Effect of Operating Conditions on CSTR performance: an Experimental Study

Abstract

In this work, Saponification reaction of ethyl acetate by sodium hydroxide is studied experimentally in a continuous stirred tank reactor at 1 atmospheric pressure. The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of operating conditions on the conversion and specific rate constant. The parameters considered for analysis are temperature, feed flow rate, residence time, volume of reactor and sti rrer rate. The steady state conversion of 0.45 achieved after a period of 30 minutes. Conversion decreases with increase of reactant flow rate due to decrease of residence time. The stirrer rate has a positive effect on the conversion and rate constant. Specific rate constant and conversion increase with temperature within the studied temperature range. Within the range of reactor volume selected for analysis, conversion increases with increase in reactor volume. The results obtained in this study may be helpful in maximizing the conversion of ethyl acetate saponification reaction at industrial scale in a CSTR