January 2016

EXPERIMENT NO: 3
REACTOR TEST RIG

OBJECTIVES

1). To study the effect of pulse and step change inputs on the residence time distribution
(RTD) of reactor.
2). To compare the performance of single CSTR, 3 stages CSTRs and PFR.

Keywords: CSTR, PFR, Reactors in series; Conversion; Residence time distribution (RTD)
studies

2.0

GENERAL DESCRIPTION
2.1

Description and Assembly

Before operating the unit and running experiments, you must familiarize
yourself with the units components. Please refer to Figure 1 to understand
the process. All glass components of the QVF Reactor Test Rig unit are
made of borosilicate 3.3 glass with PTFE gaskets.
1. Reactor (R1)
Jacketed cylindrical vessel, 4 L nominal capacity
2. Cascaded reactors (R2/R3/R4)
Jacketed cylindrical vessel, 1 L nominal capacity each
3. Plug flow reactor (SR1)
Jacketed pipe with approximate capacity of 3.0 L
4. Feed vessels (B1/B2)
100 L PE rectangular vessels with all necessary connections
5. Dosing vessels (HB1/HB2)
1 L cylindrical vessels with overflow port and bottom port
6. Pumps (P1/P2)
Centrifugal pumps
max delivery rate of 60 L/h and max delivery height of 8 m

7. Pre-heater (W1/W2)
2

Coil heat exchanger, area 0.06 m

max heating media pressure of 0.5 bar

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CKD 20002 (REACTOR TECHNOLOGY), Experiment 3: Reactor Test Rig

January 2016

8. Receiving vessel (B3)

100 L rectangular tank
9. Instrumentations
Flow measurements (FI-301, FI-302, FI-303)
Temperature measurements (TI-101, TI-102, TI-103, TI-104)
Conductivity measurements (QI-401, QI-402, QI-403, QI-404)

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CKD 20002 (REACTOR TECHNOLOGY), Experiment 3: Reactor Test Rig

January 2016

Vent

V22

V23

M2

V24

V25

HS
4
QI
404

M3

M
HS
5

TI
104

M4

HB1

TI
103

QI
403

R2
M1

V16

HS
3

V1

T1

HS
6

HB2

V2

R3

TI
102

V17

QI
402

W1

R4

SR1

W2

V18
V11

QI
401

V12

V13

TI
101

R1
V14

Injection
V15

B1

FI
301

B2

FI
302

FI
303

V19
V8

P1

V3

P2

V9

V20

V21

V10
V27

V4

HS
1

HS
2

V5

Process Water

V6
V7

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CKD 20002 (REACTOR TECHNOLOGY), Experiment 3: Reactor Test Rig

B3

V26

January 2016

2.2

Safety Considerations
1. The unit must be operated under the supervision of an authorized staff who
has been properly trained to handle the unit.
2. All operating instructions supplied with the unit must be carefully read and
understood before attempting to operate the unit.
3. Feed stock which severely affects PTFE, PFA and borosilicate glass are not
to be used.
4. The system should not be subjected to shock, sudden impact, vibration,
additional load, or permanent external action of aggressive vapours.
5. Always check and rectify any leak.
6. Do not touch the hot components of the unit.
7. Be extremely careful when handling hazardous, flammable or polluting
materials.
8. Restore the system to operating conditions after any repair job.
9. Make sure the system is sufficiently ventilated when working at atmospheric
pressure.
10. Do not exceed the maximum cooling pressure of 2 bar (g) for the top
condenser (W3) and product cooler (W4).
11. Only a properly trained staff shall be allowed to carry out any servicing.
Manufacturer's manual must always be observed.
12. Before any servicing, shut down the whole operation and let the system to
cool down and be properly ventilated.
13. Do not use any coarse or abrasive cleaners on glass components.
14. Leaking couplings should be carefully retightened. Replace any gaskets or
seals if necessary.

