CoachA batch reactor is a closed vessel in which the reaction takes place without inflow or outflow of matter. A continuous reactor is crossed by a steady flow of matter. Two ideal continuous reactors serve as models:
- the continuous stirred-tank reactor (CSTR), so well stirred that its contents are uniform, and therefore identical to the stream that leaves it;
- the plug-flow reactor (PFR), a tube crossed by the fluid without mixing along the flow, each slice of fluid advancing like a piston while it reacts.