Mass Transfer Behavior and Energy Utilization Efficiency of a Fixed Bed Suspended in a Stirred Tank Reactor

Abstract

The present study contributes to overcoming the serious drawback of the traditional stirred slurry catalytic reactor, namely, the costly and time-consuming separation of the catalyst particles from the final product using a stationary fixed bed of Raschig rings placed above a rotating impeller. The rate of diffusion-controlled reactions was measured in terms of the mass transfer coefficient under different conditions of impeller rotation speed, Raschig ring diameter, and bed height. The rate of mass transfer was determined by a technique which involves measuring the rate of diffusion-controlled dissolution of copper in acidified dichromate. The data were correlated by a dimensionless correlation which can be used to scale up and design the reactor. The reactor performance was measured in terms of the mass transfer coefficient and the energy utilization efficiency. Possible applications of the reactor in conducting diffusion-controlled reactions were highlighted.