3.0

OPERATING PROCEDURES
3.1

General Start-Up Procedures

1. Ensure that all valves are initially closed.
2. Prepare a 25 L solution of sodium chloride, NaCl (0.05 M).
3. Fill the feed vessel B1 with the NaCl solution.
4. Turn on the power for the control panel.
5. Open the process water valve V27.
6. Open valve V1.
7. Switch on pump P1 and observe the flow of NaCl solution into the dosing
vessel HB1 and towards valve V10.
8. Make sure that the pipeline before valve V10 is filled with the salt solution.
Bleed any trapped air in the pipeline by using valve V10.
9. Allow the solution overflow in the dosing vessel HB1 into the feed vessel B1.
10. Open valves V8 and fill in the reactor one by one with the process water by
opening V11 & V19 for PFR or V12 & V21 for 3-stage CSTR or V13 & V20 for
single CSTR.
11. Let the process water flow through all the reactors until it goes into the
receiving vessel B3. Then close back all the valves.

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CKD 20002 (REACTOR TECHNOLOGY), Experiment 3: Reactor Test Rig

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112.
3.2

The unit is now ready for experiment.

Selection of Reactors
Any one of the three reactors provided in the reactor test rig can be used for each
of the experiments. The following procedures will explain the steps needed to
select a particular reactor to run an experiment.
1. Ensure that all valves from V3 to V21 are closed.
2. For the plug flow reactor SR1:
a) Open valves V11 and V19.
b) Read the outlet conductivity value from QI-404 and temperature value
from TI-104.
3. For the single stage continuous stirred tank reactor R1:
a) Open valves V13 and V20
b) Switch on the stirrer M1 and set the speed to 200 rpm.
c) Read the outlet conductivity value from QI-402 and temperature value
from TI-102.
4. For the 3-stage continuous stirred tank reactors R2, R3 and R4:
a) Open valves V12 and V21.
b) Switch on the stirrers M2, M3 & M4 and set the speed to 200 rpm each.
c) Read the outlet conductivity value from QI-403 and temperature value
from TI-103.

3.3

General Shut-Down Procedures

1. Switch off pump P1.
2

Close the process water valve V27.

3. Open valves V3, V4, V5, V6, V7, V15, V16, V17 and V18 to drain all liquid
from the unit.
4. Turn off the power for the control panel.

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CKD 20002 (REACTOR TECHNOLOGY), Experiment 3: Reactor Test Rig

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4.0

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES
4.1

EXPERIMENT A: Effect of Pulse Input in a Reactor

OBJECTIVE:

To examine the effect of a pulse input in a reactor.

PROCEDURES:
1. Perform the general start-up procedures.
2. Select the desired reactor.
3. Open valve V10 to give a flow rate of salt solution into the reactor at 150
mL/min.
4. Let the salt solution flow for 1 minute.
5. Close valve V10 and quickly open valve V8 at the same flow rate (150
mL/min).
6. Start the timer simultaneously.
7. Start recording both the inlet (QI-401) and outlet conductivity values at
regular intervals of 1 minute.
8. Make sure that the flow of process water is maintained at 150 mL/min by
adjusting valve V8.
9. Continue recording the conductivity values until all readings are almost
constant and approach the stable low level values (30 minutes).
10. Repeat step 2 to 10 for other type of reactor.
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION:
1. Use the sample table in Appendix A for data collection.
2. Plot the graph of outlet concentration (Ct) vs time (t) for different type of
reactor to obtain a C(t) curve. Discuss the graph thoroughly and explain how
it can influence the residence time distribution.

3. Calculate the value of integral Ct dt which is area under the curve. Refer

Appendix B.
4. Calculate the Residence Time Distribution (RTD), E(t) function value for each
configuration.

Et

Ct

t dt

0 C

Where is an effluent volumetric flow rate.

5. Compare the RTD function value for different reactors. Based on the
experimental results, discuss which configurations is better reaction and state
the reasons accordingly.

