Batch Reactor
Batch Reactor
Batch Reactor
INTRODUCTION
Batch reactor are tanks that is usually used in chemical industry and are suitable for
small scale operations such as in laboratory for testing new chemical processes or for the
manufacture of high-priced products, and for processes that are difficult to convert to
continuous operations [1]. The reactant should be leave longer in the reactor to achieve
higher conversion in a batch reactor. Normally in batch reactor, it is operated isothermally
and at a constant volume because interpretation of results in such runs will be easier and
little auxiliary equipment or instrumentation is needed [2].
Figure 1 shows the basic schematic design of batch reactor. A typical batch reactor
consists of a tank with an agitator and integral heating/cooling system. Liquid and solids are
usually charges via connections in the top cover of the reactor. The resultant mixture will
be discharged after the reaction is completed. For vapour and gaseous phase product, they
will be discharged through connections in the top, whereas liquids are usually discharged
out of the bottom.
Batch chemical process is a discontinuous process which has neither inflow nor
outflow of reactant or products while the reaction is being carried out. Batch reactors are
used primarily to determine rate law parameters for homogeneous reactions. This
determination is usually achieved by measuring concentration as a function of time and
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then using either the differential, integral method of data analysis to determine the overall
reaction order, n, and specific reaction rate constant, k.
Saponification is a process of making soap by reaction of ethyl acetate and sodium
hydroxide. The reaction is a irreversible second order of reaction which the equation can
be represented as below:
𝐶𝐴 𝑁 𝐶𝐴 −𝐶𝐴∞
𝐶𝐴0
= 𝑁𝐴 = 𝐶 =1−𝑋 (2)
𝐴0 𝐴0 −𝐶𝐴∞
𝐶 −𝐶
𝑋 = 𝐶 0−𝐶 (3)
0 ∞
Where,
𝐶𝐴 = 𝑁𝑎𝑂𝐻 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡
𝐶𝐴0 = 𝑁𝑎𝑂𝐻 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡 = 0
𝐶𝐴∞ = 𝑁𝑎𝑂𝐻 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡 = ∞
𝐶 = 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡
𝐶0 = 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡 = 0
𝐶∞ = 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑡 𝑡 = ∞
For second order of reaction with equimolar concentration, the fractional conversion is
related to reaction rate constant k by
𝑋
= 𝐶𝐴0 𝑘𝑡 (4)
1−𝑋
The temperature dependence of the rate reaction constant should be correlated by the
Arrhenius equation
𝑘 = 𝐴𝑒 −𝐸/𝑅𝑇 (5)
Where,
𝐴 = 𝑝𝑟𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑟 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟
2
𝐸 = 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦, 𝐽/𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑜𝑟 𝑐𝑎𝑙/𝑚𝑜𝑙
𝑅 = 𝑔𝑎𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 = 8.314 𝐽/𝑚𝑜𝑙. 𝐾 = 1.987 𝑐𝑎𝑙/𝑚𝑜𝑙. 𝐾
𝑇 = 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝐾
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Figure 2: Batch reactor used in this experiment
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1. The solutions as shown in Table 1.1 (Appendix A) were prepared and the
conductivity values for each conversion were determined.
2. Calibration curve of conversion versus conductivity was plotted.
y = mx + c (5)
X = mK + c (6)
Where,
X = Conversion (%)
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m = gradient of the calibration curve
K = Conductivity (mS/cm)
c = y-intercept
After the conversion was obtained, the concentration can be determined using
equation below,
The purpose of this experiment was to carry out a saponification reaction between sodium
hydroxide (NaOH) and ethyl acetate Et (Ac). In this experiment, we looked to determine the order
of reaction for this saponification process and also identify the trend between different operating
temperatures and the conversion. First, a calibration curve of conversion against conductivity was
plotted. From this plot, we were able to obtain a linear equation of:
y= -15.51x +215.4 (8)
From this equation, we were able to obtain the concentration values of this experiment.
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1 10.8 51.74 0.05 20.72 -3.03
Room temperature 40 ºC 50 ºC
Time,t
(min) Conductivit Conversion Conductivit Conversion Conductivit Conversion
y (mS/cm) (%) y (mS/cm) (%) y (mS/cm) (%)
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There are two methods available to be used to determine the order of reaction in this
experiment which are the differential and integral method. Since the differential method dictates
that the experiment should be carried out isothermally [2], we decided to use the integral method.
