Characterization of a 5 Litre Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor

Philomena K. Igbokwe¹, Joseph T. Nwabanne¹, Samuel Wadzani Gadzama²

¹Department of Chemical Engineering, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria.
²Scientific Equipment Development Institute, Enugu, Nigeria.

DOI: 10.4236/wjet.2015.32003                

Abstract

Continuous Stirred Tank Reactors (CSTR) are used ubiquitously in chemical process industry for mixing, reactions and crystallizations. The purpose of this research is to study the effect of solute concentration (sodium chloride) on the stirrer speed in a CSTR. The experimental method used in this research is the stop watch and beaker method. The behavior pattern of the fluid in a CSTR can be experimentally verified as an alternative to the mathematical model. The tracer experiments were carried out. The effect of different parameters such as stirring speed, concentration at a steady time interval was analyzed. Experimental data obtained at 0.6 M and 160 rpm gave a curve that is in close agreement to that of theoretical or mathematical model. In other words, the results obtained at a concentration of 0.6 M and 160 rpm are in close agreement with that of early researchers. The paper is divided into five main sections: the first section immediately after the abstract is the introductory section that is basically a review of literature; the second section takes care of the materials and methods; the third section is the experimental procedure and this section takes the shut-down procedure and data processing into consideration; the fourth section is the discussion of experimental results and the last section is the conclusion of the paper.

Keywords

Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor (CSTR), Residence Time Distribution (RTD), Revolution per Minutes (RPM)

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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