1984 Volume 17 Issue 4 Pages 356-362
The flow patterns in continuous stirred-tank reactors of three types, i.e., of three different feed and outlet port configurations, were observed under conditions where the feed rate was less than 10% of the discharge flow rate from impeller by the particle follower technique, and these patterns were compared with those in the batch stirred tank. The feed flow affects the flow pattern near the feeding port, up- and down-flow along the wall opposite the feeding port, and the flow rotating along the wall in the reverse direction to that of impeller rotation. Since the local flow patterns induced by the feed flow were not appreciable throughout the whole volume of the tank, they did not affect remarkably the residence and circulation time densities. The variation coefficient of the circulation time density function had a negligible effect on the residence time density function.
