CCB 3043

KINETIC REACTOR AND DESIGN

RESIDENCE TIME DISTRIBUTION
NIK NUR IZZATUL IKMAL BT MUHD NOR
18699
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

KINETIC REACTOR & DESIGN

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Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction of Residence Time Distribution .............................................................................. 2
Chapter 2: method available to measure the RTD in a reactor ..................................................................... 3
Chapter 3: Application of residence time distribution in industry ................................................................ 5
Chapter 4: Diagnostic and troubleshooting ................................................................................................... 6
Chapter 5: Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 7
References ..................................................................................................................................................... 8
















KINETIC REACTOR & DESIGN

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Chapter 1: Introduction of Residence Time Distribution

Residence time distribution (RTD) is a fluid flows statistical approach which can be
used to describe the hydrodynamic response of the continuous flow through a real reactor. The
basic idea is that, not all molecules spent the same time in the reactor so in a way, different
residence time will affect the reaction time and also the product distribution. Therefore, some
calculations need to be done in order to study the response. The assumptions that were linked to
the calculations of RTD are,
perfect mixing
piston flow
steady-state condition (same inlet flow, constant volume)
Fogler (2006) suggest that the main purpose of studying residence time distribution are to
identify the problems related to the operation of reactor, and to predict conversion or
effluent concentration in existing reactor for a new reaction. The RTDs postulation came
from the analysis of the black-box, which is used to study circuits by the electrical engineers to
predict the response of the system to other inputs.
Residence time, as stated by Fogler (2006) is the period of time, the atoms had spent in
the reactor whereas residence time distribution is defined by Westerterp, Swaiij, and Beenackers
(1987) as the probability to leave the reactor after a certain residence time. For further
understanding, I will discuss about the applications of RTD in industry in the next chapter.






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Chapter 2: method available to measure the RTD in a reactor

According to Nauman (2008), for residence time measurements, an inert tracer is injected
at the inlet to the reactor, and the tracer concentration is measured at the outlet.

Figure 1: Inert Tracer Injection
Based on experiment conducted by Nauman (2008), he divided RTD calculation into three parts.
1) Negative step changes and the washout functions
2) Positive step changes and the cumulative distribution function
3) Impulse response and the differential distribution function
As for negative step change, the molecules must entered the reactor before t=0 as no tracer
will be fed into the reactor afterwards. It can be used for any flow system. At t<0, inert was fed
into CSTR for a certain period of time so that C
in
= C
out
= C
0
. At t=0, C
in
= 0 as the input tracer
was blocked/stopped. For R
c
= 0, the equation becomes

After performing further integration,

] = exp [-

= W(t), the washout function
Where W(t) is the fraction of molecules leaving the system that experienced a residence time
more than t (Nauman,2008). The tracer was actually being washed out at t=0.
On the other hand, positive step changes (which used less amount of tracer as it will be
stopped before C
out
= C
o
) is related to cumulative distribution function, F(t) which is defined by
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Nauman (2008) as the fraction of molecules leaving the system that experienced a residence time
less than t. The equation given is
F(t) = 1 - W(t) = C
out
(t)/C
o

Where C
in
=

C
out
= 0, t<0
C
in
= C
o
, t>0
For impulse changes, the tracer were fed into reactor at t=0 and leave the reactor over
time. In order to obtain impulse response function, the equation used is
f (t) =

where f (t) dt = fraction of molecules leaving the system that experienced a residence time
between t and t + dt or differential distribution function.
To add to that, Sampere, Montesinos and Alcaraz (1994) stated that there are three
method used to measure the concentration based on inert tracer injection which are,
pulse injection
tracer was injected at
the inlet in a very
short time interval

introduction of a
concentration change
in the form of step
function
introduction of a
periodic
concentration
fluctuation in the
inflow


Figure 2: example of E(t) diagram (the shaded region represents the probability of fluid to reside
in the reactor between t and t + dt).
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Chapter 3: Application of residence time distribution in industry

conversion prediction for first order homogenous reactions
calculations of parameters of complex flow models
calibrating flow rate measurements and reactor volume and/or tests for occurrence of
adsorption
1) Conversion prediction for first order homogenous reactions

Outlet concentration, c = c
o

Average outlet concentration for all fluid = c
o

X = 1 (C/C
o
)
2) Calculations of parameters of complex flow models
RTD can be used to estimate parameters such as exchange rates between different zones
by calculating the mean and variance of residence time obtained from the observation and
calculations of RTD.
3) Calibrating flow rate measurements and reactor volume and/or tests for occurrence
of adsorption
Flow rates or volume obtainable for the fluid can be calculated by using the mean
residence time, t
m
. Therefore, the adsorption of the tracer section can be determined.


calculate mean residence time,
m

obtain steady-state conversion
first order reaction, micro fluid and macro fluid give same
conversion result (special case)
fluid leave reactor after residence time, t seconds, assume
constant density, and temperature, T
perform calculation to obtain outlet concentration, c and
conversion, X
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Chapter 4: Diagnostic and troubleshooting

1) A defective reactor can be observed through RTD graph as shown below


The graph above shows a short-cut that will be visible on the E diagram with large fluid
fraction and very short residence time.

As being observed on the E diagram, the excessive long tail was affected by the presence
of the dead zones which results in longer residence time of the fluid. In a case where the
tail cannot be detected due to slow renewal of the dead zone, the mean residence time
will be smaller than space time, .

Figure 3: comparison between the RTD achieve for dead zone (DV), bypass (BP) and perfect (P)
curve in CSTR
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Figure 4: comparison between the RTD achieve for dead zone (DV), bypass (BP) and perfect (P)
curve in PFR
These results will then be compared to the expected observation to be treated afterwards.


Chapter 5: Summary
This report had discussed on the basic definition of residence time distribution which is
the probability of the fluid to leave the reactor after certain period of residence time. To add to
that, on chapter two, the method of RTD measurement was discussed in detail for positive step
change input, negative step change input as well as the pulse input response. In chapter three, the
application of RTD was explained which are for conversion prediction for first order
homogenous reactions, calculations of parameters of complex flow models and calibrating flow
rate measurements and reactor volume and/or tests for occurrence of adsorption. Lastly, chapter
four explain on the diagnostic and troubleshooting of RTD which are by observing the dead zone
or short-cutting on the RTD curve.





KINETIC REACTOR & DESIGN

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References
1) Alcaraz, O. E., Montesinos, R. F., & Sempere, J. F., (1994). Residence Time Distribution
for Unsteady-State System. Vol. 50, no. 2. (pg. 223-230)

2) Beenackers, A. A. C. M., Van Swaiij, W. P. M., & Westerterp, K. R., (1987). Chemical
Reactor Design and Operation. Residence Time Distribution and Mixing in Continuous
Flow Reactors.
3) Nauman, E. B., (2008). Chemical Reactor Design, Optimization, and Scaleup. Residence
Time Distribution.