Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor Design

An Equipment Design Report Submitted to the

Department of Chemical Engineering
Faculty of Engineering
University of Santo Tomas

In Fulfilment of the Requirement in ChE 511

BAYLON, Marion Francis A.

INTRODUCTION

Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor or CSTR is a type of continuous reactor where it

assumed at steady-state thus having a net accumulation of zero. The basic principle of this
reactor is given by the mass balance equation below.

Where in, Fjo is the flow of input while Fj is the flow of output and Gj is the mass
generation that occurred in the reaction. This ideal reactor type is a template of various industrial
key unit operations utilizing agitated stirring reactor tanks since it follows a basic template of an
input flow of reactants and an output flow of products having passed through a stirring activity.
A basic CSTR schematic diagram is shown in Figure 1. [1]

Figure 1. CSTR Schematic Diagram [1]

 In this equipment design project, a CSTR reactor is designed for the industrial production
of Nitrobenzene. Nitrobenzene is an organic compound that serves as an intermediate product to
industries such as polymers, pharmaceuticals and explosives. It is toxic in nature, thus making it
one of the most dangerous chemical to produce [2]. It is synthesized through the nitration of
benzene, as seen in the reaction mechanism in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Nitration of benzene

The reaction is exothermic giving out an enthalphy of 112 kJ/mol [3]. Industrial production is
done by allowing nitric acid (HNO3) to react with benzene (C6H6 ) having Sulfuric Acid (H2SO4)
as catalyst.

RATIONALE OF DESIGN

CSTR has been the staple reactor type in the production of Nitrobenzene since it only
requires mixing at atmospheric temperature and ambient temperature [4]. Thus making the
CSTR is practical and economical for this reaction. Moreover, the safety margins affiliated to
this dangerous process makes it worthy of study.

In Agustriyanto, R et al s article entitled The Effect of Temperature on the Production of

Nitrobenzene published in 2017, A simulated CSTR production of nitrobenzene was done
through the ASPEN HYSIS software [5]. It is wise to adapt the parameters used in the article to
design an actual CSTR.

OPERATION CONDITIONS

Table 1. Operation Parameters

 Temperature 40degC
Pressure 101.325 kPa

Table 2. Properties of Benzene (C6H6)

% Concentration 89.9%
Mass flowrate 1000 kg/h
density 876 kg/m3

Table 3. Properties of Nitric Acid (HNO3)

% Concentration 65%
Mass flowrate 1173 kg/h
density 1510 kg/m3

Table 4. Properties of Sulfuric Acid (H2SO4)

% Concentration 89%
Mass flowrate 2561 kg/h
density 1840 kg/m3

Table 5. Properties of Nitrobenzene in product

% Conversion 88.94%
Mass density 1398 kg/m3
Viscosity 2.309 cP
Thermal Conductivity .3902 W/mK

*All values are from the study of (Agustriyanto, R et al 2017)[3]

ASSUMPTIONS AND CONSTRAINTS

 Reaction kinetics and values from the simulation is assumed realistic as it is the basis of
the reactor design. Design is assumed at steady state.

MATERIAL OF CONSTRUCTION

Common industrial reactors use steel as shells for the tank. Steel can be classified with
Carbon steel and Stainless Steel. Carbon steel is reactive with acid and since different acids are
the feedstock to the reactor for this process this research intended to look for the chemical
resistance of different materials. Using a chemical resistance chart, it was found that Stainless
Steel Grade 316 is the best material to contain nitrobenzene and its feedstocks. [5]

REACTOR DESIGN CALCULATIONS AND HEURISTICS

Reactor Vessel Volume:

The tank to be designed is a vertical vessel.According to the Chemical Engineering

Handbook [7], Nitrobenzene production has a residence time of 40 minutes. Using the equation
of residence time in a CSTR the volume of the liquid was calculated.

vf = total volumetric flow rate in the feed

V=liquid volume in the tank
V was found to be 2.206814353 m3

It was designed that the tank bottom is ellipsoidal, to avoid corners in the vessel that may
hinder optimum mixing and also to avoid pressure build up in corners. The equation for liquid
volume in a vertical tank with ellipsoidal head was used to get the diameter of the tank.

V=liquid volume in the tank =

 According to heuristics, for optimum mixing, D=h of liqd, it was assumed that a the
depth of the the ellipsoidal bottom from the cylinder is D/4.

D was found to be 1.4526m

Thickness of shell:

The tank has a cylinder shell thus it follows the equation below.

Where in, t= thickness

P=operating pressure =14.7psi
S=maximum allowable stress =20,000 psi
E=Welding efficiency =1
Cc= Corrosion allowance= .354in
Welding efficiency was assumed to be 1 since it was aimed that the tank is seamlessly made
because the chemical contained and reacted inside the tank is very toxic and dangerous if leakage
will occur.

The tank thickness was found to be 0.375357in or .9534077cm.

Impeller and Baffling:

No baffles were used in the design rather the impeller was offset 1/6 from the center and
it is located D/6 above the bottom most level of liquid. Baffles were not used to avoid welding of
other materials to the shell since it may lead to weaker shell that can cause corrosion and/or
leakage.

A pitched blade turbine with 4 blades was chosen as impeller since it allows faster
stirring spin and stronger agitation especially since the viscosity of the fluid is very low with
2.309 cP. Heuristics for blade diameter and blade width was followed with D/3 and D/15
respectively.
 Cooling Jacket:

Since the reactor must be kept within 40degC which is not far from ambient temperature
a half-pipe 2sch40 jacket coil was used. Ambient water will be the cooling medium.

Power requirement:

A comprehensive online chemical engineering calculator [6] was used to compute for the
power requirement in the motor of the stirrer. The calculator uses sound chemical engineering
calculations and diagrams. The screenshot of the calculator is presented in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Screenshot of Calculator with the input values

 The required values were input in the calculator and it automatically shows the results
with the corresponding explanation of the calculation with heuristics. The results can be seen in
Figure 4.

Figure 4. Screenshot of Calculator with the desired values

Motor Power is found to be 3.41kW

 EQUIPMENT SPECIFICATIONS SUMMARY

Equipment : Continous Stirred Tank Reactor

Process: Nitration of benzene
Material of Construction: Stainless Steel GR 316
Top Head: Spherical
Bottom Head: Ellipsoidal
Design Temperature: 154 deg F
Design Pressure: 39.7 psi
Reactor Volume: 2.427496 m3(w/ 10% freeboard)
Optimum Diameter: 1.453 m
Optimum Liquid Height: 1.453 m
Impeller Type: Pitched Blade Turbine Impeller
Baffle Type: No baffle, Offset center stirrer
Jacket Type: Half-pipe 2Sch 40 coil

DIAGRAM MOTOR
Manhole

INLET Opening

Half pipe
baffles

PBT Impeller

OUTLET Opening
REFERENCES

[1] http://umich.edu/~elements/asyLearn/bits/cstr/index.htm

[2] https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/nitrobenzene#section=Top

[3] R Agustriyanto et al 2017 IOP Conf. Ser.: Mater. Sci. Eng. 172 012045

[4] Chemical Engineering Handbook 8thED., Chapter 19 reactors

[5] https://www.calpaclab.com/stainless-steel-chemical-compatibility-chart/

[6] https://checalc.com/index.html