Which of the following would you NOT expect to be true at the new steady state (compared to normal operation)?

Question

An ammonia synthesis process normally works as follows: Fresh feed air and hydrogen are combined with a recycle stream and the combined stream is compressed to 10 MPa. The compressed stream enters a reactor, and the entering nitrogen and hydrogen are converted into ammonia until the reaction reaches equilibrium. The reactor effluent, still at 10 MPa, enters a condenser. The liquid and vapor streams leaving the condenser are in VLE. The liquid stream, which is essentially pure ammonia, is the product. A fraction of the vapor stream leaving the condenser is purged, while the rest is recycled.

There is a problem with the compressors and the pressures of the reactor and the condenser both drop to 9 MPa. The fresh feed rate and the fraction of vapor leaving the condenser that is purged each remain the same, as do the reactor and condenser temperatures. The system reaches a new steady state at 9 MPa.

Answer 1

A. The mole fraction of ammonia in the vapor being purged will be higher than in normal operation.
B. The extent of reaction will be lower than in normal operation.
C. The mass flow rate of liquid product will be lower than in normal operation.
D. The composition of the purge stream will change, but its mass flow rate will remain the same as in normal operation.
E. All of the above would be expected to occur.