Residence time distribution

State of aggregation of the flowing

stream
Earliness of mixing

Reference: Fogler and Levenspiel


TOPIC 8
Non-ideal Reactors
Residence time distribution
Residence time distribution (RTD) is used to:
-characterize reactor
-predict exit conversion and concentration
-diagnose faulty operation of a reactor



All above can be done using
-age distribution of fluid (pulse and step
experiment)
-cumulative distribution time
-mean residence time

State of aggregation of flowing stream can be in
the state of microfluid or macrofluid or micro-
macrofluid.
Single phase system
The state exist is either microfluid or macrofluid .




State of aggregation
Two phase system
The state is micro-macrofluid, depending on the
contacting scheme.

Mixing of reactants can be divided into 3 which are
Early mixing, Uniform mixing, Late mixing
Single stream flow can mix with each other, either
early or late mixing, which has little effect on
overall behaviour.



Two entering reactant stream mixing can be very
important towards the fluid behaviour.
Earliness of mixing
Residence-Time Distribution (RTD) Function
~The time the atoms have spent in the reactor is called the residence
time of the atoms in the reactor.
~In any reactor, the distribution of residence times can significantly
affect its performance.
~The residence-time distribution (RTD) of a reactor is a characteristic
of the mixing that occurs in the chemical reactor.
~Not all RTDs are unique to a particular reactor type; markedly different
reactors can display identical RTDs.
~The RTD exhibited by a given reactor type yields distinctive clues to
the type of mixing occurring within it and is one of the most informative
characterizations of the reactor.
The RTD is determined experimentally by injecting an inert chemical,
molecule, or atom, called a tracer, into the reactor at some time t=0 and
then measuring the tracer concentration, C, in the effluent stream as a
function of time.

Residence-Time Distribution (RTD) Function

Age distribution of fluid, E(t)
}

=
0
) (
) (
) (
dt t C
t C
t E
T
T
reactor in the dt) (t and (t)
between spent time have that
reactor the exiting molecules of Fraction E(t)
+
=
Example 13-1
A sample of the tracer hytane at 320 K was injected as pulse to a reactor, and the effluent

concentration was measured as a function of time, resulting in the data shown in Table E13-
1 . 1 .
The measurement represent the exact concentrations at the times listed and not average
values between the various sampling tests.
(a) Construct figures showing C(t) and E(t) as functions of time.
(b) Determine both the fraction of material leaving the reactor that has spent between 3 and
6 min in the reactor and the fraction of material leaving the reactor that has spent between
7.75 and 8.25 min in the reactor, and
(c) determine the fraction of material leaving the reactor that has spent 3 min or less in the
reactor.

Solution
(a)
dt ) t ( C dt ) t ( C dt ) t ( C
14
10
10
0 0
} } }
+ =

3
14
10
3
10
0
min/ 6 . 2 ] 0 ) 6 . 0 ( 4 5 . 1 [
3
2
) (
min/ 4 . 47
) 8 ( 4 ) 5 ( 2 ) 1 ( 4 ) 0 ( 1 [
3
1
) (
m g dt t C
m g
dt t C
= + + =
=
+ + + =
}
}
3
14
10
10
0 0
min/ 0 . 50 6 . 2 4 . 47
) ( ) ( ) (
m g
dt t C dt t C dt t C
= + =
+ =
} } }

vdt ) t ( C
) t ( C
) t ( E
0
}

=
3
0
m min/ g 0 . 50 dt ) t ( C =
}

(b)
51 . 0 ] 12 . 0 ) 16 . 0 ( 3 ) 2 . 0 ( 3 16 . 0 )[ 1 (
8
3
dt ) t ( E
6
3
= + + + =
}
We find that 51% of material leaving the reactor spends
between 3 and 6 min in the reactor.
03 . 0 min ) 75 . 7 25 . 8 min)( 06 . 0 ( t E dt ) t ( E
average
25 . 8
75 . 7
= = A =
}
We find that 3% of material leaving the reactor
spends between 7.75 and 8.25 min in the reactor.
Cumulative distribution time, F(t)
(c)
area=0.2
0
We see that 20% of the material has
spent 3 min or less in the reactor.
We see that 80% of the material has spent 3 min or more in the
reactor.
Cumulative distribution time, F(t)
Cumulative distribution time, F(t)
}
=
t
dt t E t F
0
) ( ) (
dt ) t ( tE
dt ) t ( E
dt ) t ( tE
t
0
0
0
m
}
}
}

= =
We have a reactor completely filled with maize molecules. At time t=0 we start
blue molecules to replace the maize molecules that currently fill the reactor.
Initially, the reactor volume V is equal to the volume occupied by the maize
molecules. Now, in a times dt, the volume of molecules that will leave the reactor
is (vdt). The fraction of these molecules that have been in the reactor a time t or
greater is [1-F(t)]. Because only the maize molecules have been in the reactor a
time t or greater, the volume of maize molecules, dV, leaving the reactor in a time
dt is
)] t ( F 1 )[ vdt ( dV = )] t ( F 1 )[ vdt ( dV = dt )] t ( F 1 [ v V
0
=
}

volumetric flow
is constant
}

=
0
dt )] t ( F 1 [ v V
} }
+ = + =

1
0
1
0
0
tdF 0 tdF )] t ( F 1 [ t
v
V
Mean Residence Time
dt ) t ( E ) t t (
0
2
m
2
}

= o
Variance or square of the standard deviation is defined as:
The magnitude of this moment is an indication of
the spread of the distribution; the greater the
value of this moment is, the greater a istributions
spread will be.
dt ) t ( E dF =
m
0
t dt ) t ( tE = = t
}

v
V
= t
For liquid reactions, no change in
volumetric flow rate.
For gas reactions, no pressure drop,
isothermal operation, and no
change in the total number of moles
(c=0).
) X 1 /( t
m
c + t =
Mean Residence Time
Mean residence time & variance
}

=
0
) ( dt t tE t
m
}

=
0
2 2
) ( ) ( dt t E t t
m
o