University of the Philippines – Diliman

Department of Chemical Engineering

Introduction to Material Balances

ChemE 101
Chemical Engineering Process Analysis I
AY 2018 – 2019
MSPDEANG
August 29, 2018

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Process Classification

Fin

Fin
Fout
N0t N1
Nt
N0
Batch Semi-Batch Continuous
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Continuous Processes

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Batch Processes

Batch processing is preferred for processes that have high value

but low volume products or processes that require a long
residence time.

Processing plants may be fully run in batch, continuous or a

mixture of unit operations/processes that utilize both

MSPDEANG 2018
Material Balances
Conservation Laws
Material Balances
 Mass is conserved (except for nuclear reactions)
 Moles are generally not conserved (if there are chemical
reactions)
 Volume is generally not conserved

First Law of Thermodynamics – Energy is conserved

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Conservation Laws
System Boundary

PROCESS

IN – OUT + GEN – CONS = ACC

IN = mass going inside the boundary
OUT = mass going out the boundary
GEN = mass generated inside the boundary
CONS = mass consumed inside the boundary
ACC = mass accumulated inside the boundary
MSPDEANG 2018
General Balance Equation
General Balance Equation:
IN – OUT + GEN – CONS = ACC
Example: Each year, 50,000 people move into a
city, 75,000 people move out, 22,000 are born, and
19,000 die. How many people are accumulating?

50000 – 75000 + 22000 – 19000 = -22000

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Mass Balance Equation

General Balance Equation:

IN – OUT + GEN – CONS = ACC

Notes:
1. If the process is steady-state, ACC = 0.
2. If there is no reaction, GEN = CONS = 0.
3. If there is a reaction and the total mass is being
balanced, GEN = CONS = 0.
4. If there is a reaction and the mass of species X is being
balanced, then:
GEN = mass of X generated by reaction;
CONS = mass of X consumed by reaction.
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Problem Solving Techniques
 Draw the Flowchart of the Problem
 Write all the specified values, preferably at the location of
the stream
 EXAMPLE:
A stream containing 21 mol% O2 and 79 mol% N2 at 320°C
and 1.4 atm flowing at a rate of 400 mol/h.

400 mol/hr

21% O2 84 mol O2 / hr
79% N2 316 mol N2 / hr
T = 320 °C, P = 1.4 atm T = 320 °C, P = 1.4 atm
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Problem Solving Techniques
 Assign algebraic symbols for unknown variables

400 mol/hr

x % O2
(100-x)% N2
T = 320 °C, P = 1.4 atm

 Select a convenient basis and starting point for problem

solving

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Notes
 All the amounts/flow rates must be quantified.
 The system is denoted in rectangular blocks for
simplicity.
 Components/streams that are not completely specified
means that the system is still NOT fully defined.

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Basis of Calculation
 Amount (mass or moles) or flow rate (mass or molar) of
one stream or stream component in a process.
 If no stream amounts or flow rates are known, assume
one, preferably that of a stream with known composition.

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Problem Solving Strategies
To set up needed equations to solve the problem use:
 Overall Balances
 Component Balances
 Elemental Balances

Mathematical Techniques
 Arithmetic Method (Using ratios)
 Algebraic Method (Systems of Equations)
 Graphical Method

MSPDEANG 2018
Mass Balance Equation

General Balance Equation:

IN – OUT + GEN – CONS = ACC
Example: for continuous steady state operation of the
separator below, determine the flowrates of toluene (m1) and
benzene (m2) in kg/hr

MSPDEANG 2018
Mass Balance Equation

IN – OUT + GEN – CONS = ACC

You can make 3 kinds of balances:

1. Overall Mass Balance (OMB)

2. Component Mass Balance (CMB)

(Benzene)

3. Atomic Mass Balance (AMB)*

- total Carbon or total Hydrogen
*useful for Material Balances with reaction
MSPDEANG 2018
Exercise
Two methanol-water mixtures are contained in separate
flasks. The first flask contains 40 wt% methanol, and the
second contains 70 wt% methanol. If 200 g of the first
mixture is combined with 150 g of the second, what are the
mass and composition of the product?