The integral method is a plot of concentration against time graph in three ways which are; [Ca] vs
time, ln [Ca] vs time and 1/[Ca] vs time. In determining the order, the graph which produces a
linear plot out of these three plots is the order of reaction. A linear plot of [Ca] vs time indicates
zeroth order, a linear plot of ln [Ca] vs time indicates first order and a linear plot of 1/[Ca] vs time
indicates second order [5]. From the three plots, our data indicated that this experiment was either
zeroth order or first order. However, the R2 value for the zeroth order graph (R2 = 0.7896) was
higher than the R2 value for the first order graph (R2 = 0.785). The R2 value indicate statistically
how close the data are to the regression line, and therefore the higher value indicates a higher
accuracy. However, since it would be illogical to have a zero order reaction, we can assume that
this reaction is first order. This is because a zero order reaction would mean that the reaction is
independent of the concentration [2] . The reason that we obtained a zero order reaction would be
due to the remaining concentration of reactants from the previous groups’ experiment. Since the
reaction order is a function of concentration, remnants of the reactant could affect the result of
conversion. Another reason could be that the amount and concentration of solution was not added
correctly. The quantity of the reactants added is very important, as if we were to obtain a first order
reaction, one of the reactants should be added in excess to create a negligible second reactant
concentration [5].
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Figure 4: Graph of concentration, CA against time
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Figure 6: Graph of concentration, natural log CA against time (min)
In the second part of the experiment, we looked to observe the effects of temperature on
the conversion. The results show that the conversion fluctuates between 60-70% for the
experiments run at 40 and 50C. The general trend shown in Figure 5 indicate that the conversion
is higher at higher temperatures. This follows the collision theory which states that higher
temperature correlates to higher rate of reaction [6]. According to Frost et al., with higher
temperature, the particles collide with a higher effective rate due to the increase in the frequency
of collision and the energy available to each particle. This in turn translates into a higher reaction
rate and conversion. However, there are peaks in minutes 3 and 6 which show that the 40C
experiment had a higher conversion that the 50C experiment. During the experiment, the heater
was faulty and kept turning on and off, which could explain the fluctuation in the conversion. This
experiment was not run at 70C for the same reason that the heater was faulty.
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Figure 7: Graph of conversion (%) against time (min) at difference temperature
For this experiment there are two objectives which were to determine the order of reaction
for this saponification process and also identify the trend between different operating temperatures
and the conversion. A calibration curve was plotted to determine the conversion and concentration
of sodium hydroxide and ethyl acetate as shown in Figure 3. Thus can determine the concentration
values of this experiment by using the equation (8). By obtaining the concentrations value, the
reaction order can be determined by using integral method. The integral method is a plot of
concentration against time graph in three ways which are; [Ca] vs time, ln [Ca] vs time and 1/[Ca]
vs time. It is found out that after plotting the graph the experiment was either zeroth order or first
order with R2 value for the zeroth order graph (R2 = 0.7896) was slightly higher than the R2 value
for the first order graph (R2 = 0.785). However since it is illogical for the reaction to be zero order
reaction, we assume that this is first order reaction.
The second observation was to identify the trend between different operating temperatures
and the conversion. When plotting the graph, we can conclude that the conversion is higher at
higher temperature. Thus the best temperature for conversion is at 50C.
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A few recommendations can be taken to prevent errors from occurring such as eyes must
be perpendicular to the meniscus level of the volumetric flask to prevent parallax error. The
experimenter should read the lab manual prior to conducting the experiment to achieve more
accurate result. Last but not least, conductivity rod must be clean where it is supposed to be wiped
every time a sample being tested using the conductivity rod to get the accurate reading.
5. REFERENCES
[1] Levenspiel, O. (1999). Chemical reaction engineering. Industrial & engineering c
Chemistry research, 38(11), 4140-4143.
[3] Lichtarowicz, M. (n.d.). Chemical reactors. Retrieved April 16, 2018, from
http://www.essentialchemicalindustry.org/processes/chemical-reactors.html
[4] Mohd, D., & Mohd, M. (2011). Understanding Effect of Operating Parameters on
Thermal Performance of Closed Loop Pulsating Heat Pipe: An Experimental Study.
International Journal of Current Engineering and Technology.
doi:10.14741/ijcet/22774106/spl.5.6.2016.69
[5] Libretexts. (2017, June 05). Methods of Determining Reaction Order. Retrieved April
17, 2018, from
https://chem.libretexts.org/Core/Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry/Kinetics/Experime
ntal_Methods/Methods_of_Determining_Reaction_Order
[6] FROST, A. A., & PEARSON, R. G. (1961). Kinetics and Mechanism, etc. (Second
edition.). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
6. APPENDIX
Refer to next page.
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Figure 8: Graph of calibration curve of NaOH and Et(Ac)
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