Reactor Systems

Continuous Vs Batch
reactors
Book: Chapter 6
• Reactor
Any basin, or other vessel used in environmental and chemical
engineering as a container in which chemical or biological reactions
for treatment or transformation of molecules may take place.
• Flow Reactor
Reactor that operates on a continuous basis with flow into and out of
the reactor.
• Completely Mixed Flow Reactor

An ideal flow reactor in which the contents are continuously mixed
and completely homogenous; no variation in concentration or other
condition exists from one location to another in the reactor. They are
also called continuously-stirred tank reactor (CSTR) in some older text
books.
• Batch Reactor (BR)
Vessel in which reactants are introduced and reactions are allowed to
proceed with no additional inputs to or outputs from the reactor
during the reaction period.
• Plug flow reactor (PFR)

An ideal flow reactor in which no dispersion, diffusion, or mixing of
contents occurs in the axial direction.
• Dispersion
Mixing in which a constituent is transported from a higher
concentration to a lower concentration by eddies formed by turbulent
flow or shearing forces between fluid layers.
• Diffusion
Movement of molecules from a higher concentration to a lower
concentration due to Brownian motion.
• Steady-State
• Analysis conducted when a reactor is operated for a long enough
period of time with a constant influent concentration such that the
concentration profile in the reactor does not change with time.
• Hydraulic residence time

Time that fluid remains in a reactor is known as hydraulic residence
time, defined as the reactor volume divided by the flow rate.
CSTR Vs Plug Flow Reactor
Steady state Vs Unsteady state flow
• A steady flow is one in which all conditions at any point in a stream

remain constant with respect to time.
• If mass flow rate, temperature, pressure, composition and density

are changing with function of time then the flow is said to be
unsteady state flow.
Typical reactors used in water treatment processes:
(a) batch reactor; (b) continuous-flow mixed reactor; (c) continuous-flow
mixed reactors in series, also known as tanks in series; (d) rectangular channel plug flow reactor;
(e) circular pipe plug flow
reactor; (f) serpentine configuration plug flow reactor; (g) packed-bed downflow reactor; (h) packed-
bed upflow reactor; and (i) expanded-bed upflow reactor.
• In adsorption and ion exchange , the reaction occurs on or within the
solid phase of the adsorbent (e.g., activated carbon) or ion exchange
resin, respectively. Reactors for adsorption and ion exchange may
consist of a fixed bed (i.e., packed bed; see Fig. h, without airflow) or
a fluidized bed (i.e., the packing media is suspended in the reactor;
see Fig. I, without airflow). Filters and membranes can be used in a
reactor to retain reactants and reaction products that must be
removed from the water.
• Combined unit processes may also be occurring in a single reactor; for

example, hybrid membrane adsorption reactors are used in water
treatment processes (powdered activated carbon addition before
ultrafiltration).
REACTORS WITH RECYCLE USED FOR
PRECIPITATION REACTIONS
• Recycle reactors operate with a portion of the flow returned to the
reactor inlet. Such reactors are used principally for precipitation
reactions in which a portion of the precipitated solids are recycled
back to accelerate the rate of precipitation as in water softening.
The jar test, used to determine the optimum coagulant chemical

dose, is an example of a bench-scale experiment.
Completely Mixed
Batch Reactor
Control volume
System in which a
mass balance
analysis is
performed.
For any control volume, a materials balance can be expressed as
Mass of constituent entering system − mass of constituent leaving system − mass of constituent
disappearing + mass of constituent appearing within system due to reaction
= mass of constituent accumulation in system
In − out − loss + generation = accumulation
Characteristics and Differences of Completely
Mixed Batch Reactor (CMBR) and Completely
Mixed Flow Reactor (CMFR).
When considering an ideal CMBR, or CMFR the following assumptions
are made:
(1) the contents of the tank are completely uniform with no density
gradients or dead space,
(2) the probability of a particle of water being in any one part of the
tank at any time is the same,
(3) the temperature is uniform throughout the reactor, and
(4) any chemical added to the contents is instantly and uniformly
distributed throughout the reactor.
Continue:
• There are two important differences between the assumptions of the
CMBR and the CMFR when reactions are occurring in the reactor are:
(1) In the CMBR all the reactants are in the reactor for the same
residence time, whereas in the CMFR the reactants are in the reactor
for a variety of residence times; and
(2) in the CMBR the concentration of the reactants changes with time
as the reaction takes place, whereas in the CMFR the concentration of
all the reactants is the same throughout the reactor all the time
(once the reactor has reached steady state)
REMEMER: In − out − loss + generation = accumulation
Q C0 − Q C + Vr|C = 0 NOTE: The value of r |C will
be less than zero if the
component of
interest is consumed by the
reaction; the value of r |C
will be greater than zero if
the component of interest
is produced by the reaction.
Dividing above Eq. by Q, on both
sides The hydraulic detention
time or the volume of the
reactor needed can
be estimated if the
chemical kinetics,
treatment objective
effluent concentration,
influent concentration, and
flow rate are known, as
shown in the equation.
where k = reaction rate
constant
Determination of reaction rate constant
for decomposition of ozone
• In laboratory experiments, ozone was added to a beaker (batch) of
water and the concentration of ozone remaining was measured
periodically. The initial concentration of ozone, C0, was 5 mg/L for all
experiments. The fraction of ozone remaining in the water at pH
values of 7.6, 8.5, and 9.2 are presented in the following table
• Determine the reaction order and reaction rate constant for the
decomposition of ozone in water at three pH values (7.6, 8.5, and 9.2),
considering zero-, first-, and second-order reactions.
C0= 5 mg/L
• Now plot a graph btw

• first (a) Concentration C Vs Time t
• Second (b) ln (C) Vs Time t
• Third (c ) 1/C Vs Time t
Note: For zero-order reaction,
a plot of concentration C as a
function of time t is shown in
panel (a) of the figure.
For a first-order reaction, a
plot of the natural log of
concentration, ln(C), as a
function of time t is shown in
panel (b) of the figure.
d. For a second-order reaction,
a plot of inverse concentration
1/C as a function of time t is
shown in panel (c).
Because the plot constructed in

panel (b) results in a linear
relationship, ozone
decomposition in water can be
described using
first-order kinetics .
The reaction rate constant is
determined by finding the slope of
the best-fit line for the data.
As shown in panel (d), the first-
order reaction rate constants for
the decomposition of ozone in
water are 0.0168,0.0635, and
0.167 min−1 for water with pH
values of 7.6, 8.5, and 9.2,
respectively.
Effluent concentration from a CMFR
• A CMFR has an influent concentration of 200 mg/L and a first-order
reaction rate constant of 4/day . Assuming steady-state conditions:
• 1. Calculate the required hydraulic detention time for an effluent
concentration of 10 mg/L. (Ans: 4.75 days)
• 1. Calculate the effluent concentration for a hydraulic detention time
of 12 h. ( Ans: 66.5 mg/L)

Reactor Systems

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Reactor Systems

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Continuous Vs Batch

• Completely Mixed Flow Reactor

• Plug flow reactor (PFR)

• Hydraulic residence time

• A steady flow is one in which all conditions at any point in a stream

• If mass flow rate, temperature, pressure, composition and density

• Combined unit processes may also be occurring in a single reactor; for

The jar test, used to determine the optimum coagulant chemical

For any control volume, a materials balance can be expressed as

• Now plot a graph btw

Because the plot constructed in

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