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CKD 20002 (REACTOR TECHNOLOGY), Experiment 3: Reactor Test Rig

January 2016

4.2

EXPERIMENT B: Effect of Step Change Input in a Reactor

OBJECTIVE:

To examine the effect of a step change input in a reactor.

PROCEDURES:
1. Perform the general start-up procedures.
2. Select the desired reactor.
3. Open valve V8 and adjust the flow rate at 150 mL/min and let the process
water flow through the selected reactor until the inlet (QI-401) and outlet
conductivity values are stable at low levels.
4. Close valve V8 and quickly open valve V10 to give a flow rate of salt solution
into the reactor at 150 mL/min.
5. Start the timer simultaneously.
6. Record both the inlet (QI-401) and outlet conductivity values at regular
intervals of 1 minute.
7. Maintain the flow rate of the salt solution at 150 mL/min by adjusting valve
V10.
8. Continue recording the conductivity values until all readings are almost
constant (30 minutes).
9. Repeat step 2 to 8 for other type of reactor.
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION:
1. Use the sample table in Appendix A for data collection.
2. Plot the graph of outlet concentration (Ct) vs time (t) to obtain a C(t) curve.
Discuss the graph thoroughly and explain how it can influence the residence
time distribution.
3. Calculate the Residence Time Distribution (RTD), E(t) function value for each
configuration.

E(t)

d C(t)

dt C0 step

4. Compare the RTD function value with Experiment 1. Based on the

experimental results, discuss which input is better reaction and state the
reasons accordingly.

5.0

TUTORIAL

1. Explain the effect of mixing (RTD) on different configuration of reactor: Single CSTR,
3-stages CSTR and Tubular (PFR) reactor.
2. What are the differences between steps & pulse input?
3. Based on you observation, which reactors shows the best RTD functions? Why?

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CKD 20002 (REACTOR TECHNOLOGY), Experiment 3: Reactor Test Rig

January 2016

APPENDIX A
TABLE OF CALIBRATION CURVE

Concentration of NaCl (M)

Conductivity (mS/cm)

0.0005

0.056

0.001

0.11

0.005

0.56

0.01

1.11

0.05

5.56

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CKD 20002 (REACTOR TECHNOLOGY), Experiment 3: Reactor Test Rig

January 2016

APPENDIX B
RESULTS FOR EXPERIMENTS A & B
Reactor type

= PFR / Single CSTR / 3-stages CSTR

Flow rate

= _____ mL/min

Input type

= Pulse / Step change

Time
(min)

Conductivity (mS/cm)
Inlet

Outlet

Concentration (M)
Inlet

Outlet

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

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CKD 20002 (REACTOR TECHNOLOGY), Experiment 3: Reactor Test Rig

January 2016

RESULTS FOR EXPERIMENTS A & B

Reactor type

= PFR / Single CSTR / 3-stages CSTR

Flow rate

= _____ mL/min

Input type

= Pulse / Step change

Time
(min)

Conductivity (mS/cm)
Inlet

Outlet

Concentration (M)
Inlet

Outlet

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

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CKD 20002 (REACTOR TECHNOLOGY), Experiment 3: Reactor Test Rig

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January 2016

RESULTS FOR EXPERIMENTS A & B

Reactor type

= PFR / Single CSTR / 3-stages CSTR

Flow rate

= _____ mL/min

Input type

= Pulse / Step change

Time
(min)

Conductivity (mS/cm)
Inlet

Outlet

Concentration (M)
Inlet

Outlet

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

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CKD 20002 (REACTOR TECHNOLOGY), Experiment 3: Reactor Test Rig

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January 2016

APPENDIX C
CALCULATION FOR AREA UNDER THE CURVE

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CKD 20002 (REACTOR TECHNOLOGY), Experiment 3: Reactor Test Rig

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January 2016

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CKD 20002 (REACTOR TECHNOLOGY), Experiment 3: Reactor Test Rig

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January 2016

*Suggested method (N = 6)

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CKD 20002 (REACTOR TECHNOLOGY), Experiment 3: Reactor Test Rig

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