1

LAURENTIAN UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSIT LAURENTIENNE

Date: April 18, 2003

Course and No: Chemical Process Calculations (ENGR 2276 EL)

Total no. of pages: 10 (including the cover sheet)

Questions: 11 (See below for explanation)

Professor: Dr. Ramesh Subramanian

Time Allowed: 3 hours (12:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m.)

Location: F-339



NAME:

STUDENT NO.:


(1) Please return the question sheet along with your answer booklet.

(2) You are allowed up to a maximum of 4 sheets for reference.

(3) PART I Answer any 4 out of 6 questions (4 x 9% = 36%)

PART II Answer any 2 out of 3 questions (2 x 18% = 36%)

PART III Answer any 1 out of 2 questions (1 x 28% = 28%)

(4) You may choose to answer 1 out 3 questions in PART II only if you answer all 6
questions in PART I.

(5) State your assumptions clearly.
2
PART I

1. Nitrogen gas from a cylinder is bubbled through liquid Acetone at
1.1 bar and 323 K at a volumetric flow rate of 2 x 10
-4
m
3
/min.
Nitrogen gas, saturated with Acetone vapors leaves at 1.013 bar
and 308 K at a volumetric flow rate of 3.83 x 10
-4
m
3
/min. What is
the vapor pressure of acetone at 308 K?

2. A stock containing 1.526 kg moisture per kg dry solid is dried to
0.099 kg moisture per kg dry solid by countercurrent air flow as
shown in the figure below. Fresh air entering contains 0.0152 kg
water per kg dry air and the exit air has 0.0526 kg water per
kg dry air. What fraction of air is recycled if 52.5 kg of dry air
flows per 1 kg of dry solid inside the drier?


3. A gas turbine power plant receives a shipment of hydrocarbon
fuel whose composition is uncertain but may be represented by
the expression C
X
H
Y
. The fuel is burned with excess Air. A
molar analysis of the product gas gives the following results on a
moisture-free basis:

10.5% CO
2
, 5.3% O
2
, and 84.2% N
2

3
Determine

(a) the molar ratio of Hydrogen to Carbon (Y/X) in the fuel
and the % excess Air used in the combustion

(b) the Air-to-Fuel ratio (in m
3
air/kg fuel) if the Air is fed to
the power plant at 30
o
C and 98 kPa


4. Methanol vapor can be converted into Formaldehyde by the
following reaction scheme:
CH
3
OH + O
2
HCHO + H
2
O (Oxidation)
CH
3
OH HCHO + H
2
(Decomposition)
The fresh feed to the process was 0.5 kmol/hr of O
2
and an
excess of Methanol. All of the O
2
reacts in the reactor.
Formaldehyde and Water are removed from the product stream
first, after which H
2
is removed from the recycled Methanol.
The recycle flow rate of Methanol was 1 kmol/hr. The ratio of
Methanol reacting by decomposition to that by oxidation was
3. Draw the flow diagram and then calculate the per pass
conversion of Methanol in the reactor and the fresh feed rate
of Methanol.

4
5. The chemical reaction A 2B + C

takes place in a catalytic reactor as shown in the diagram below.



The reactor effluent is sent to a separator. The overall conversion
of A is 95%. The product stream from the separator consists of
B, C, and 0.5% of A entering the separator, while the recycle
stream consists of the remainder of the unreacted A and 1% of
B entering the separator. Calculate the single pass conversion of
A in the reactor and the molar ratio of recycle to feed.




