What is meant by plug flow reactor?

The plug flow reactor model (PFR, sometimes called continuous tubular reactor, CTR) is normally the name given to a model used in chemical engineering to describe chemical reactions in continuous, flowing systems of cylindrical geometry.

What is meant by plug flow?

In fluid mechanics, plug flow is a simple model of the velocity profile of a fluid flowing in a pipe. In plug flow, the velocity of the fluid is assumed to be constant across any cross-section of the pipe perpendicular to the axis of the pipe.

What is the function of plug flow reactor?

PFRs are used to model the chemical transformation of compounds as they are transported in systems resembling “pipes”. The “pipe” can represent a variety of engineered or natural conduits through which liquids or gases flow.

Where is plug flow reactor used?

Usage Examples. Plug flow reactors have a wide variety of applications in either gas or liquid phase systems. Common industrial uses of tubular reactors are in gasoline production, oil cracking, synthesis of ammonia from its elements, and the oxidation of sulfur dioxide to sulfur trioxide.

What is plug flow reactor in wastewater treatment?

A type of flow that occurs in tanks, basins, or reactors when a slug of water or wastewater moves through a tank without dispersing or mixing with the rest of the water or wastewater flowing through the tank.

Why are plug flow reactors more efficient?

PFR (plug flow reactor) The chemical reaction proceeds as the reagents travel through the PFR. A PFR has a higher theoretical efficiency than a CSTR of the same volume. That is, given the same space-time (or residence time), a reaction will proceed to a higher percentage completion in a PFR than in a CSTR.

What are the advantages of plug flow reactors?

The benefits of plug flow include: A smaller footprint: In plug flow there is complete mixing in radial direction, this eliminates any mass gradients of reactants building up, and allows instant contacts between reactants, leading to faster reactions and much smaller footprints.

What is a completely mixed flow reactor?

Completely Mixed Flow Reactors (CMFRs) are control volumes for which spatially uniform properties may be assumed. Examples: A room in a building, a small pond, or an urban airshed. Plug-Flow Reactors (PFRs) are systems along which properties vary. They need to be split into a series of sequential control volumes.

What is a flow tube reactor?

A flow reactor is a chemical process where raw materials are added to a reaction vessel, typically a series of tubes, to create products continuously. This is different from a batch process, where all the materials are added and reacted, then removed and processed.

What is tubular reactor?

From BioMineWiki. A tubular reactor is a vessel through which flow is continuous, usually at steady state, and configured so that conversion of the chemicals and other dependent variables are functions of position within the reactor rather than of time.