ES 208: Problem Set 5
1. A pollutant decays at a rate given by the expression:
mg 1
r 0.3 0.02C , where C is the concentration in mg/L.
L hr hr
The pollutant has been discharged into a well-mixed lake for a long enough time that
the lake has reached steady-state. If the concentration of the pollutant exiting the lake
is 0.1 mg/L and the residence time in the lake is 336 hours (2 weeks), what is the
concentration of the pollutant entering the lake?
2. A reaction A B is known to proceed according to the rate expression:
k 1C A
rA
k 2 CA
A pilot-scale CMFR has been operated at steady state at several different flow rates to
determine the coefficients k1 and k2. The reactor has a volume of 2.5 L, and all
experiments were performed with an influent concentration CA,in of 100 mg/l. The
effluent value of CA are shown in the table below.
Flow Rate (L/h) Effluent Conc., CA (mg/L)
0.39 5.8
0.78 17.9
1.56 46.0
3.13 71.9
6.25 85.7
12.5 92.8
25 96.2
100 99.0
a) Determine the reaction rate constants k1 and k2.
b) Find the volume of a CMFR that would be required to treat a flow rate of 1.0 m3/h
with an influent concentration, C [Link], of 100 mg/L, if the steady state effluent
concentration is to be 1.0 mg/L.
c) Find the volume of a PFR that would be required for the same conditions as in part b.
3. It has been reported that the hydrolysis of iron can be modeled by a first order rate
equation of the type rFe3+ = -kCFe3+. In a batch experiment at pH 3.65, 20% of the
initial Fe3+ is hydrolyzed after 15 seconds. You may assume that the back reaction is
negligible.
a) How long would it be before 99% of the Fe was hydrolyzed in the batch system?
(Note : it is not reasonable to assume a value of CFe3+, at t = 0 in the absence of
data, unless you can show that your result would be valid for other initial values
of CFe3+ as well).
b) What residence time would be required to achieve 99% hydrolysis in a CMFR at
steady state?
c) What about two equal-sized CMFRs in series?
4. A first-order reaction causes cyanide (CN) to be destroyed at a rate given by rCN = -
(0.8/h)CCN. The reaction is taking place in a reactor with a theoretical mean hydraulic
residence time of 8.33 h, but because of some dead space in the reactor, the effective
mean residence time is only 6.7 h. The active portion of the reactor is acting as a
CMFR. For an influent cyanide concentration of 18 mg/L, compute the expected
steady-state effluent concentrations for the following scenarios.
d) The reactor as it is now operating
e) The reactor if additional mixers are used so that it operates as a CMFR.
f) The reactor described in part b if a baffle is inserted in the middle, and the flow
enters first one side and then the other, so that the overall reactor operates as two
ideal CMFRs in series.
g) The reactor modified as in part c, but with the influent flow split into two equal
portions, so that the reactor behaves as two ideal CMFRs in parallel.
h) The reactor modified so that it behaves as an ideal PFR.
5. A reactor has been constructed and is intended to operate as a PFR with a residence
time of 4 hours. It has been treating 10-3 M of a contaminant A with a steady-state
conversion efficiency of 98% by addition of 0.03 M of a second compound B. The
reaction has stoichiometry A + B C and is first order with respect to each reactant
(second order overall), with a rate constant of 60 (mol/L) -1 h-1.
i) Estimate the dispersion number in the reactor
j) What would the conversion efficiency be if the reactor were an ideal PFR?
6. A regulated organic compound is treated by chemical oxidation in an existing
industrial waste treatment facility. The oxidation process is first order with respect to
the organic compound, with k = 0.5 min -1. The reactor in which the process is carried
out is characterized by a dispersion number of 0.25 and an HRT of 10 min.
Expansion of plant operations are planned which will generate an additional waste
stream that must be sent to the same reactor. Through waste minimization, the flow
rate of the additional waste stream is 25% of the existing waste stream and the
compound concentration is 50% of that in the existing waste stream. In anticipation
of this expansion, a tracer test is conducted at the increased flow rate (1.25Q), with
the following results
t = 5.3 min tm = 7 min
Find the fractional change in the effluent concentration [i.e., (COUT)new/(COUT)exist],
when the new waste stream is added to the existing waste stream.
7. A disinfection reaction characterized by the rate expression r N = -k1Cx is proceeding
in a reactor whose hydraulic characteristics are provided below. Cx is the
concentration of viable microorganisms remaining at time t, and k 1 = 0.2 min-1. For a
system receiving an influent containing 106 organisms per 100 mL, determine the
expected concentration of viable organisms exiting the reactor according to each
model representation of the hydraulic behavior in the reactor (i.e. for the dispersion
model with closed boundaries and the CFSTRs-in-series model), as well as for a
single, ideal PFR and a single, ideal CMFR of comparable size. Also make an
estimate of percent survival based on the E(t) curve.
A hydraulic study of the reactor was made using NaCl as a tracer by injecting a pulse
input of salt at the inlet and measuring the salt concentration at the outlet. The results
of the study are shown below :
Time (min) Concentration of NaCl
(mg/L at outlet)
0 0
10 trace
20 40
30 130
40 110
50 90
60 70
80 50
100 40
120 30
140 20
160 10
180 5
8. Effluent disinfection by chlorine is to be abandoned in favor of UV irradiation at a
wastewater treatment plant to eliminate aquatic toxicity problems related to
chlorinated organics. Banks of ultraviolet lamps are installed directly in the existing
chlorine contact chamber, which has an HRT of 30 min. After startup, it is found that
only a two-log reduction (i.e., log (CIN/COUT) = 2) in fecal coliform could be obtained,
whereas a three-log reduction is needed. A tracer test reveals that t = 19 min and the
constituent residence time (t m) is 26 min. What is the maximum improvement in
disinfection efficiency that can be expected if the UV disinfection rate is first order
with respect to fecal coliform concentration and the reactor can be modified with
baffles to more closely approach plug flow behavior?
9. A synthetic organic chemical, A, is found in a river section having a length of 3000
m, a velocity of 0.05 m/s, and a dispersion coefficient of 9.4 m2/s. This chemical is
susceptible to rapid photochemical degradation. The reaction rate at a given light
intensity is thought to be first order with respect to the concentration of A, but the rate
constant has never been measured. If the concentration is reduced by 98% in this
stretch of river, how much decomposition can be expected in a more turbulent reach
(with similar photochemical reaction characteristics) which has a length of 1500 m, a
flow velocity of 0.08 m/s, and a dispersion coefficient of 30 m2/s?