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Exercise

Feed 1 (F1) Mixed Product (P)

Mixer
200 kg x MeOH
40% MeOH (1-x) water
60% water Feed 2 (F2)
150 kg
70%MeOH
30% water
Overall Mass Balance (OMB) 𝐹1 + 𝐹2 = 𝑃
Component balance: MeOH 0.40𝐹1 + 0.70𝐹2 = 𝑥𝑃
Component balance: Water 0.60𝐹1 + 0.30𝐹2 = (1 − 𝑥)𝑃
Solving: F3=350 x = 0.5286

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Exercise
A manufacturer of soft drinks advertises its orange soda as
“naturally flavored,” although it contains only 5% orange
juice. A new federal regulation stipulates that to be called
“natural,” a drink must contain at least 10% fruit juice. How
much pure orange juice must this manufacturer add to
900kg of orange soda to conform to the new regulation?

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Exercise

Feed (F) Product Orange Juice (P)

Mixer
900 kg 10% O.J.
5% O.J. 90% soda
95% soda
Pure Orange Juice (J)
100% O.J.

Overall Mass Balance (OMB) 𝐹+𝐽 =𝑃

Component balance: Pure Juice 0.05𝐹 + 𝐽 = 0.10𝑃
Component balance: Soda 0.95𝐹 = 0.90𝑃
Soda is a tie component
Solving: J = 50kg, P = 950kg

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 Exercise

Feed (F) Product Orange Juice (P)

Mixer
900 kg 10% O.J.
5% O.J. 90% soda
95% soda
Pure Orange Juice (J)
100% O.J.

95 𝑘𝑔 𝑠𝑜𝑑𝑎 100 𝑘𝑔 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡 𝐽𝑢𝑖𝑐𝑒

900 𝑘𝑔 𝐹𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝐽𝑢𝑖𝑐𝑒 × × = 950 𝑘𝑔 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡 𝑗𝑢𝑖𝑐𝑒
100 𝑘𝑔 𝐹𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑗𝑢𝑖𝑐𝑒 90 𝑘𝑔 𝑠𝑜𝑑𝑎

950 𝑘𝑔 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡 𝑗𝑢𝑖𝑐𝑒 − 900 𝑘𝑔 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑗𝑢𝑖𝑐𝑒 = 50𝑘𝑔 𝑝𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑗𝑢𝑖𝑐𝑒

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Exercise
LE 1 Sample Problem #13
A mixture of methane and air is capable of being ignited only if the
mole percent of methane is between 5% and 15%. A mixture
containing 9% methane in air flowing at a rate of 700kg/hr is to be
diluted with pure air to reduce the methane concentration to the
lower flammability limit of 5%. Calculate the required air flowrate
in kg/hr.

Feed Gas (F) Diluted Mixture (M)

Mixer
700kg/hr 5% methane
9% methane 95% air
91% air
Pure Air (A)
100% air.

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Exercise
Feed Gas (F) Diluted Mixture (M)
Mixer
700kg/hr 5% methane
9% methane 95% air
91% air
Pure Air (A)
100% air.
Basis: 1 hour operation
Option A: Convert all compositions to mass basis then solve
Option B: Convert known flowrates (F) to molar flowrate
Convert 700kg/hr to kmol/hr
Convert given mole% of feed to mass%

MSPDEANG 2018
 Exercise
Feed Gas (F) Diluted Mixture (M)
Mixer
700kg/hr 5% methane
9% methane 95% air
91% air
Pure Air (A)
100% air.
Basis: 100 kmol feed gas
16 𝑘𝑔 𝐶𝐻4 28.84 𝑘𝑔 𝐶𝐻4
9 𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝐶𝐻4 × = 144 𝑘𝑔 𝐶𝐻4 91 𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑎𝑖𝑟 × = 2624.44𝑘𝑔 𝑎𝑖𝑟
1 𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝐶𝐻4 1 𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝐶𝐻4
𝑥𝐶𝐻4 = 0.0520 𝑥𝑎𝑖𝑟 = 0.9480

