APPLICATIONS. Oil burners are jet tube reactors.

Jet washers are used for

fast reactions such as acid-base reactions. An example is the absorption of
hydrochloric acid in sodium hydroxide-sodium sulfite solutions.

L. LAGOON

DESCRIPTION. Lagoons are used for the deposition and degradation of

industrial and human wastes. The waste, in water, is pumped into a holding
lagoon. Water in the lagoon usually evaporates but may be pumped out under
some conditions. The advantage of a biological lagoon is long holding times for
the degradation of compounds that have extremely slow reaction rates.
There are three modes of operation for lagoons. They may be either anaerobic,
aerobic, or facultative (which is a combination of aerobic and anaerobic).
Aerobic lagoons require the additional cost of aerators and compressors for
continuous bubbling of air, oxygen, or ozone into the lagoon.

CLASSIFICATION. The biological lagoon is difficult to categorize since a

reaction and a separation process are occurring simultaneously. Water flow
through the system should ideally be at steady state; however, variable input,
climatic conditions, and rain all affect the water in the system as a function of
time. Chemical concentrations are similar to semibatch operation but may be at a
relatively steady state.
APPLICATIONS. Lagoons are a simple, lowcost reaction system for
wastewater treatment. Anaerobic lagoons are capable of handling
highconcentration wastes but then require an aeration lagoon to treat the water
effluent. Effluent from aerobic lagoons with low-concentration feed usually
requires no additional treatment to meet water quality standards.

M. LOOP REACTOR

DESCRIPTION. For reactions where highpressure requirements do not allow

large diameter tanks for homogeneous reaction kinetics, a loop reactor can be
used. The loop is a recycle reactor made of small diameter tubes. Feed can be
supplied continuously at one location in the loop and product withdrawal at
another.
CLASSIFICATION. Despite its complex construction, the loop is essentially a
stirred-tank reactor. By recirculating fast enough the system can be considered
well mixed. For this to be the case, the rate of recycle must be much greater than
the rate of product withdrawal.
APPLICATIONS. An example for the loop reactor is the oxidation of normal
butane.

N. PACKED BED
 DESCRIPTION. The packed bed reactor is used to contact fluids with solids. It
is one of the most widely used industrial reactors and may or may not be catalytic.
The bed is usually a column with the actual dimensions influenced by temperature
and pressure drop in addition to the reaction kinetics. Heat limitations may
require a small diameter tube, in which case total throughput requirements are
maintained by the use of multiple tubes. This reduces the effect of hot spots in
the reactor. For catalytic packed beds, regeneration is a problem for continuous
operation. If a catalyst with a short life is required, then shifting between two
columns may be necessary to maintain continuous operation.
CLASSIFICATION. A packed bed reactor is a continuous heterogeneous
reactor. The gas or liquid phase obeys plug flow theory. The solids are
considered batch, with even long-life catalyst beds losing activity over time.
APPLICATIONS. Noncatalytic packed bed reactors have been discussed
separately in other sections of this article. They include blast furnaces,
convertors, roasting furnaces, rotary kilns, and gasifiers.

O. RECYCLE

DESCRIPTION. A recycle reactor is a mode of operation for the plug flow

reactor in reaction engineering terms. Recycle may also be used in other
configurations involving a separation step. In plug flow some percentage of the
effluent from the reactor is mixed back into the feed stream. The reason for this is
to control certain desirable reaction kinetics. The more recycle in a plug flow
reactor, the closer the operation is to a stirred-tank reactor. Therefore, with
recycle it is possible to operate at any condition between the values predicted by
either CSTR or PFR. There is no advantage in operating a CSTR with recycle
unless a separation or other process is being performed on the recycle stream,
since the CSTR is already well mixed.
CLASSIFICATION. The recycle reactor is used to reach an operating condition
between the theoretical boundaries predicted by the continuous stirred tank
reactor and the plug flow reactor.
APPLICATIONS. The recycle reactor is used to control the reaction kinetics of
multiple reaction systems. By controlling the concentration present in the reactor,
one can shift selectivity toward a more desired product for nonlinear reaction
kinetics.

P. ROASTING FURNACE

DESCRIPTION. Roasting furnaces are in a class of reactors used by the

metallurgical industry in a preparatory step for the conversion of ores to metals.
There are three widely used roasted furnaces: multiple hearth, fluidized bed, and
flash roasters. In the multiple hearth configuration hot gases pass over beds of
ore concentrate. The flash roaster injects pulverized ore with air into a hot
combustion chamber. The fluidized bed roaster operates as described in a
separate heading.