Alternate operating methods for improving the performance of a continuous stirred tank reactor

Abstract

The effect of the pumping direction of an axial flow impeller, the feeding rate and the number of feed inlets on the operation of a continuously-fed stirred tank has been studied using CFD. The flow patterns generated by the up-pumping and down-pumping impeller, under both ‘typical’ and ‘intensified’ operating conditions, are compared. The effect of various tank configurations on the performance of the vessel is assessed by analysing the flow and power numbers, as well as the concentration field of a non-reactive tracer. Furthermore, the inlet feed jets are reduced using traditional jet similarity analysis and are compared with that of a typical round jet. The results show that up-pumping impellers improve circulation in the upper part of the tank and reduce shortcircuiting of the feed stream with only a small increase in power consumption. Furthermore, by using multiple feed inlets to increase the total throughput capacity, the amplitude of torque fluctuations is decreased and impeller bypassing is also decreased. The ensemble of conclusions suggest that the throughput capacity and mixing quality of a CSTR can be improved, without problems of short-circuiting, by employing up-pumping impellers coupled with multiple surface feed points.