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[Jeannot_C]

Hello everyone,

 

I have started working on a plug flow reactor at the company that i started doing my internship at.

I'm currently doing my bachelor Chemical engineering and i'm wondering if there's someone with some advice on the project im working at. I can't tell to much about the process because of patents, but the problem i'm facing lies outside those boundaries. 

 

Basically the reactor is supposed to purify a component out of a aqueous waste stream. since the feed concentration cannot be determined immediately it's hard to design a controlling system that adds the correct amount of reactants. The species reacts with Calcium ions, which could be measured by a calcium ion selective electrode according to a mechanical engineer that i work with. There are a lot of issues with this method in my opinion, like interfering ions, pH range and calibration necessity. The product also can't be analized fast enough to calculate the feed concentration.

 

Is there anyone that might have some suggestions when it comes to measuring calcium ions in a continuous reactor?

 

Kind regards,

Jeannot

Edited by Jeannot_C, 25 November 2020 - 08:48 AM.

[Pilesar]

A few thoughts which may or may not apply to your vaguely described process: 

1) control some of the known issues. Can you adjust pH and eliminate interfering ions?

2) longer reactor residence time might help with control. Consider a reactor recycle loop or longer reactor path length.

3) measuring calcium ions in the middle of the reactor might allow for timelier corrections.

4) use a large feed tank to give more time to determine the feed concentration and reduce variation.

5) use sequential feed tanks and make up into the tank that is not feeding the reactor to keep constant feed quality.

6) use excess reactants and recover the unreacted quantity.