CHE3006F Block 3, Reaction Systems: RTD Tutorials

Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Cape Town, M Fagan-Endres

Lecture 2 & 3 (Tut 2)

Question 1 (Levenspiel 3rd Ed)

Pipelines from oil drilling platforms that

transport “gas” to the refinery always
contain both gas and liquid. A portion of the
pipe from the PetroSA refinery with an
inside diameter of 10 cm and a length of
19.1 m is analysed for its flow properties.
The flow rate of gas and liquid in this pipe is
60000 cm3.s−1 and 300 cm3.s−1, respectively.
A radio-active pulse tracer test on the flow
of the pipe is shown in the figure. What
fraction of the pipe is occupied by gas and
what fraction by liquid?
C
C
C-curve for PetroSA pipeline

Question 2 (Fogler 3rd Ed P13.2)

A tracer study is carried out on a reactor operating in the liquid phase. The data shown in the table
are collected from a pulse injection. Using the data:

a) Plot the C-curve

b) Calculate and plot the E-curve and the F-curve
c) Calculate what fraction of material spends between 230 and 270 s in the reactor and what
fraction spends less than 250 s in the reactor

t [s] 150 175 200 225 240 250 260 275 300 325 350 375 400 450
C [mg.L−1] 0.0 1.0 3.0 7.4 9.4 9.7 9.4 8.2 5.0 2.5 1.2 0.5 0.2 0.0

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 Lecture 4 (Tut 3)

Question 3 (Fogler 3rd Ed P13.2) (continued from Q2)

d) Determine the mean, the variance and the residence time of the reactor

Question 4 (Levenspiel 3rd Ed P11.3)

The response curve to a pulse input into a reaction vessel with complex geometry yields the
concentration-time graph shown in the figure.

a) Are the results consistent? (check the material balance with the experimental tracer curve)
b) If the results are consistent, determine the amount of tracer added and the plot the E-curve.

Concentration curve of a pulse tracer experiment for the shown complex reactor

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 Lecture 5 & 6 (Tut 4)
Question 5

Sketch the RTDs (E-curves) and F-curves for the following set of reactor configurations, indicating all
intercepts with the axes and making clear the relative shifts from the preceding arrangement:

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Question 6

Gas-liquid separation-reaction vessels are commonly used to purify effluent gases. A tracer study
carried out on the vessel shown in the figure yields the following results for each phase. From the
data determine the fraction of flowing gas, the fraction of flowing liquid and the fraction of stagnant
liquid. How do you know that the liquid is stagnant?

Figure. Gas-liquid separation vessel RTD results

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 Tools Lecture 1 & 2 (Tut 5)
Question 7 (Levenspiel 3rd Ed)

Dispersed noncoalescing droplets (𝐶𝐴0 = 2 𝑚𝑜𝑙/𝐿) react (𝐴 → 𝑅, −𝑟𝐴 = 𝑘𝐶𝐴 2 , 𝑘 = 0.5 𝐿/𝑚𝑜𝑙. 𝑚𝑖𝑛)
as they pass through a contactor. Find the average concentration of A remaining in the droplets
leaving the contactor if their RTD is given by the curve in the figure.

Question 8 (Levenspiel, 1999, 14.10)

A reactor with a number of dividing baffles is to be used to run the reaction:

𝐴 → 𝑅 with −𝑟𝐴 = 0.05𝐶𝐴 [𝑚𝑜𝑙. 𝐿−1 . 𝑚𝑖𝑛−1 ]

A pulse tracer test gives the following output curve:

Time (min) 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Concentration (arbitrary) 0 3 5 5 4 2 1 0

a) Plot the E-curve and find the variance and residence time.
b) Calculate the conversion assuming perfect plug flow.
c) Calculate the conversion using the experimental E-curve.
d) Determine the number of tanks in series and the Peclet number for this data series.
e) Calculate the conversion using the tanks in series model.
f) Calculate the conversion using the dispersion model (using info below).
g) Comment on the conversions calculated using the four different methods (b, c, e, f).

Additional information:
Assume for your analysis that this data can be modelled as a closed-closed vessel, D/UL>0.01 with:
𝜎2 2 2
2
= − 2 (1 − 𝑒 −𝑃𝑒 )
𝜏 𝑃𝑒 𝑃𝑒

For a 1st order reaction, the following applies for the dispersion model:
4𝑎𝑒 0.5𝑃𝑒
𝑋 =1−
(1 + 𝑎)2 𝑒 0.5𝑎𝑃𝑒 − (1 − 𝑎)2 𝑒 −0.5𝑎𝑃𝑒
𝑎 = √1 + 4𝑘𝜏/𝑃𝑒

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 Lecture 7 (Tut 6)
Question 9 (Levenspiel 3rd Ed)

CSTRs require adequate stirring to ensure that the CSTR approximation is always met. Currently one
of our 6 m3 CSTRs achieves a conversion of 75% for a first order reaction A → B. Since the stirrer is
known not to have sufficient power, the vessel is not properly mixed and an RTD study yields the
flow model of the reactor system shown in the figure. What conversion might be expected when the
stirrer is replaced by a stirrer with sufficient power to completely mix the vessel so that it operates
as a perfect CSTR?

CSTR with inadequate stirring schematic

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Question 10 (CHE3054S 2015 Exam)

A RTD step tracer experiment is performed on a 250 L liquid phase CSTR that is performing below
expectations to examine if non-ideal flow is the cause of the problems. A salt tracer is introduced
into the feed liquid (v0 = 10 L/min) at time zero. The conductivity (measure of the amount of salt) in
the effluent stream is then measured and the E-curve displayed below is generated from the data.

0.08
0.07
0.06
0.05
E [1/min]

0.04
0.03
0.02
0.01
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
time [min]

The shape of the E-curve suggests that the reactor may be described using the following
compartment model:

a) Explain the effect that each of the compartment model elements (dead volume and bypass)
has on the reactor E-curve (relative to that of the ideal case).

b) Use a material balance on the tracer to show that the E-curve for this model is given by:

𝑣𝑎2 𝑣𝑎 𝑣𝑏
𝐸 (𝑡 ) = exp [− 𝑡] + 𝛿 (𝑡)
𝑣𝑉𝑀 𝑉𝑀 𝑣

c) By fitting the model to the E-curve data, show that (correct to 1 significant figure):
i) 10% of the feed stream bypasses the reactor
ii) 20% of the reactor volume is dead space

d) A conversion of 60% is currently achieved in the CSTR for a 2nd order irreversible reaction
(𝐴 → 𝐵). What conversion could be achieved if the reactor was operating ideally?