Borek
Mentor
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You can distill/remove/precipitate (whichever works best for a given reaction) the product out to shift the equilibrium.
 
  • #4
James Pelezo
Gold Member
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... but I am having a hard time seeing it.

Generally, equilibrium stability is affected by one, two or a combination of three factors. These are concentration effects, temperature affects & pressure-volume effects. One way that is used to visualize the effect of concentration and/or temperature effects is the 'seesaw analysis'. Pressure-Volume effect follows after concentration & temperature effects.
Consider the following hypothetical reaction (A + B <=> C + D) and assume while at equilibrium it is balanced on a seesaw...

Concentration Effects can be perceived as follows ...
Le Chateliers Principle - Concentration Effects_0001.jpg

Le Chateliers Principle - Temp Effects_0001.jpg

Le Chateliers Principle - Press-Vol Effects.jpg





 
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