6. An average adult takes 12 breaths per minute, inhaling roughly
500 ml of air with each breath. The molar compositions of the
inhaled and exhaled gases are as follows:

5
Species Inhaled Gas (%) Exhaled Gas (%)

O
2
20.6 15.1

CO
2
0.0 3.7

N
2
77.4 75.0

H
2
O 2.0 6.2

The inhaled gas is at 24
o
C and 1 atm, and the exhaled gas is at
body temperature (37
o
C) and 1 atm. Nitrogen is not
transported in or out of the blood in the lungs, so that (N
2
)
in
=
(N
2
)
out
. Calculate

(a) the masses of O
2
, CO
2
, and H
2
O transferred from the
pulmonary gases to the blood or vice versa (specify which)
per minute

(b) the volume of air exhaled per milliliter inhaled

(c) the rate (in g/min) at which this individual is losing
weight by merely breathing
6
PART II

1. The thermal destruction of hazardous wastes involves the controlled
exposure of waste to high temperatures (usually 900
o
C or greater)
in an oxidizing environment. Sand containing 30% by weight of a
Poly Chlorinated Biphenyl or PCB (C
12
H
8
Cl
2
) is to be cleaned by
combustion with excess Hexane (C
6
H
14
) to produce a feed for an
incinerator. Only 60% by weight of the net feed containing
Sand (contaminated with PCB) and Hexane is actually
combustible.

(a) How many pounds of Hexane would be required to
decontaminate 8 tons (2000 lbs) of PCB-contaminated
Sand?

(b) Write the two reactions that would take place under ideal
conditions if the mixture containing Hexane and the PCB-
contaminated Sand were fed to the thermal oxidation process
(incinerator) to produce the most environmentally satisfactory
products, i.e., no Carbon Monoxide.

(c) The incinerator for the thermal oxidation process is supplied
with an oxygen-enriched air stream containing 40% by mole
O
2
and 60% by mole N
2
to promote high-temperature operation.
The exit gas was found to have a CO
2
mole fraction of 0.1654
and an O
2
mole fraction of 0.122. Using this information and
the data about the feed composition to the incinerator, find the
complete exit gas composition and the % excess O
2
used in
the reaction.
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2. Pure Ethylene (C
2
H
4
) and Oxygen are fed to a process for the
manufacture of Ethylene Oxide (C
2
H
4
O). The catalytic reactor
operates at 300
o
C and 1.2 atm. At these conditions, single-pass
measurements on the reactor show that 50% of the Ethylene
entering the reactor is consumed per pass, and of this, 70% is
Ethylene is converted to Ethylene Oxide. The remainder of the
Ethylene consumed reacts with Oxygen to form Carbon Dioxide
and Water. For a daily production rate of 10,000 kg of Ethylene
Oxide, calculate

(a) the volumetric flow rate in SCMH (Standard Cubic Meters
per Hour) of the total gas entering the reactor if the ratio
of the O
2
fed/fresh C
2
H
4
is 1.5

(b) the recycle ratio in m
3
at 10
o
C and 100 kPa of recycled
C
2
H
4
per SCM (Standard Cubic Meters) of fresh C
2
H
4
fed

(c) the volumetric flow rate in m
3
/day of the mixture of O
2
,
CO
2
and H
2
O leaving the separator at 80
o
C and 100 kPa



3. To determine the temperature that occurred in a fire in a warehouse,
an arson investigator noticed that the relief valve on a Methane (CH
4
)
storage tank had popped open at a pressure of 3000 psig. Before
the fire started, the tank was at 26.67
o
C and the pressure gage
read 1950 psig. If the volume of the tank was 240 ft
3
, estimate
the temperature during the fire.

8
PART III

1. Titanium Dioxide (TiO
2
) is produced from an ore that contains
Ilmenite (FeTiO
3
) and Ferric Oxide (Fe
2
O
3
). The ore is digested
(reacted) in an aqueous Sulfuric Acid (H
2
SO
4
) solution. The
Ilmenite (FeTiO
3
) in the ore reacts with the aqueous Sulfuric Acid
(H
2
SO
4
) solution to produce Titanyl Sulfate (TiOSO
4
), Ferrous
Sulfate (FeSO
4
) and Water (H
2
O). The Ferric Oxide (Fe
2
O
3
) in the
ore reacts with the aqueous Sulfuric Acid (H
2
SO
4
) solution to
produce Ferric Sulfate (Fe
2
(SO
4
)
3
) and Water (H
2
O). Water (H
2
O)
is then added to hydrolyze the Titanyl Sulfate (TiOSO
4
) to produce
H
2
TiO
3
and Sulfuric Acid (H
2
SO
4
). The H
2
TiO
3
is then decomposed
to give Water (H
2
O) and a residue of pure Titanium Dioxide (TiO
2
).