0.0520 𝑘𝑔 𝐶𝐻4 𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝐶𝐻4

𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝐶𝐻4 𝑖𝑛 𝐹 = 700𝑘𝑔 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑖𝑟 × = 2.2750 𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝐶𝐻4
𝑘𝑔 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑖𝑟 16 𝑘𝑔 𝐶𝐻4

0.9480 𝑘𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑟

𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝐹 = 700𝑘𝑔 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑖𝑟 × = 23.0097 𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑟
𝑘𝑔 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑖𝑟 28.84 𝑘𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑟

MSPDEANG 2018
Exercise
Feed Gas (F) Diluted Mixture (M)
Mixer
2.2750 kmol/hr methane 5% methane
23.0097 kmol/hr air 95% air
Pure Air (A)
100% air.
Moles are conserved – no chemical reaction
Overall mole balance: 𝐹 + 𝐴 = 𝑀 (2.2750 + 23.0097)+𝐴 = 𝑀
Methane balance: 2.2750= 0.05𝑀
M = 45.5 kmol diluted mixture, A = 20.2153 kmol air
20.2153 kmol air x (28.84 kg/kmol) = 583 kg/hr air

Practice at home: solve in mass flowrates of the streams by

converting all compositions to mass percent.

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Material Balances: Graphical
Solutions
Ternary Diagrams

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Application of Graphical Solutions
 Graphical Solutions are utilized to simplify the solution of
various ChE problems (mostly involving phase equilibria)

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Application of Graphical Solutions

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Ternary Diagrams (Right Angle)
Only two components are
plotted
The other component is
determined by difference

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Ternary Diagrams (Right Angle)

Plot the following points in

the ternary diagram

M2 M1 M2 M3 M4

M1 xA 0.1 0.3 0.55 0.3

xB 0.5 0.15 0.25 0.6

xC 0.4 0.55 0.2 0.1

M3
M4

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Ternary Diagrams (Equilateral)
Pure C
0.0 1

0.1 0.9

0.2 0.8

0.3 0.7

0.4 0.6

0.5 0.5

0.6 0.4

0.7 0.3

0.8 0.2

0.9 0.1

1
Pure B 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
0
Pure A
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Ternary Diagrams (Equilateral)
Pure C
0.0 1 Plot the following points in
0.9
0.1 the ternary diagram
0.2 0.8 M1 M2 M3 M4

0.3 0.7 xA 0.1 0.3 0.55 0.3

0.4 M2 0.6 xB 0.5 0.15 0.25 0.6

0.5 0.5 xC 0.4 0.55 0.2 0.1

M1
0.6 0.4

0.7 0.3

0.8 0.2
M3
0.9 0.1

1 M4
Pure B 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
0
Pure A
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Inverse Lever Arm Rule
 Graphical approach to Material Balance

𝑂𝑀𝐵: 𝑀1 + 𝑀2 = 𝑀3

𝐶𝑀𝐵 𝐴 : 𝑀1 𝑥𝐴1 + 𝑀2 𝑥𝐴2 = 𝑥𝐴3 𝑀3

𝑀1 𝑥𝐴1 + 𝑀2 𝑥𝐴2 = 𝑥𝐴3 𝑀1 + 𝑀2
𝑀1 𝑥𝐴1 + 𝑀2 𝑥𝐴2 = 𝑥𝐴3 𝑀1 + 𝑥𝐴3 𝑀2

𝑀1 𝑥𝐴1 − 𝑀1 𝑥𝐴3 = 𝑥𝐴3 𝑀2 − 𝑀2 𝑥𝐴2

𝑀1 𝑥𝐴1 − 𝑥𝐴3 = 𝑀2 𝑥𝐴3 − 𝑥𝐴2

𝑀1 𝐿𝐴𝐷 = 𝑀2 𝐿𝐷𝐸
𝑀1 𝐿𝐴𝐵 = 𝑀2 𝐿𝐵𝐶

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Inverse Lever Arm Rule
 Graphical approach to Material Balance
L13 L23

M1 M3 M2

𝑀1 𝐿13 = 𝑀2 𝐿23

MSPDEANG 2018
Exercise
Two methanol-water mixtures are contained in separate
flasks. The first flask contains 40 wt% methanol, and the
second contains 70 wt% methanol. If 200 g of the first
mixture is combined with 150 g of the second, what are the
mass and composition of the product?

