Material Balances

Lecture 1

Dr. M. Coley

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 Course Structure
Objective: To use the principles of material balance
to determine the raw material
requirements, product yield and
composition and the nature of the waste
materials produced in an industrial process.

Textbooks:
Schmidt & List – Material & Energy Balances
Himmelblau – Basic Principles & Calculations in
Chemical Engineering

Exams:
Paper 1: 11/2 Questions 2
 Material Balances
Critical aspect of chemical engineering
Material Balance refers to the application of the
Law of Conservation of mass for determining the:
Raw material requirements of a manufacturing process
Nature, quantity and composition of the product
Waste streams involved in the process & their composition

REACTOR

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Importance of Material Balances
Material balances are critical to:
1) design of chemical & industrial processes
2) sizing of industrial equipment (pumps, stacks, etc)
3) determine energy, transportation & packaging requirements
4) estimate release of pollutants
5) developing waste disposal & waste treatment options
6) assessing environmental impact

Allows determination of:

raw material input
product quantity & composition
waste quantity & composition 4

overall process flow

 Manufacture of Biodiesel
Equipment gives
very little
information about:
 the steps involved
in the process
 raw material,
product or waste
streams
 the overall
process flow

A process flow
diagram is required

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 Manufacture of Biodiesel
What
information
can you
deduce from
the diagram?

What
additional
information
can be
added to
the diagram?

How would
the additional
information
6
be helpful??
Manufacture of Biodiesel
Trace ALL the
steps that
occur in the
process

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Consider Biodiesel Manufacture
What percentage of raw materials are converted to
products?
What waste streams are produced? Can they be
recycled?
What quantities of waste will be produced? How can
they be disposed?
What is the maximum capacity of the plant during an
operating period?
What are the energy, packaging & raw material
requirements per operating period?

Material balance helps to answer these questions 8

 Types of Material Balances
Steady state
Unsteady state
Balances may be applied to:
 Processes involving chemical reactions
N2 + 3H2 2NH3

 Processes with NO chemical reactions

Syrup + H2O Box drink

Simple processes – few components

Complex processes – bauxite/petroleum refining
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 Units & Dimensions
 Consider: man weighs 160 lbs & is 6 ft tall:
Dimensions:
 Basic elements of measurements
 Primary dimensions:
 Mass (M), length (L), temperature (θ) & time (T)
 Derived dimensions:
 Velocity – distance traveled/unit time – L/T = LT-1
 Acceleration – ms-2: LT-2
 Density – gcm-3: ML-3
 Force –mass x acceleration – MLT-2 10
 Units
 Units are an interval of measurement:
 Units may be defined as the means by which
dimensions are expressed.
 Systems of units:
Metric or cgs
SI
EES
AES
Consider: mass – kg; energy – J; pressure – Pa
Consider: pressure – psi; energy – BTU;
Oil production – Barrels/day

 MUST be familiar with different units & be able to

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interconvert.
 Units
Treated like algebraic symbols
Use exponential form – cm3 NOT cu. cm or mL.
May be inter-converted if factor is available

Conversion factors:
1lb = 454g; 1ft = 30.48 cm

Dimensional Equation:
1lb = 1 = 454g
454g 1lb

Convert 3 lb to g:

3lb x 454g = 1362g

1lb 12
 Using Dimensional Equations
1. Convert 304.8cm to ft:
304.8cm x 1ft = 10ft
30.48cm

2. Stainless steel, type 304 has a thermal conductivity,

k, of 16.2 BTU hr-1 ft-1 Fo-1. Convert, k to units of
g-cal s-1 cm-1 Co-1 if 1 BTU = 252g-cal, 1ft = 30.48cm,
1hr = 3600s and 1Fo = 5/9 Co.

16.2BTU x 1ft x 1hr x 1Fo x 252g-cal

hr ft Fo 30.48cm 3600s 5/9Co 1BTU

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 Dimensionless Quantities
 Specific gravity
 Ratio of the density of a material to the density of
water at a specified reference temperature.
 Eg: sp. gr. 50oC/4oC

 Reynolds’ Number
Re = Dρν
μ
D = in. diameter of pipe;
v = velocity of fluid;
ρ = density of fluid;
μ = viscosity 14
 The Mole
 The mole is a quantity of substance, the mass of
which is numerically equal to its molecular weight.

 The Mole can be expressed on different bases.

 g-mole vs lb-mole
 454g-mole = 1 lb-mole

 Establish dimensional equations and compute in

lb-moles (i) 100 lbs CaCO3 (ii) 4540g CaCO3.

 100lb x 1lb-mole = 1lb-mole

100 lb
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 Mole % and weight %
 Consider a mixture of 2 components:
 Mole fraction, NA = NA
NA + NB

Mol % = Ni x 100
ΣNi

Weight %, wgt % = wi x 100

Σwi
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 Average Molecular Weight
 Molecular weight
 is the mass of 1 mole of a substance
 the weighted average of major naturally occurring
isotopes are considered.
 What is the AW of naturally occurring Cl?
 Any material with constant composition can have
an average molecular weight.
 Consider:
Natural gas has the following composition: 83.5% CH4,
12.5% C2H6 and 4%N2, the composition being quoted in
mol%. Determine the wt. % of each component & the avg.
mol wgt (C = 12, H = 1, N = 14). 17
 Average Molecular Weight
 Basis: 100lb-mole
Component # lb-mole MW Wt/lb Wt. %
CH4 83.5 16 1336 73.3
C2H6 12.5 30 375 20.6
N2 4.0 28 112 6.1
1823 100

Since wt of 1 lb-mole = mol wt.

