(87h) Reactive Mixing in a Stirred Tank Reactor

A chemical reaction coupled with a mixing process in stirred tank reactors has generated much interest due to the complex interaction between the flow hydrodynamics and the chemical reaction kinetics. However, there is a lack of effective measurement techniques to record a detailed map of reactive flow. In this study, simultaneous mixing and chemical reaction in a stirred tank reactor was investigated by the reactive Planar Laser Induced Fluorescence (PLIF) techniques. Fenton reaction was selected as a typical fast and environmentally friend reaction under mixing in a stirred tank reactor. The principle is recording the fluorescence signal of a fluorescent dye which varies in time and space because of being oxidized by the Fenton reaction. Concentration field, mixing time and reaction time were determined by this technique. Results showed that the reactive PLIF is an effective technique in accurate recording of reactive flow behavior and showing every details of concentration fluctuations in each point of the reactor. It was concluded that under Damkohler numbers greater than one where reaction rate is higher than mixing rate, improving mixing conditions would lead to increasing the reaction rate.