Indian Institute of Technology Ropar

Department of Chemical Engineering

Name - Unnati Singh (2021chb1059) GROUP - C

EXPERIMENT 1: KINETIC STUDIES IN CONTINUOUS STIRRED TANK REACTOR

AIM:
1. To study of a non-catalytic homogeneous second order liquid phase reaction in a C.S.T.R
under ambient conditions.
2. To determine the reaction rate constant, (k) for saponification of ethyl acetate with sodium
hydroxide at ambient conditions.

CHEMICALS:

Distilled water : 40 Lit

NaOH Pellets : 100 gm

Ethyl acetate : 200 ml

DISCRIPTION:

The set up consists of two feed tanks through which two reactants are fed to the reactor. The
compressed air is used for circulation of feed. Peristaltic pump are used to control and measure
the inlet flow rates. The CSTR is fitted with stirrer for proper mixing. Conductivity meter is
provided at the outlet for the analysis of product.

INSTALLATION PROCEDURE OF SOFTWARE:

Two DVDs are provided with the equipment. One DVD is of Device Driver and other DVD of
Operating Software. First, place the device driver DVD in DVD-ROM and wait for 5 to 10
seconds. A blue-colored window appears on the screen. Install the software as per directions.
When installation is finished, a shortcut would be created on the desktop showing name as
“NI-Max”. Restart the computer system. Fix USB Card in empty USB slot. This ends the
completion of loading of DAQ Card Driver. Now, take Operating Software DVD and place in
DVD-ROM. Open DVD and open folder “Continuous stirred tank reactor with RTD studies”
and then double click on “Setup.exe”. Follow the instructions and do the installation. Same
procedure follows for other accessories software.

Go to desktop and double click on “NI-Max”. A window opens and looks at left side. Follow the
path as “My System” → “Devices and Interfaces” → Click on USB-6001: “Dev1”, Right click
and rename it as “205” and press “enter”. Now, it appears as USB-6001: “205”.Close the
window. After completion of installation “restart” the computer system.

METHOD OF OPERATING SOFTWARE:

Open the “Continuous stirred tank reactor with RTD studies Experimental Setup.” EXE by
clicking it from program Menu of main Menu bar. Enter Password “kce” for the software and
press “enter” or click “OK”. Click the “Interface” button to open interface of the software. In the
entire software, a “NEXT” button is provided, at left front, which enables to go to next step.
Another button named as “BACK” is present. This facilitates to retrieve last step taken. An
“EXIT” button, at right bottom end, is present there. It may be used to exit at any session and
finally, stopping the software.

Note: In the absence of external hardware (USB-6001), the interfacing section may not able
to work.

PROCEDURE:

Starting Procedure:

1. Prepare 20L of N/10 NaOH solution by dissolving 80 gm of sodium hydroxide in 20L of

distilled water.
2. Prepare 20L of N/10 ethyl acetate solution by mixing 176 gm (or 196 ml) of ethyl acetate in
20L of distilled water.
3. Close all the valves.
4. Open lid and fill sodium hydroxide solution in feed tank A.
5. Open lid and fill ethyl acetate solution in feed tank B.
6. Connect electric supply to the set-up.
7. Pass sodium hydroxide and ethyl acetate into the reactor by allowing equal flow rate
controlled by R.P.M.
8. Start the stirrer of the reactor.
9. After about 10 min or time equal to the residence time of the reactor. record the data in
software
10. Repeat the experiment for different flow rates of feed.

Closing Procedure:

1. When experiment is over stop the flow of feed by closing the valve.
2. Switch OFF the stirrer of the reactor.
3. Close the valve.
4. Drain the reactor, feed tanks by opening the drain valve.

THEORY:

REACTION:

NaOH + CH3COOC2H5 → CH3COONa + C2H5OH

(A) (B) (C) (D) The above reaction is second order

reaction (n = 2) For second order reaction

Where -ra rate of disappearance of A is, CAis concentration of A at any time t, k is rate constant.

The performance equation for the mixed flow reactor at steady state is:
In terms of concentration we can write

Where τis residence time, VRis volume of reactor, o

vis volumetric flow rates of reactants A

and B,CAois initial concentration of A.

Substitute the value of A − rin eqn(3) from eqn(1)

OBSERVATION & CALCULATION:
DATA:

Working volume of reactor VRR = ____ Lit

Normality of NaOH in feed solution NNaOH = 0.1 g eq/L

Initial Concentration of the feed CAo = 0.005 mol/L

CALCULATION:
Graph:

Link for the Excel sheet - Click here

NOMENCLATURE:
Nom Column Heading Units Type

CA Concentration of unreacted NaOH in the reactor mole/L Calculated

CAo Initial concentration of NaOH in the feed mixture mole/L Calculated

kk Rate constant for individual run L/mole-sec Calculated

NNaOH Normality of NaOH in feed solution g eq /L Given

FA Volumetric flow rate of NaOH LPH Measured

FB Volumetric flow rate of CH3COOC2H5 LPH Measured

N No. of rotation of stirrer RPM Measured

VRR Working volume of reactor Lit Given

 T Temperature of the reaction 0 Measured
C

XA Degree of conversion * Calculated

τ Residence time min Calculated

T Time sec Measured

Conclusion:

The experiment aimed to study a second-order liquid-phase reaction in a

Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor (CSTR). By analyzing the saponification of ethyl
acetate with sodium hydroxide, the reaction rate constant (k) was determined.
Experimental data, including flow rates, temperature, and stirrer rotations, were
used to calculate parameters such as degree of conversion (XA), residence time (τ),
and rate constant (k). These values provided insights into the reaction's kinetics
and efficiency. The experiment showcased the importance of reaction rate
constants in understanding and optimizing chemical processes.