482 CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

driven. The belt material is usually fabric-reinforced rubber or plastics; segmental metal
belts are also used. Belts can be specified to withstand abrasive and corrosive materials;
see BS 490.
Screw conveyors, also called worm conveyors, are used for materials that are free
flowing. The basic principle of the screw conveyor has been known since the time of
Archimedes. The modern conveyor consists of a helical screw rotating in a U-shaped
trough. They can be used horizontally or, with some loss of capacity, at an incline to
lift materials. Screw conveyors are less efficient than belt conveyors, due to the friction
between the solids and the flights of the screw and the trough, but are cheaper and easier
to maintain. They are used to convey solids over short distances, and when some elevation
(lift) is required. They can also be used for delivering a metered flow of solids.
The most widely used equipment where a vertical lift is required is the bucket elevator.
This consists of buckets fitted to an endless chain or belt, which passes over a driven
roller or sprocket at the top end. Bucket elevators can handle a wide range of solids, from
heavy lumps to fine powders, and are suitable for use with wet solids and slurries.
The mechanical conveying of solids is the subject of a book by Colijn (1985).
Pneumatic and hydraulic conveying, in which the solid particles are transported along
a pipeline in suspension in a fluid, are discussed in Volume 1, Chapter 5, and in a book
by Mills (2003); see also Mills et al. (2004).

Storage
The simplest way to store solids is to pile them on the ground in the open air. This is
satisfactory for the long-term storage of materials that do not deteriorate on exposure
to the elements; for example, the seasonal stock piling of coal at collieries and power
stations. For large stockpiles, permanent facilities are usually installed for distributing
and reclaiming the material; travelling gantry cranes, grabs and drag scrapers feeding belt
conveyors are used. For small, temporary, storages mechanical shovels and trunks can be
used. Where the cost of recovery from the stockpile is large compared with the value of
the stock held, storage in silos or bunkers should be considered.
Overhead bunkers, also called bins or hoppers, are normally used for the short-term
storage of materials that must be readily available for the process. They are arranged so
that the material can be withdrawn at a steady rate from the base of the bunker on to a
suitable conveyor. Bunkers must be carefully designed to ensure the free flow of material
within the bunker, to avoid packing and bridging. Jenike (1967) and Jenike and Johnson
(1970), has studied the flow of solids in containers and developed design methods. All
aspects of the design of bins and hoppers, including feeding and discharge systems, are
covered in a book by Reisner (1971).
See also the British Material Handling Board’s code of practice on the design of silos
and bunkers, BMHB (1992).
The storage and transport of wet solids are covered by Heywood (1991).

10.13. REACTORS
The reactor is the heart of a chemical process. It is the only place in the process where
raw materials are converted into products, and reactor design is a vital step in the overall
design of the process.
 EQUIPMENT SELECTION, SPECIFICATION AND DESIGN 483
Numerous texts have been published on reactor design, and a selection is given in the
bibliography at the end of this chapter. The volumes by Rase (1977), (1990) cover the
practical aspects of reactor design and include case studies of industrial reactors. The design
of electrochemical reactors is covered by Rousar et al. (1985) and Scott (1991).
The treatment of reactor design in this section will be restricted to a discussion of the
selection of the appropriate reactor type for a particular process, and an outline of the
steps to be followed in the design of a reactor.
The design of an industrial chemical reactor must satisfy the following requirements:
1. The chemical factors: the kinetics of the reaction. The design must provide suffi-
cient residence time for the desired reaction to proceed to the required degree of
conversion.
2. The mass transfer factors: with heterogeneous reactions the reaction rate may be
controlled by the rates of diffusion of the reacting species; rather than the chemical
kinetics.
3. The heat transfer factors: the removal, or addition, of the heat of reaction.
4. The safety factors: the confinement of hazardous reactants and products, and the
control of the reaction and the process conditions.
The need to satisfy these interrelated, and often contradictory factors, makes reactor
design a complex and difficult task. However, in many instances one of the factors will
predominate and will determine the choice of reactor type and the design method.

10.13.1. Principal types of reactor

The following characteristics are normally used to classify reactor designs:
1. Mode of operation: batch or continuous.
2. Phases present: homogeneous or heterogeneous.
3. Reactor geometry: flow pattern and manner of contacting the phases
(i) stirred tank reactor;
(ii) tubular reactor;
(iii) packed bed, fixed and moving;
(iv) fluidised bed.

