Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering

THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

of SINGAPORE

Chem. Eng Process Laboratory I

B.Tech CN2116E

Experiment R2

Plug Flow Reactor

Name : Tay Hong Wei (A0180458Y)

Muhammad Daniaal (A0180473E)
Erick Hadinata (A0169493M)

Group : 1

Date of Expt : 18th February 2019

GRADE :
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. OBJECTIVE 1
2. THEORY 1
3. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES 2
4. TABULATIONS AND CALCULATIONS 3
5. ANSWERS OF QUESTION GIVEN 5
6. DISCUSSION 7
7. CONCLUSION 9
8. REFERENCE 10

Objective:
 To determine the rate constant for the alkaline hydrolysis of ethyl acetate using a plug flow
reactor.

Theory

Ethyl acetate (EtAc) hydrolyses in sodium hydroxide solution according to the stoichiometry:
NaOH + CH3COO C2H5  CH3 COO Na + C2H5 OH

The reaction is assumed to be irreversible. Under constant volume operation, the reaction rate is
given by:
-rA = - (dCA/dt) = k CACB

If stoichiometric quantities of the reactants are used, that is C Ao = CBO, then at any time during the
reaction, CA = CB or
-rA = kC2A

where CAO = concentration of sodium hydroxide (A) in the feed mixture

CBO = concentration of ethyl acetate (B) in the feed mixture
CA = concentration of sodium hydroxide (A) in the reactor
CB = concentration of ethyl acetate (B) in the reactor
k = rate constant of the reaction

For a plug flow reactor with a volume of Vp and a fractional conversion of xA = (CAO-CA)/CAO

Vp/vo = xA/[kCAO(1-xA)]

Where vo = volumetric feed rate

Experimental Procedure

 Switch on power supply to the unit.

 Make sure enough water is present in the water circulation system.
 Prime the water circulation pump.
 Set the temperature of the water bath to 30o C.
 Allow about 20 min to attain the uniform temperature.
 Prepare NaOH(CAT= 0.05M) and EtAc(CBT=0.05M) and fill the feed containers.
  Adjust the speed of both pumps to give flow rate of 30 ml/min (vA=vB).
 Use a measuring cylinder and a stop watch to check the exact flow rate.
 Check the product flow rate (=feed flow rate = vo) as well.
 Get ready 4 beakers of 5ml 0.1M HCl standard solution.
 On the computer, access the program CEM 9 Logger. This program will be used to monitor
the conductivity (mS) of the product stream.
 When 3 consecutive conductivity values are the same, collect 20 ml of product and
immediately add this to a beaker of HCl prepared earlier.
 Use the Autotitrator to titrate the collected sample (learn the procedure from the
demonstrator).
 Collect sample at every 5 minutes interval till the consecutive readings are the same.
 Repeat the above procedure for flow rates, vA = vB = 50, 70 and 90ml/min.

Tabulation and Calculation

Table 1.1 shows the data extracted from autotitrator display. Table 1.2 shows the calculation to find
space time τp and xA/(1-xA).

Table 1.1 Experimental data of 0.103M NaOH volume used for titration
Flow Rate (ml/min) Volume of 0.103M NaOH used in titration (ml)*
vA vB Run 1 Run 2 Run 3 Average
30 30 2.284 2.221 1.735 2.080
50 50 1.715 1.735 1.730 1.727
70 70 1.621 1.007 1.876 1.501

*
Best three data values are chosen for the table as there are too many outliers in the analysis result.

Table 1.2 Calculated data for space time and xA

Feed Conc. Flow Rate Total Flow Space Time

VNaOH used
(mol/l) (ml/min) vo(ml/min) p CA * xA xA/(1-xA)
in titration
CAT CBT vA vB Vo=vA + vB VReactor/v
0.05 0.05 30 30 60 3.333 2.080 0.0153 0.694 2.268
0.05 0.05 50 50 100 2.000 1.727 0.0171 0.658 1.924
0.05 0.05 70 70 140 1.429 1.501 0.0183 0.634 1.732
CHCL = 0.104 M

CNaOH = 0.103 M

Vreactor = 200 mL

Sample calculation:

At vo = 50 ml/min:

 C AO  C A 
xA 
C AO

Determine the reaction constant by plotting p against xA/(1-xA)

Given the Chemical Reactions:

NaOH + CH3COOC2H5  CH3COONa + C2H5OH

 dC A
Rate equation for reaction above:  rA    kC A C B
dt

Since CAO=CBO,  rA  kC 2 A

For plug flow reactor,

 C AO  C A 
xA  ,
C AO
Vp xA

vo kC AO (1  x A )
xA
p 
kC AO (1  x A )
1 xA
p  .
kC AO 1  x A

If we use the linear equation mode y = mx + C, it is known that the gradient is 1/kCAO for the graph
p against xA/(1-xA). From the graph, the gradient is 3.5904, so k can be found by:

Answer to Question Given

If the orders of the reaction with respect to each of the reactants are not known, describe briefly what
experiments you would carry out to determine the rate equation for the reaction.
Answer: