Continuous Stirred-Tank Reactor (CSTR) in Series
Nur Syazwanie Binti Mohd Dahalan (2020840418)
Nuralia Syafiqah Binti Nazri (2020810202)
Nuren Azra Binti Nazeri (2020628104)
Nursyahida Binti Badrul Hassan (2020860058)
Abstract— In chemical process and industry, chemical reactor
is one of the most important unit operations. Reactor is a vessel or
device which are running out for manufacturing or experimental
purposes within chemical processes. CSTR is a reactor that
equipped with impeller or bladder or mixing device that provided
the efficient mixing. Objective of this experiment is to determine
the conductivity and effect of step input in CSTR in series. Other
than that, to determine the moments for RTD function for the
reactors. This experiment has been done by mixing the deionized
water and dissolved sodium chloride in series of CSTR.
Conductivity values were taken every three minutes until value
conductivity reactor 3 and reactor 1 almost equivalent. Reactor 1
gives the highest conductivity value and become constant at the
end with value 12.6975 mS/cm and reactor 3 has the highest
residence time function which is. These may be caused by the
position of the impeller located in the CSTR.
Keywords— CSTR; series; residence time function;
conductivity; step input
I. INTRODUCTION
In chemical process and industry, chemical reactor is
generally the most important equipment or known as unit
operation. Reactor is a vessel or device which are running out
for manufacturing or experimental purposes within which
chemical processes. A reactor is an enclosed container
whereas chemical reaction occurs. In analysis of chemical
process, it is commonly understood in chemical engineering to
be a process vessel that be used to undertake a chemical
reaction, which is one of the most common unit operations.
Chemical reactor design encompasses a wide range of chemical
engineering concepts. The design and operation of a reactor are
important to the system as it is the key to the whole of
production to obtain product that achieved high conversion,
yield and selectivity. Chemical reaction that occurred in the
reactor is either the endothermic which is absorb energy or
exothermic which is release energy and therefore in order to
maintained the temperature is by removing or adding energy to
the reactor.
There are three types of reactors which are Batch Reactor,
Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor and Plug Flow Reactor. In this
experiment, the reactor that being used is SOLTEQ BP107
Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor (CSTR) in series. CSTR is a
reactor that equipped with impeller or bladder or mixing device
that provided the efficient mixing. One or more reactants in
flow into the CSTR with the impeller or bladder in order to
ensure a proper mixing of the solution. CSTR that be operated
in series will have the economically beneficial. In the
equipment, CSTR that consists and presence in three different
types. For the two reactor which are reactor 1 and 2, both of the
reactors will have two impellers or bladders but the arrangemen
of the impellers is differ. Meanwhile, reactor 3 also have the
impeller or bladder but inside the reactor has presence of the
metal coil.
In an ideal CSTR, any substance concentration in the
effluent stream is same as the concentration that throughout
the reactor. Inside a CSTR, dead volume or stagnant regions
are common occur. There are seems to be no material
exchange in these regions compared to the well-mixed region.
As a result, there is no reaction occurs in the region.
Residence time distribution (RTD) is characterized the
behavior of well-defined flow and ideal mixing of an ideal
Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor. It is used to describe and
express the amount of time which is how long any finite
portion of fluid remains in the reactor. This is to define the
flow characteristics and the mixing in the reactor and thus to
compare the action of the reactor to the ideal one. The RTD
can be determined from the adding of non-reactive tracer
substance in the inlet of the system. This tracer will usually
steps input and pulse input.
II. OBJECTIVES
1. To determine the conductivity of CSTR in series.
2. To plot graph of conductivity against time for CSTR in
series.
3. To observe the effect of Step Input in CSTRs in series.
4. To construct the residence time distribution (RTD)
function for the reactors.
5. To determine the moments for the RTD function for the
reactors.
III. THEORY
The residence time distribution (RTD) is proposed to
analyze the chemical reactor performance. The RTD in any
reactor including CSTR can have a considerable impact on its
performance in terms of conversion and product distribution
(Fogler, 2016). Figure 1 shows the ideal operation of CSTR
with cumulative distribution, F(t) and residence time
distribution function, E(t) profile. The RTD can be
determined experimentally by feeding chemical called a
tracer into the reactor at time, t=0 and measure the tracer
concentration in the product stream as a function of time
(Curie, 2008).
Figure 1. Perfect Operation of CSTR.
 RTD will be used for numerical calculations or IV. PROCEDURES
analysis methods applied to a model that precisely reproduces
the data. Nonlinear least squares are the best method for fitting
data using untransformed experimental observations of W(t),
F(t), or f(t) versus time, t (Paul, et. al., 2003). Figure 2 shows
the step input and output concentration of tracer.

Figure 3. SOLTEQ BP107 Series CSTR

Figure 2. Step Input and Output of Tracer Concentration.

Materials and Apparatus
1. Deionized water
It is very common to compare the RTD by analyzing F(t), E(t), 2. Sodium Chloride
tm, σ2 (Nauman, 2008) and s3. Cumulative distribution function, 3. Series of CSTR (SOLTEQ Stirred Tank Reactors BP107)
F(t) can be determined directly from the step input where it
represents the proportion of material in CSTR at time t or less Procedures
(Fogler, 2016), calculated using equation below.

Cout Two 20L tanks were filled with deionized

F(t) =
C0 water and 300 Sodium Chloride dissolved in
Where, C = Tracer Concentration tank 1.

RTD function, E(t) indicates the amount of fluid or tracer have Three-way valve was set to position 2 to
spent in CSTR. It can be evaluated or calculated directly from allow deionized water in tank 2 flow into
the pulse input. reactor 1.
F(t)
E(t) =
tN − t0 Pump 2 was switched on so that all 3 reactors
were filled up by deionized water. The
Where, tN = Final Time flowrate was set to 150 ml/min.
t0 = Initial Time

Next, mean residence time, tm is the time taken for tracer to Stirrers 1, 2 and 3 were switched on and
enter CSTR completely which can be calculated from below deionized water continue to pump about 10
formula. minutes until conductivity reading stabled at
low value.
∞
tm = ∫ tE(t)dt
0 Conductivity values at t0 were recorded.
After 5 minutes, pump 2 was switched off
Second moment, variance, σ which refers to the spread of
2

distribution of tracer, defined from stated equation below. The V. and RESULTS
valve 3 was
ANDswitched to position 1.
DISCUSSIONS
Then, pump 1 switched on.
larger value of σ2 shows that larger distribution of tracer.
∞
Pump 1 switched off and valve 4 closed.
σ2 = ∫ (t − tm )2 E(t)dt
0
Liquids in reactors were drained by opening
valve 5 and valve 6.
The third moment, skewness, s3 is the measure to which a
distribution is skewed in one direction, determined by below
Timer started. Conductivity values for each
formula.
reactors taken every 3minutes until the value
of reactor 3 almost same to reactor 1.
1 ∞
s3 = ∫ (t − tm )3 E(t)dt
σ3/2 0
Results

Table 1: Raw Data of The Experiment

FT (ml/min) 159.7
TT1 (°C) 29.2
TT2 (°C) 29.9
TT3 (°C) -32768
 Table 1: Raw Data of The Experiment Table 3: Residence time distribution, E(t)
Time (min) QT1 (mS/cm) QT2 (mS/cm) QT3 (mS/cm) Time (min) QT1 QT2 QT3
0 3.60 0.26 0.02 0 0.00 0.00 0.00
3 6.49 1.69 0.16 3 0.60 2.17 2.65
6 6.46 2.90 0.74 6 0.30 1.86 6.16
9 9.64 4.80 1.40 9 0.30 2.05 7.79
12 10.12 5.98 2.65 12 0.23 1.91 11.09
15 11.14 7.37 3.54 15 0.21 1.88 11.87
18 10.49 8.31 4.93 18 0.16 1.77 13.77
21 11.87 9.27 5.81 21 0.16 1.69 13.90
24 12.20 9.73 7.10 24 0.14 1.56 14.86
27 12.27 10.09 7.77 27 0.13 1.43 14.47
30 12.38 10.15 8.84 30 0.11 1.30 14.80
33 12.68 11.48 9.43 33 0.11 1.34 14.35
36 12.60 11.13 10.19 36 0.10 1.19 14.22
39 12.62 11.75 10.89 39 0.09 1.16 14.03
42 12.54 11.36 11.25 42 0.08 1.04 13.46
45 12.56 12.64 11.53 45 0.08 1.08 12.88
48 12.59 11.90 11.65 48 0.07 0.95 12.20
51 12.64 12.17 11.94 51 0.07 0.92 11.77
54 12.66 12.09 12.17 54 0.07 0.86 11.32
57 12.62 11.93 12.43 57 0.06 0.80 10.96
60 12.61 11.29 12.42 60 0.06 0.72 10.40
63 12.76 12.17 12.55 63 0.06 0.74 10.01
66 12.68 12.29 12.59 66 0.05 0.71 9.58
69 12.74 12.10 12.64 69 0.05 0.67 9.20
72 12.62 12.20 12.75 72 0.05 0.65 8.90
75 12.72 11.76 12.79 75 0.05 0.60 8.57
78 12.63 12.61 12.82 78 0.05 0.62 8.26
81 12.69 12.17 12.71 81 0.04 0.58 7.89
84 12.69 12.32 12.70 84 0.04 0.56 7.59

Table 2: Cumulative distribution, F(t) Table 4: Mean residence time, tE(t)

Time (min) QT1 QT2 QT3 Time (min) QT1 QT2 QT3
0 1.00 1.00 1.00 0 0.00 0.00 0.00
3 1.80 6.50 7.96 3 1.80 6.50 7.96
6 1.80 11.15 36.98 6 1.80 11.15 36.98
9 2.68 18.43 70.12 9 2.68 18.43 70.12
12 2.81 22.93 133.13 12 2.81 22.93 133.13
15 3.10 28.26 178.09 15 3.10 28.26 178.09
18 2.92 31.90 247.85 18 2.92 31.90 247.85
21 3.30 35.59 291.86 21 3.30 35.59 291.86
24 3.39 37.35 356.72 24 3.39 37.35 356.72
27 3.41 38.71 390.66 27 3.41 38.71 390.66
30 3.44 38.93 444.07 30 3.44 38.93 444.07
33 3.53 44.07 473.70 33 3.53 44.07 473.70
36 3.50 42.72 511.92 36 3.50 42.72 511.92
39 3.51 45.09 547.11 39 3.51 45.09 547.11
42 3.49 43.58 565.20 42 3.49 43.58 565.20
45 3.49 48.49 579.43 45 3.49 48.49 579.43
48 3.50 45.66 585.42 48 3.50 45.66 585.42
51 3.52 46.72 600.08 51 3.52 46.72 600.08
54 3.52 46.38 611.41 54 3.52 46.38 611.41
57 3.51 45.77 624.76 57 3.51 45.77 624.76
60 3.51 43.31 624.05 60 3.51 43.31 624.05
63 3.55 46.71 630.77 63 3.55 46.71 630.77
66 3.53 47.15 632.59 66 3.53 47.15 632.59
69 3.54 46.44 635.01 69 3.54 46.44 635.01
72 3.51 46.83 640.65 72 3.51 46.83 640.65
75 3.54 45.15 642.74 75 3.54 45.15 642.74
78 3.51 48.38 644.10 78 3.51 48.38 644.10
81 3.53 46.69 638.79 81 3.53 46.69 638.79
84 3.53 47.27 637.97 84 3.53 47.27 637.97
Time (min) QT1 QT2 QT3 75 1.84E+03 5.99E+06 1.23E+10
0-36 103.54 1013.49 8599.03 78 1.70E+03 6.16E+06 1.18E+10
36-72 126.57 1658.55 21658.51 81 1.60E+03 5.72E+06 1.13E+10
72-84 42.33 558.17 7692.93 84 1.49E+03 5.57E+06 1.09E+10
Tm 272.44 3230.21 37950.47

Table 5: Value of t-tm

Time (min) QT1 QT2 QT3
Time (min) QT1 QT2 QT3 0-36 5.39E+05 6.22E+08 5.69E+11
0 -272.44 -3230.21 -37950.47 36-72 1.19E+05 3.22E+08 5.92E+11
3 -269.44 -3227.21 -37947.47 72-84 2.06E+04 7.12E+07 1.42E+11
6 -266.44 -3224.21 -37944.47 Variance 6.78E+05 1.02E+09 1.30E+12
9 -263.44 -3221.21 -37941.47 Standard deviation 823.2797 31859.3676 1141689.82
12 -260.44 -3218.21 -37938.47 1/(standard
4.233E-5 1.759E-6 8.197E-11
15 -257.44 -3215.21 -37935.47 deviation)3/2
18 -254.44 -3212.21 -37932.47
21 -251.44 -3209.21 -37929.47 Table 7: Skewness, (t-tm)3 E(t)
24 -248.44 -3206.21 -37926.47
Time (min) QT1 QT2 QT3
27 -245.44 -3203.21 -37923.47
0 0.00 0.00 0.00
30 -242.44 -3200.21 -37920.47
3 -1.18E+07 -7.28E+10 -1.45E+14
33 -239.44 -3197.21 -37917.47
6 -5.66E+06 -6.23E+10 -3.37E+14
36 -236.44 -3194.21 -37914.47
9 -5.45E+06 -6.85E+10 -4.26E+14
39 -233.44 -3191.21 -37911.47
12 -4.14E+06 -6.37E+10 -6.06E+14
42 -230.44 -3188.21 -37908.47
15 -3.53E+06 -6.26E+10 -6.48E+14
45 -227.44 -3185.21 -37905.47
18 -2.67E+06 -5.87E+10 -7.52E+14
48 -224.44 -3182.21 -37902.47
21 -2.50E+06 -5.60E+10 -7.58E+14
51 -221.44 -3179.21 -37899.47
24 -2.17E+06 -5.13E+10 -8.11E+14
54 -218.44 -3176.21 -37896.47
27 -1.87E+06 -4.71E+10 -7.89E+14
57 -215.44 -3173.21 -37893.47
30 -1.64E+06 -4.25E+10 -8.07E+14
60 -212.44 -3170.21 -37890.47
33 -1.47E+06 -4.36E+10 -7.83E+14
63 -209.44 -3167.21 -37887.47
36 -1.29E+06 -3.87E+10 -7.75E+14
66 -206.44 -3164.21 -37884.47
39 -1.14E+06 -3.76E+10 -7.64E+14
69 -203.44 -3161.21 -37881.47
42 -1.02E+06 -3.36E+10 -7.33E+14
72 -200.44 -3158.21 -37878.47
45 -9.14E+05 -3.48E+10 -7.01E+14
75 -197.44 -3155.21 -37875.47
48 -8.25E+05 -3.07E+10 -6.64E+14
78 -194.44 -3152.21 -37872.47
51 -7.49E+05 -2.94E+10 -6.41E+14
81 -191.44 -3149.21 -37869.47
54 -6.80E+05 -2.75E+10 -6.16E+14
84 -188.44 -3146.21 -37866.47
57 -6.16E+05 -2.57E+10 -5.96E+14
60 -5.60E+05 -2.30E+10 -5.66E+14
Table 6: Variance, (t-tm)2 E(t) 63 -5.18E+05 -2.36E+10 -5.45E+14
Time 66 -4.70E+05 -2.26E+10 -5.21E+14
QT1 QT2 QT3
(min) 69 -4.32E+05 -2.13E+10 -5.00E+14
0 0.00 0.00 0.00 72 -3.92E+05 -2.05E+10 -4.84E+14
3 4.37E+04 2.26E+07 3.82E+09 75 -3.63E+05 -1.89E+10 -4.66E+14
6 2.12E+04 1.93E+07 8.87E+09 78 -3.31E+05 -1.94E+10 -4.49E+14
9 2.07E+04 2.13E+07 1.12E+10 81 -3.06E+05 -1.80E+10 -4.28E+14
12 1.59E+04 1.98E+07 1.60E+10 84 -2.81E+05 -1.75E+10 -4.12E+14
15 1.37E+04 1.95E+07 1.71E+10
18 1.05E+04 1.83E+07 1.98E+10
21 9.94E+03 1.75E+07 2.00E+10 Time (min) QT1 QT2 QT3
24 8.73E+03 1.60E+07 2.14E+10 0-36 -5932.40 -351401.24 -1.8E+07
27 7.61E+03 1.47E+07 2.08E+10 36-72 -1111.99 -179936.04 -1.8E+07
30 6.75E+03 1.33E+07 2.13E+10 72-84 -169.79 -39478.72 -4.40E+06
33 6.13E+03 1.37E+07 2.06E+10 s3 -7214.18 -570816.01 -4.1E+07
36 5.44E+03 1.21E+07 2.04E+10
39 4.90E+03 1.18E+07 2.02E+10 Table 8: Residence time distribution (RTD) function
42 4.41E+03 1.05E+07 1.93E+10
45 4.02E+03 1.09E+07 1.85E+10 QT1 QT2 QT3
48 3.67E+03 9.63E+06 1.75E+10 Mean resident
51 3.38E+03 9.26E+06 1.69E+10 time, tm 272.44 3230.21 37950.47
54 3.11E+03 8.66E+06 1.63E+10 Variance 6.78E+05 1.015E+09 1.30346E+12
57 2.86E+03 8.08E+06 1.57E+10 Standard deviation 823.28 31859.37 1141689.82
60 2.64E+03 7.25E+06 1.49E+10 Skewness -7214.18 -570816.01 -4.05E+07
63 2.47E+03 7.44E+06 1.44E+10
66 2.28E+03 7.15E+06 1.38E+10
69 2.12E+03 6.73E+06 1.32E+10
72 1.96E+03 6.49E+06 1.28E+10
Discussion
In this experiment is to carried out and study the
conductivity, the residence time distribution function of the
reactor and also the effect of step input in CSTR in series. These
studies are determined by using equipment which is Continuous
Stirred Tank Reactor (CSTR) in series model SOLTEQ BP107.
Figure 4. Graph of Conductivity of the reactors versus Time.
Graph above shows that the conductivity for all the reactors
are increases as the time increases until it achieved steady state
at t= 84 min. The conductivity curve yield to constant value
which it is roughly around, C(t) is 12.6975 mS/cm. Reactor 1
which is indicates the blue line is the highest value for the
conductivity and the lowest value of the conductivity is the
reactor 3 which indicates the grey line with respect to the time.
The conductivity is relating to the concentration of the
tracer that detected inside the reactors which at t is equal to t
min. As reactor 1 is the highest value of conductivity, this is
means that reactor 1 has the highest concentration of tracer
which then been followed by reactor 2 and reactor 3. The tracer
value is roughly same to the value or steady state which is
12.6975 mS/cm when the time increases until it approximates
at t=84 min. From this observation, it can be saying that the
fluid in the reactor 1 which the blue line is takes longer time to
flow to the effluent stream compared to the reactor 2 and 3.
Figure 5. Graph between cumulative distribution function versus time.
This graph shows the cumulative distribution function, F(t)
versus time. It states that as the time increases, the curve of the
cumulative distribution function for reactor 1, 2 and three
rapidly increases. Reactor 3 shows the highest value of the F(t)
followed by the second highest and the lowest value are reactor
2 and reactor 1, respectively.
Based on the plotted graph, the curve for the reactor 3
shows the closes and same to the ideal CSTR mixing
compared than to the reactor 1 and reactor 2. As for the reactor
1 and 2 are being increasing and reaching constant which is
steady state. This is due to the dead volume or stagnant area
that inside in the reactor which constricted the flow of fluid.
Not only that, impeller location that be located in the reactor
also can affect the behavior of mixing. This can reduce the
probability or chances for the dead volume been presence in
the reactors.
Figure 6. Graph of Residence Time Distribution (RTD) Function versus
time.
The graphs show the relation between the residence time
distribution with time. This RTD is determined for all the
reactors which are reactor 1, 2 and 3. The highest value for
the residence time distribution is the reactor 3 which is the
grey line. The second highest is the reactor 2 which is the
orange line and the lowest is the reactor 1 which is the blue
line.
From the graph shown that the time that be allocates to all
the reactor is same which is 84 min, however, the time that be
spent by the fluid elements inside the reactor is not same. This
E(t) is being determine by the calculation of the
differentiation of the F(t) values. Based on the graph, reactor
1 is the closest to the ideal CSTR. This results from the curve
flow are decreasing over the time compared to the reactor 2
and 3.
Figure 7. Graph between the tE(t) versus time.
Graph above shows the relationship between the tE(t)
curve that plotted versus the time. In this calculation can
obtained the mean residence time, tm for the reactor. This
value can be determined from the area under the curve which
is from method of numerical integration. The value of the
mean residence time is the total area of under the curve.
 The mean residence time for the reactor 1 is the lowest value
rather than the other two reactor which are reactor 2 and 3. This
is due to the impeller or the stirrer that is located at the center
in the reactor, so it takes longer time for the fluid flow to the
outlet stream. This is because the impeller or stirrer force inhibit
the movement of the fluid. Thus, this can be result to the reactor
1 which it needs longer time to mix and longer residence time.
Figure 8. Graph relation between the variance versus time.
The variance for all the reactors can be obtained from the
area under the curve which it can be determine from the
numerical integration method. From the graphs shows that the
skewness of the bell is higher to the left which by the reactor 2
then followed by the reactor 3 and reactor 1.
Next, variance is one of the moments needed to be
considered in the residence time distribution function (RTD).
This is showing the spread of the distribution. As the magnitude
is greater, the spread distribution will be greater too. From the
graph shown, the variance for the reactor 3 is the highest
followed by the reactor 2 and 1.
Figure 9. Graph of the skewness versus time.
The graph shows the skewness value for all the three
reactors versus the time. The skewness values are obtained from
the area under the curve which calculation from the method of
numerical integration. In this part, all the reactors show
negative value of skewness.
Skewness also one of the moments that be considered in the
residence time distribution (RTD). This skewness is shows the
differs in the distribution is compared with the normal
distribution. The skewness’s magnitude is measured the extent
that a distribution is being skewed in a direction. From the
graphs show that reactor one is the closest to the zero value. All
the three reactors have the negative value of skewness which
that means all of the reactors is skewed to the left side.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, this experiment is considered successful since
all the objective has been achieve. From graph tE(t) vs time,
it shows that reactor 1 has the lowest value followed by
reactor 2 and reactor 3 due to the impeller or stirrer force
inhibit the movement of the fluid. Therefore, reactor 1 took
longer time to mix. Next, from graph relation between
variance vs time shows that the skewness of the bell is higher
to the left which by the reactor 2 then followed by the reactor
3 and reactor 1. Next, variance is one of the moments needed
to be considered in the residence time distribution function
(RTD). This is showing the spread of the distribution. As the
magnitude is greater, the spread distribution will be greater
too. Lastly, From the graphs show that reactor one is the
closest to the zero value. All the three reactors have the
negative value of skewness which that means all of the
reactors is skewed to the left side.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The experiment has been carried out successfully. However,
there are some recommendations in order to improve and have
a precise data with minor errors. Other than using step tracer
experiment, the RTD can also be determined by using pulse
input experiment, where a known quantity of tracer is
abruptly injected in one shot into the feed stream entering the
reactor in the shortest period of time humanly feasible. Next,
the very significant action to be done during handling an
experiment involving chemicals in reaction lab is to wear an
appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) such as
goggles, gloves and lab coat. Other than that, the experiment
should be done more than one time in order to get a consistent
and precise set of data. Students also are encouraged to carry
out the experiment with different impeller or stirrer speed to
analyze the performance of reactor and to obtain results of
speed behavior towards data.
REFERENCES
[1] H. S. Fogler “Elements of Chemical Reaction Engineering,” Fifth
Edition, 2016, pp. 786-797.
[2] E. B. Nauman, Residence Time Theory, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2008, 47,
pp. 3752-3766.
[3] E. L. Paul, V. A. Obeng, Suzanne M. K., Handbook of Industrial
Mixing: Science and Practice, 2003, pp. 660.
[4] Curie M., Distributions of Residence Times for Chemical Reactors,
2008, pp. 74-78.
[5] A. Kumar, G. M. Ganjyal, David D. M. Hanna, Modeling Residence
Time Distribution in a Twin-Screw Extruder as a Series of Ideal Steady-
State Flow Reactors, 2007, pp. 441-448