Batch or continuous processing

In a batch process all the reagents are added at the commencement; the reaction proceeds,
the compositions changing with time, and the reaction is stopped and the product
withdrawn when the required conversion has been reached. Batch processes are suitable
for small-scale production and for processes where a range of different products, or grades,
is to be produced in the same equipment; for instance, pigments, dyestuffs and polymers.
In continuous processes the reactants are fed to the reactor and the products withdrawn
continuously; the reactor operates under steady-state conditions. Continuous production
will normally give lower production costs than batch production, but lacks the flexibility of
batch production. Continuous reactors will usually be selected for large-scale production.
Processes that do not fit the definition of batch or continuous are often referred to as
484 CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

semi-continuous or semi-batch. In a semi-batch reactor some of the reactants may be

added, or some of the products withdrawn, as the reaction proceeds. A semi-continuous
process can be one which is interrupted periodically for some purpose; for instance, for
the regeneration of catalyst.

Homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions

Homogeneous reactions are those in which the reactants, products, and any catalyst used
form one continuous phase: gaseous or liquid.
Homogeneous gas phase reactors will always be operated continuously; whereas liquid
phase reactors may be batch or continuous. Tubular (pipe-line) reactors are normally used
for homogeneous gas-phase reactions; for example, in the thermal cracking of petroleum
crude oil fractions to ethylene, and the thermal decomposition of dichloroethane to vinyl
chloride. Both tubular and stirred tank reactors are used for homogeneous liquid-phase
reactions.
In a heterogeneous reaction two or more phases exist, and the overriding problem in the
reactor design is to promote mass transfer between the phases. The possible combination
of phases are:
1. Liquid-liquid: immiscible liquid phases; reactions such as the nitration of toluene or
benzene with mixed acids, and emulsion polymerisations.
2. Liquid-solid: with one, or more, liquid phases in contact with a solid. The solid may
be a reactant or catalyst.
3. Liquid-solid-gas: where the solid is normally a catalyst; such as in the hydrogener-
ation of amines, using a slurry of platinum on activated carbon as a catalyst.
4. Gas-solid: where the solid may take part in the reaction or act as a catalyst. The
reduction of iron ores in blast furnaces and the combustion of solid fuels are
examples where the solid is a reactant.
5. Gas-liquid: where the liquid may take part in the reaction or act as a catalyst.

Reactor geometry (type)

The reactors used for established processes are usually complex designs which have been
developed (have evolved) over a period of years to suit the requirements of the process,
and are unique designs. However, it is convenient to classify reactor designs into the
following broad categories.

Stirred tank reactors

Stirred tank (agitated) reactors consist of a tank fitted with a mechanical agitator and
a cooling jacket or coils. They are operated as batch reactors or continuously. Several
reactors may be used in series.
The stirred tank reactor can be considered the basic chemical reactor; modelling on a
large scale the conventional laboratory flask. Tank sizes range from a few litres to several
thousand litres. They are used for homogeneous and heterogeneous liquid-liquid and
liquid-gas reactions; and for reactions that involve finely suspended solids, which are held
in suspension by the agitation. As the degree of agitation is under the designer’s control,
stirred tank reactors are particularly suitable for reactions where good mass transfer or
heat transfer is required.
 EQUIPMENT SELECTION, SPECIFICATION AND DESIGN 485
When operated as a continuous process the composition in the reactor is constant and
the same as the product stream, and, except for very rapid reactions, this will limit the
conversion that can be obtained in one stage.
The power requirements for agitation will depend on the degree of agitation required
and will range from about 0.2 kW/m3 for moderate mixing to 2 kW/m3 for intense mixing.

Tubular reactor
Tubular reactors are generally used for gaseous reactions, but are also suitable for some
liquid-phase reactions.
If high heat-transfer rates are required, small-diameter tubes are used to increase the
surface area to volume ratio. Several tubes may be arranged in parallel, connected to a
manifold or fitted into a tube sheet in a similar arrangement to a shell and tube heat
exchanger. For high-temperature reactions the tubes may be arranged in a furnace.
The pressure-drop and heat-transfer coefficients in empty tube reactors can be calculated
using the methods for flow in pipes given in Volume 1.