MSPDEANG 2018
Inverse Lever Arm Rule
𝑀1 + 𝑀2 = 𝑀3
Pure C Two methanol-water
0.0 1 mixtures are contained in
separate flasks. The first
𝑀1 𝐿13 = 𝑀2 𝐿23 0.1 0.9 flask contains 40 wt%
methanol, and the second
0.2 0.8 contains 70 wt% methanol.
Let x = distance If 200 g of the first mixture is
0.3 0.7 combined with 150 g of the
from point 1 to second, what are the mass
mixing point 0.4 0.6 and composition of the
product?
𝑀1 𝑥 = 𝑀2 𝐿𝑡 − 𝑥 0.5 0.5 Let A = Methanol, B = water

0.6 0.4

0.7 0.3

0.8 0.2

0.9 Lt 0.1
x
1
Pure B 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
0

M1 M3 M2 Pure A
MSPDEANG 2018
Exercise
A manufacturer of soft drinks advertises its orange soda as
“naturally flavored,” although it contains only 5% orange
juice. A new federal regulation stipulates that to be called
“natural,” a drink must contain at least 10% fruit juice. How
much pure orange juice must this manufacturer add to 900
gal of orange soda to conform to the new regulation?

MSPDEANG 2018
Inverse Lever Arm Rule
𝑀1 + 𝑀2 = 𝑀3
Pure C A manufacturer of soft drinks advertises
its orange soda as “naturally flavored,”
0.0 1 although it contains only 5% orange
juice. A new federal regulation stipulates
𝑀1 𝑀2 that to be called “natural,” a drink must
0.1 0.9 contain at least 10% fruit juice. How
= much pure orange juice must this
𝐿23 𝐿13 manufacturer add to 900 gal of orange
0.2 0.8 soda to conform to the new regulation?
Let A = pure juice, B = pure soda
900 𝑘𝑔 𝑀2 0.7
= 0.3
𝐿23 𝐿13
0.4 0.6

0.5 0.5

0.6 0.4

0.7 0.3

0.8 0.2

0.9 L23 0.1

L13
1
Pure B 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
0

M1 M3 M2 Pure A
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Exercise
 Four mixtures of equal masses, M1, M2, M3, and M4
with components A, B, and C are mixed. If the
compositions of the mixtures are given below, find the
composition of the resulting mixture graphically.

M1 M2 M3 M4

xA 0.1 0.3 0.55 0.3

xB 0.5 0.15 0.25 0.6

xC 0.4 0.55 0.2 0.1

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Inverse Lever Arm Rule
Pure C M1 M2 M3 M4
0.0 1
xA 0.1 0.3 0.55 0.3
0.1 0.9
xB 0.5 0.15 0.25 0.6
0.2 0.8
xC 0.4 0.55 0.2 0.1
0.3 0.7

0.4 M2 0.6

0.5 S1 0.5
M1
0.6 0.4
S3
0.7 0.3

0.8 0.2
M3
0.9 S2 0.1

1 M4
Pure B 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
0
Pure A
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Exercise
Suppose now that a portion the resulting mixture in the
previous exercise (S3) was extracted. This extracted portion
(S4) had a composition of 30% C and 10% B and contained
1/3 of the total mass of S3. Determine the composition of the
remaining mixture (S5)

MSPDEANG 2018
Inverse Lever Arm Rule
Pure C M1 M2 M3 M4
0.0 1
xA 0.1 0.3 0.55 0.3
0.1 0.9
xB 0.5 0.15 0.25 0.6
0.2 0.8
xC 0.4 0.55 0.2 0.1
0.3 0.7

0.4 M2 0.6

0.5 S1 0.5
M1
0.6 0.4
S3
0.7 S4
0.3
S5
0.8 0.2
M3
0.9 S2 0.1

1 M4
Pure B 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
0
Pure A
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QUESTIONS?