Kinetics Analysis of Synthesis Reaction of Struvite With Air-Flow Continous Vertical Reactors

Kinetics reaction is a knowledge about a rate of chemical reaction. The differential of the reaction rate can be determined from the reactant material or the formed material. The reaction mechanism of a reactor may include a stage of reaction occurring sequentially during the process of converting the reactants into products. In the determination of reaction kinetics, the order of reaction and the rate constant reaction must be recognized. This study was carried out using air as a stirrer as a medium in the vertical reactor for crystallization of struvite. Stirring is one of the important aspects in struvite crystallization process. Struvite crystals or magnesium ammonium phosphate hexahydrates (MgNH4PO4 center dot 6H2O) is commonly formed in reversible reactions and can be generated as an orthorhombic crystal. Air is selected as a stirrer on the existing flow pattern in the reactor determining the reaction kinetics of the crystal from the solution. The experimental study was conducted by mixing an equimolar solution of 0.03 M NH4OH, MgCl2 and H3PO4 with a ratio of 1: 1: 1. The crystallization process of the mixed solution was observed in an inside reactor at the flow rate ranges of 16-38 ml/min and the temperature of 30 degrees C was selected in the study. The air inlet rate was kept constant at 0.25 liters/min. The pH solution was adjusted to be 8, 9 and 10 by dropping wisely of 1 N KOH solution. The crystallization kinetics was examined until the steady state of the reaction was reached. The precipitates were filtered and dried at a temperature for subsequent material characterization, including Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and XRD (X-Ray diffraction) method. The results show that higher flow rate leads to less mass of struvite.