And 100 lb-mol = 1823 lb
1 lb-mole weighs 18.23 lb
Average mol wt = 18.23 lb 18
 Temperature Scales
 Two types – relative & absolute
 Relative:
 Celsius – 0 oC – 100 oC
 Interval = 100
 Fahrenheit – 32 oF – 212 oF
 Interval = 180
 1 Co = 1.8 Fo
 Absolute
 Kelvin – 0 K = −273 oC; T (K) = 273 + T (oC)
 Rankine T (oR) = 460 + T (oF)
 T (Ro) = T(Ko) x 1.8
 ( 0 oR = −273 x 1.8 = −491 + 32 = −460 oF) 19
 Pressure Scales
 P = F/A

1. Dimensions = M x L/T2 x 1/L2 = ML-1T-2

2. Units; 1 atm = 760 mmHg = 76 cmHg

= 29.9 in Hg
= 14.7 lbf in-2
3. Define & distinguish the terms:
lbforce and lbmass
Lbforce is the force exerted by a mass of 1 lb. 20
 Revision: Terminologies
When % composition of a solid or liquid is stated
without special designation, the % are ordinarily
weight %.
For gases, % composition is usually in terms of
volume %.
Recall: equal volumes of all gases contain the same
number of moles.
Volume % for gases = mol %.
How would you prepare 100L of 10% sucrose solution?
Pressures are taken as absolute unless stated to be
gauge pressure. 21
 Material Balances: Ideal Gas Law
 Boyle’s law:
 Volume of a fixed mass of gas is inversely proportional to

pressure, temperature remaining constant.

 Charles law:
 Volume of a fixed mass of gas is directly proportional to

temperature, pressure remaining constant.

 Ideal Gas law:
 combination of Boyles & Charles law.

PV = nRT

 Standard conditions are used for referencing.

 Specify the standard conditions used with the ideal gas equation?
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Material Balances: Ideal Gas Law
^
System T P V
SI 273.15K 101.325 kPa 22.41 m3/kg-mol

Universal Sci. 0oC 760 mmHg 22.41 L/g-mol

American Eng. 32oF 1 atm 359 ft3/lb-mol

 Problem:
Calculate the mass of 1.00 m3 of water vapour at
2.00 kPa and 23 oC. Assume that water vapour is an
ideal gas under these conditions.

What approach would you use? 23

 Material Balances: Ideal Gas Law

 Problem:
Calculate the mass of 1.00m3 of water vapour at
2.00 kPa and 23 oC. Assume that water vapour is an
ideal gas under these conditions. List the steps
involved in this
Basis: calculation.
1.00 m3 H2O vapour at 2.00 kPa & oC

NB: 1kg-mol gas occupies 22.41 m3 at stp.

Mass = 1.00 m3 x 2.00 kPa x 273K 1 kg-mol x 18 kg H2O
101.3 kPa 296K 22.41 m3 1kg-mol
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= 1.46 x 10-2 kg H2O

 Material Balances: Absolute Pressure
 Problem:
A 20 ft3 fire extinguisher tank contains 10lb CO2 at 30oc.
What is the guage pressure?
1. Find moles of CO2. List the steps
P1V1 = P2V2
2. Find volume of gas at stp involved in this
3. Find the pressure the T1 T2 calculation.
gas would exert.

P2 = P1(V1/V2)(T2/T1)
P2 = 14.7psia x 359 ft3 x 1 lb-mol x 10 lb CO2 x 1 x 303K
1 lb-mol 44 lb CO2 20ft3 273K

P2 = 66 psia = total pressure 25

Material Balances: Absolute Pressure

Guage pressure = Absolute pressure – Barometric pressure

= 66psia – 14.7 psia

= 51.3 psig

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 Partial Pressure & Volumes
 Recall - Dalton’s Law:
P T = p 1 + p2 + p3 … pn
PV = nRT
PT = n(RT/VT)

 Mole Fraction:
pi/PT = ni/nT = y
 Recall – Amagat’s Law:
VT = v1 + v2 + v3 . . . Vn
Vi = ni(RT/PT)
vi/VT = ni/nT = yi 27
 Partial Pressure & Volumes
 Problem:
A flue gas at 500oF and 765 mmHg analyses for
16.0% CO2, 8.0% O2 and 76.0% N2. Determine the partial
pressure for each component. Determine the partial
volumes in 10ft3 of flue gas.

Basis: 1 lb-mol flue gas

Component # lb-mol (y) p/mmHg v/ft3

CO2 0.16 122.4 1.6
O2 0.08 61.2 0.8
N2 0.76 581.4 7.6
1.00 765.0 10.0
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