(a) Write all the balanced reactions involved in the production of
Titanium Dioxide (TiO
2
) starting with the ore containing
Ilmenite (FeTiO
3
) and Ferric Oxide (Fe
2
O
3
).

Suppose an ore containing 24.3% Titanium (Ti) by mass is
digested (reacted) with an 80% Sulfuric Acid (H
2
SO
4
) solution,
which is supplied 50% excess of the amount needed to convert all
the Ilmenite (FeTiO
3
) to Titanyl Sulfate (TiOSO
4
) and all Ferric
Oxide (Fe
2
O
3
) to Ferric Sulfate (Fe
2
(SO
4
)
3
). Further suppose that
89% of the Ilmenite (FeTiO
3
) fed actually reacts.

(b) Calculate the masses (in kg) of ore and 80% Sulfuric Acid
(H
2
SO
4
) solution that must be fed to produce 1000 kg of
pure Titanium Dioxide (TiO
2
).
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2. Sulfuric Acid (H
2
SO
4
) is one of the largest produced chemicals in the
world in terms of volume. In one of the earliest processes used to
manufacture Sulfuric Acid, an ore containing Iron Pyrites (FeS
2
) is
roasted (burned) with Air in the roasting furnace and the following
reactions take place:

2 FeS
2
(s) + 5.5 O
2
(g) Fe
2
O
3
(s) + 4 SO
2
(g)

2 FeS
2
(s) + 7.5 O
2
(g) Fe
2
O
3
(s) + 4 SO
3
(g)

The gas leaving the reactor goes to a catalytic converter in which most
of the SO
2
produced is further oxidized to SO
3
given by the reaction

SO
2
+ O
2
SO
3


Finally, the gas leaving the converter passes through an absorption
tower, in which the SO
3
is absorbed in Water to produce Sulfuric
Acid (H
2
SO
4
).

(a) An ore containing 82% by weight FeS
2
and 18% inerts is fed
to a roasting furnace. Dry air is fed to the furnace in 40%
excess of the amount theoretically required to oxidize all
of the Sulfur in the ore to SO
3
. An oxidation of 85% FeS
2
is
obtained, with 40% forming SO
2
and the rest forming SO
3
.
Two streams leave the roaster; a gas stream containing
SO
2
, SO
3
, O
2
, and N
2
, and a solid stream containing
unconverted FeS
2
, Fe
2
O
3
, and inert material in the ore.
Calculate the required feed rate of air in SCM (Standard
Cubic Meters) per 100 kg of ore roasted and the molar
10
composition and volume (in Standard Cubic Meters per kg
of ore) of the gas leaving the roasting oven.

(b) The gas leaving the roasting oven enters the catalytic converter,
which operates at a total pressure of 1 atm. The conversion
reaction SO
2
+ O
2
SO
3
proceeds to an equilibrium point at
which the component partial pressures satisfies the relation

K
P
(T) = p
SO3
/(p
SO2
p
O2
0.5
)

The gases are first heated to 600
o
C, at which K
P
= 9.53
1/atm
0.5
, and are then cooled to 400
o
C, at which K
P
= 397
1/atm
0.5
. The rate of the forward reaction (SO
2
+ O
2
SO
3
)
increases sharply with temperature and is several orders of
magnitude greater at 600
o
C than at 400
o
C. Calculate the
equilibrium fractional conversions of SO
2
in the converter
when the temperature is 600
o
C and when it is 400
o
C.

(c) Assuming complete conversion to Sulfuric Acid (H
2
SO
4
) of the
SO
3
leaving the converter, how many kg of H
2
SO
4
will be
produced per kg of sulfur in the ore? What would this
ratio have been if all the Sulfur in the ore had been
converted?