Single-phase liquids, mechanical agitation

Many operations in chemical engineering require the contact of two liquid phases between which mass and heat transfer with reaction occurs. Examples are hydrometallurgical solvent extraction, nitrations and halogenations of hydrocarbons, hydrodesulfurization of crude stocks, emulsion polymerizations, hydrocarbon fermentations for single-cell proteins, glycerolysis of fats, and phase-transfer catalytic reactions. A most common method of bringing about the contact of the two phases is to disperse droplets of one within the other by mechanical agitation. 

The trickle-bed catalytic reactor shown in Fig. 6.8 utilizes product recycle to obtain satisfactory operating conditions for temperature and conversion. Use of a high recycle rate eliminates the need for mechanical agitation. Concentrations of the single reactant and the product are measured at a point in the recycle line where the product stream is removed, A liquid phase first-order reaction is involved. 

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