Packed bed reactors

There are two basic types of packed-bed reactor: those in which the solid is a reactant,
and those in which the solid is a catalyst. Many examples of the first type can be found
in the extractive metallurgical industries.
In the chemical process industries the designer will normally be concerned with the
second type: catalytic reactors. Industrial packed-bed catalytic reactors range in size from
small tubes, a few centimetres diameter, to large diameter packed beds. Packed-bed
reactors are used for gas and gas-liquid reactions. Heat-transfer rates in large diameter
packed beds are poor and where high heat-transfer rates are required fluidised beds should
be considered.

Fluidised bed reactors

The essential features of a fluidised bed reactor is that the solids are held in suspension
by the upward flow of the reacting fluid; this promotes high mass and heat-transfer rates
and good mixing. Heat-transfer coefficients in the order of 200 W/m2 Ž C to jackets and
internal coils are typically obtained. The solids may be a catalyst; a reactant in fluidised
combustion processes; or an inert powder, added to promote heat transfer.
Though the principal advantage of a fluidised bed over a fixed bed is the higher heat-
transfer rate, fluidised beds are also useful where it is necessary to transport large quantities
of solids as part of the reaction processes, such as where catalysts are transferred to another
vessel for regeneration.
Fluidisation can only be used with relatively small sized particles, <300
m with gases.
A great deal of research and development work has been done on fluidised bed reactors
in recent years, but the design and scale up of large diameter reactors is still an uncertain
process and design methods are largely empirical.
The principles of fluidisation processes are covered in Volume 2, Chapter 6. The design
of fluidised bed reactors is discussed by Rase (1977).
486 CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

10.13.2. Design procedure

A general procedure for reactor design is outlined below:
1. Collect together all the kinetic and thermodynamic data on the desired reaction
and the side reactions. It is unlikely that much useful information will be gleaned
from a literature search, as little is published in the open literature on commercially
attractive processes. The kinetic data required for reactor design will normally be
obtained from laboratory and pilot plant studies. Values will be needed for the rate
of reaction over a range of operating conditions: pressure, temperature, flow-rate and
catalyst concentration. The design of experimental reactors and scale-up is discussed
by Rase (1977).
2. Collect the physical property data required for the design; either from the literature,
by estimation or, if necessary, by laboratory measurements.
3. Identify the predominant rate-controlling mechanism: kinetic, mass or heat transfer.
Choose a suitable reactor type, based on experience with similar reactions, or from
the laboratory and pilot plant work.
4. Make an initial selection of the reactor conditions to give the desired conversion
and yield.
5. Size the reactor and estimate its performance.
Exact analytical solutions of the design relationships are rarely possible; semi-
empirical methods based on the analysis of idealised reactors will normally have to
be used.
6. Select suitable materials of construction.
7. Make a preliminary mechanical design for the reactor: the vessel design, heat-transfer
surfaces, internals and general arrangement.
8. Cost the proposed design, capital and operating, and repeat steps 4 to 8, as necessary,
to optimise the design.
In choosing the reactor conditions, particularly the conversion, and optimising the
design, the interaction of the reactor design with the other process operations must not
be overlooked. The degree of conversion of raw materials in the reactor will determine
the size, and cost, of any equipment needed to separate and recycle unreacted materials.
In these circumstances the reactor and associated equipment must be optimised as a unit.

10.14. REFERENCES
ABULNAGA, B. (2002) Slurry Systems Handbook (McGraw-Hill).
AMBLER, C. M. (1952) Chem. Eng. Prog. 48 (March) 150. Evaluating the performance of centrifuges.
AMBLER, C. M. (1971) Chem. Eng., NY 78 (Feb. 15th) 55. Centrifuge selection.
AUNGIER, R. H. (1999) Centrifugal Compressors: A Strategy for Aerodynamic Design and Analysis (American
Society of Mechanical Engineers).
AUNGIER, R. H. (2003) Axial-Flow Compressors: A Strategy for Aerodynamic Design and Analysis (American
Society of Mechanical Engineers).
BAKER, J. R. (1991) Chem. Eng. Prog. 87 (6) 32. Motionless mixtures stir up new uses.
BEGG, G. A. J. (1966) Chem. & Process Eng. 47, 153. Gas compression in the chemical industry.
BENNETT, J. G. (1936) J. Inst. Fuel 10, 22. Broken coal.
BILLET, R. (1989) Evaporation Technology: Principles, Applications, Economics (Wiley).
BLOCH, H. P., CAMERON, J. A., DANOWSKY, F. M., JAMES, R., SWEARINGEN, J. S. and WEIGHTMAN, M. E.
(1982) Compressors and Expanders: Selection and Applications for the Process Industries (Dekker).