Introduction

Based on the mode of re­ac­tor op­er­a­tion, re­ac­tors may be:

• Batch
• Continuous
  • Plug Flow
  • Continuously Stirred

Continuously op­er­at­ing re­ac­tors are also fur­ther sub­di­vided on the ba­sis of their ho­mo­gene­ity.

Characteristics

As enu­mer­ated by Missen et al. (1999)

• Each batch is a closed sys­tem
• The to­tal mass of each batch is fixed
• The vol­ume or den­sity of each batch varies (w.r.t time)
• The en­ergy of each batch varies (w.r.t time)
• The re­ac­tion (residence) time \(t\) for all ements of a fluid is the same.
• The op­er­a­tion of the re­ac­tor is in­her­ently in the un­stead-state (eg. com­po­si­tion w.r.t time)
• The batch is uni­form due to ef­fi­cient stir­ring (composition, tem­per­a­ture .etc)

References