8.

0 DISCUSSION
This experiment was conducted in order to determine the effect of step
change input on the concentration of the sodium chloride (NaCl) solution in
CSTR in series. In this experiment, it was expected that the conductivity
values of reactor 1 and reactor 3 will be equal as the NaCl solution was fed
into the reactors continuously throughout the experiment. The flowrate of the
feed was kept about 150 mL/min and the system was running isothermally
with each reactors temperature at around 29oC. The value of conductivity of
reactor 1 (QT1), reactor 2 (QT2) and reactor 3 (QT3) was recorded for every
3 minutes using the conductivity probe. The experiment was ended when the
conductivity of the reactor 1 and reactor 3 are equal and constant for the few
last readings.
The first reading for each reactors at t 0 are as follows; QT1 is 12.61,
QT2 is 3.15, and QT3 is 0.756 mS/min. The results can be observed in the
results section of the report. As can be seen from the results obtained in the
experiment, the conductivity of the mixture in CSTR increases as time passes
on as more and more salt solution was fed into the reactors. At the 102 th
minute it can be observed that the conductivity of the three reactors are
slowly to be constant and finally about at 108 th minute, the conductivity
values of QT1 is 2.59, QT2 is 26.00, and QT3 is 26.00 mS/min.
The conductivity of the reaction mixture varies with conversion and
therefore the extent of the reaction can be observed by plotting the
conductivity with respect to time. (Reaction Engineering, n.d). From the
graph, it can be concluded that the conductivity values for each reactor
increase as time pass by. The conductivity of reactor 1 recorded at t0 was
12.61, this value is highest compared reactor 2 and reactor 3 which was 3.15
and 0.756 mS/min respectively.
As there were no valves or controllers to accurately regulate the flow
rate of deionized water, there were some fluctuations in the flow during the
experiments and the flow had to be adjusted manually during the
experiments. These fluctuations could have affected the results, hence the
graph obtained is not a smooth curve. (Sevrig, 2007).
The affect of the step change to the concentration are the same for all
three reactors. When the step change of solute concentration was introduced
at the feed of reactor 1, the tank will experience a transient behavior

(unsteady state) as shown in the result. The concentration of in the reactor

will increase in a period of time until it has reached a constant concentration.
For every reactor it has its own constant concentration. Reactor 1 reached the
constant concentration first followed by reactor 2 and reactor 3.
The reaction carried out in a series of CSTRs will eventually reach
steady state when a certain amount of conversion of the starting reagents has
taken place. The steady state conditions will be influenced by the
concentration of reagents, flow rate, volume of reactor and temperature of
reaction. (Engineering Reaction, n.d.).
The conversion for each reactor was calculated in order to investigate
whether CSTR in series will affect the conversion of NaCl solution in the
reactor. From the results obtained, reactor 1 has 95% of conversion while
reactor 2 has 99.7% of conversion and reactor 3, 99.8% conversion. The
CSTR in series have advantage in making the final product have higher
conversion than a single CSTR. This could be explained that the compound
NaCl have higher residence time in a series CSTR than in single CSTR.
A major weakness of a single CSTR is that all of the reaction takes
place at the low final reactant concentration and hence requires an
excessively large reactor hold-up. In order to overcome this weakness, in
CSTR series, only the last one will have a reaction rate governed by the final
reactant concentration. Besides, if one vessel in the cascade has to be put out
of commission, it may be by passed and production continued at a slightly
reduced rate whereas failure of a single CSTR will cause complete loss in
production. (Cooper, 1971).
Based on the results and the graph obtained, it is shown that the step
change input affects the concentration of NaCl solution in CSTR in series.
Reactor 3 has the highest conversion of 99.8% followed by reactor 2, 99.7%
and reactor 1, 95%.