EXPERIMENT-4

PACKED BED REACTOR

SUBMITTED BY: KHUSHI JAIN (20112058)

1. TITLE
To study a non-catalytic reaction in a Packed Bed Reactor.

2. OBJECTIVE
To determine the reaction rate constant for saponification of ethyl acetate with sodium
hydroxide at ambient conditions.

3. THEORY
In a Packed Bed Reactor (PBR), material flows through the reactor as a plug, so PBRs
are also called plug flow reactors (PFRs). In an ideal plug flow reactor (PFTR) there is
no mixing in the direction of flow and complete mixing in direction perpendicular to
flow. Concentration of reactants varies along the length of the reactor but not in the
radial direction. In case of a non-catalytic packed bed reactor (PBR), an additional
contact surface is provided for the reaction by packed bed. It is expected that the yield
of reaction should be high in case of a packed bed reactor as compared to an equal
volume plug flow reactor.

Figure 1: Schematic Diagram for Non-Catalytic Packed Bed Reactor