PALDING, JUSTINE GRACE M.

OPERATIONS AND APPLICATIONS OF GENERAL TYPES OF REACTORS

1. BATCH REACTOR
A “batch” of reactants is introduced into the reactor operated at the desired conditions until the
target conversion is reached. Batch reactors are typically tanks in which stirring of the reactants is
achieved using internal impellers, gas bubbles, or a pump around loop where a fraction of the
reactants is removed and externally recirculated back to the reactor.
Operations
A batch reactor has neither inflow nor outflow of reactants or products while the reaction is being
carried out. This is an unsteady-state operation where composition changes with time; however, at
any instant the composition throughout the reactor is uniform. The reactor is characterized by no
addition of reactant or removal of product during the reaction. Any reaction being carried out with
this constraint, regardless of any other reactor characteristic, is considered batch. The assumptions
for batch operation are (1) the contents of the tank are well mixed, (2) reaction does not occur to
any appreciable degree until filling and startup procedures are complete, and (3) the reaction stops
when quenched or emptied. The reactor can be operated with either a homogeneous or
heterogeneous reaction mixture for almost any type of reaction.
Applications
Batch reactors are often used in the process industry. Batch reactors also have many laboratory
applications, such as small scale production and inducing fermentation for beverage products.
They also have many uses in medical production. Batch reactors are generally considered
expensive to run, as well as variable product reliability. They are also used for experiments of
reaction kinetics, volatiles and thermodynamics. Batch reactors are also highly used in waste water
treatment. They are effective in reducing BOD (biological oxygen demand) of influent untreated
water.
2. CONTINUOUS STIRRED TANK REACTOR (CSTR)
A continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) is a vessel to which reactants are added and products
removed while the contents within the vessel are vigorously stirred using internal agitation or by
internally (or externally) recycling the contents. CSTRs may be employed in series or in parallel.
Operations
Reactants and products are continuously added and withdrawn. In practice, mechanical or
hydraulic agitation is required to achieve uniform composition and temperature, a choice strongly
 influenced by process considerations. The continuous-stirred tank reactor (CSTR) has continuous
input and output of material. The CSTR is well mixed with no dead zones or bypasses in ideal
operation. It may or may not include baffling. The assumptions made for the ideal CSTR are (1)
composition and temperature are uniform everywhere in the tank, (2) the effluent composition is
the same as that in the tank, and (3) the tank operates at steady state.
Applications
 Continuous stirred-tank reactors are most commonly used in industrial processing, primarily in
homogeneous liquid-phase flow reactions, where constant agitation is required. They may be
used by themselves, in series, or in a battery.
 Fermentors are CSTRs used in biological processes in many industries, such as brewing,
antibiotics, and waste treatment. In fermentors, large molecules are broken down into smaller
molecules, with alcohol produced as a by-product.
 Continuous flow stirred-tank reactors are usually applied in waste water treatment processes.
CSTRs facilitate rapid dilution rates which make them resistant to both high pH and low pH
volatile fatty acid wastes.
3. PLUG FLOW REACTOR
Plug flow, or tubular, reactors consist of a hollow pipe or tube through which reactants flow.
Pictured below is a plug flow reactor in the form of a tube wrapped around an acrylic mold which
is encased in a tank. Water at a controlled temperature is circulated through the tank to maintain
constant reactant temperature. PFRs are used to model the chemical transformation of compounds
as they are transported in systems resembling "pipes". The "pipe" can represent a variety of
engineered or natural conduits through which liquids or gases flow. (e.g. rivers, pipelines, regions
between two mountains, etc.)
Operations
Fluid going through a plug flow reactor is modeled as flowing through the reactor as a series of
infinitely thin coherent “plugs”, each having a uniform composition. The plugs travel in the axial
direction of the reactor, with each plug having a different composition from the ones before and
after it. The key assumption is that as a plug flows through a PFR, the fluid is perfectly mixed in
the radial direction but not mixed at all in the axial direction (not with the element upstream or
downstream). Each plug is considered as a separate entity, effectively an infinitesimally
small batch reactor with mixing approaching zero volume. As the plug flows down the PFR,
the residence time of the plug element is derived from its position in the reactor. In this description
of the ideal plug flow reactor, the residence time distribution is therefore an Impulse (a small
narrow spike function). Although it is a powerful tool for estimating purposes, care should be
exercised as real flow system exhibit significant variability in residence times. Residence time
distribution is one of the factors than needs to be considered when scaling flow reactors.
Applications
Plug flow reactors have a wide variety of applications in either gas or liquid phase systems.
Common industrial uses of tubular reactors are in gasoline production, oil cracking, synthesis of
ammonia from its elements, and the oxidation of sulfur dioxide to sulfur trioxide.