COMPARISON AND SELECTION OF REACTORS

Definition of Reactor

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.

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 sufficient

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 by 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.

Principal types of Reactors

The following characteristics are normally used to classify reactor designs:

(1) Mode of operation: Batch or continuous.

(2) Phase present: homogenous 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 bed

(iv) Fluidized bed

In a batch process, all the reagents are added at the commencement. The reaction

proceeds, the composition 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withdrawn when the required conversion has been reached.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 processes where a range of different products or grades is to be

produced in the same equipment, for instance pigments, dyes 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In continuous processes, the reactants are fed to the reactor and the products withdrawn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

reactors. 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

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some of the products withdrawn, as the reaction proceeds.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.

Homogenous and Heterogeneous Reactions

Homogeneous reactions are those in which the reactants products and any catalyst used

produce one continuous phase – gaseous or liquid. Homogenous 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

dichloromethane 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 problems in the reactor design is to promote mass transfer between the phases.
The possible combinations of phases are:

(1) Liquid-liquid: Immiscible liquid phases, reactions such as the nitration of toluene or

benzene with mixed acids and emulsion polymerization.

(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 hydrogenation of

amines, using 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.

Reactor Geometry

The reactors used in established processes are usually complex designs, which have been

developed 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 consists of a tank fitted with mechanical agitator and a

cooling jacket or coils. They are operated as batch reactors but continuously. Several reactors

may be used in series. The stirred tank reactor can be considered as 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 involving finely suspended solids, which are held in

suspension by the agitation. As the degree of agitation is under the designer’s control stirred
tanks reactors are particularly suitable for reactions where good mass transfer or heat transfer is

required.

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 0.2 kW/m2 for moderate mixing to 2 kW/m2 for intense mixing.

Tubular reactors

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.

Packed bed reactors

There are two basic types of packed bed reactors; 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 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 centimeters 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 fluidized beds should be

considered.

Fluidized bed reactors

The essential features of a fluidized bed reactor are that the solids are held in suspension

by the upward flow of the reacting fluid. This promotes high heat and mass transfer rates and

good mixing. Heat transfer coefficients in the order of 200 W/m 2/°C for jackets and internal coils

are obtained. The solids may be a catalyst; a reactant in fluidized combustion processes or an

inert powder, added to promote heat transfer.

Though the principal advantage of a fluidized bed over a fixed bed is the higher heat

transfer rate, fluidized beds are also useful where it is necessary to transport large quantities of

solids as part of the reaction processes such as where catalyst are transferred to another vessel for

regeneration. Fluidization can only be used with relatively small sized particles <300 µm with

gases.

Heat Exchange Arrangements in Reactors

(1) Jacketed tube (Tubular reactor)

Heat transfer medium

(2) Jacketed Walls

(4) Internal Coils

(5) External Heat Exchanger

(6) Divided Reactor with Inter Cooler between Catalyst Beds

Catalyst Regeneration in a Fluidized Bed Reactor

The reactants flow continuously through and out of the reactor but the solid catalyst

phase is withdrawn, regenerated and returned. When it is necessary to approach isothermal

conditions or when the heats of reaction are large, a fluidized bed type is often used. The rapid

movement of the small catalyst particles goes a long way toward eliminating temperature
variations within the solid phase. In a fluidized bed relatively small particles of catalyst are

sustained in a vertical tube by the upward motion of the reacting fluid.