ChemE 101 – 7.

3 Problem Set Department of Chemical Engineering

1st Semester AY 2020-2021 University of the Philippines Diliman
Multiple-Unit Material Balances II

Instructions: Write your solution to each problem in sheets of ruled pad paper. Do this problem set on your own. Include the following
honor code, handwritten and signed, at the end of your submission.

HONOR CODE
As a student who upholds the UP tradition of Honor and Excellence, I certify on my honor that I have neither given nor
received assistance from anyone in completing this assessment, unless collaboration on an assignment is explicitly permitted.
I further certify that I will not engage in any activity that would dishonestly improve my results, or improve or hurt the
results of others. I understand that any act of cheating in this assessment will result to a grade of 5.00 in this requirement
and may be subjected to further disciplinary action.

______________________
Signature over Printed Name

______________________
Date (DD/MM/YYYY)

When you are done, scan or take a picture of your work and upload it to the corresponding submission bin in our UVLê.

PROBLEM 1 (Fe=56, Cl=36, O=16, H=1)

Ferric chloride (FeCl3) is an industrial chemical used in sewage treatment and drinking water production. In a particular
plant, 1000 kg/h of 30% aqueous ferric chloride solution is fed in a continuous evaporator-crystallizer unit, where some of
the water is removed in the evaporator, then the resulting concentrate is cooled down to 20°C until ferric chloride
hexahydrate (FeCl3·6H2O) crystallizes out. The water removed is added to the mother liquor, resulting to a 20% aqueous
FeCl3 solution. Each kilogram of crystals carries 0.05 kg of adhering solution. The solubility of FeCl3·6H2O at 20°C is 92
g/100 mL H2O.
1. In which subsystem/control volume should you make a mass balance first?
2. What is the weight percent of FeCl3 in the mother liquor?
3. What percent of FeCl3 in the feed solution is recovered as crystals in the crystallizer?
4. What is the rate of removal of water in the evaporator?
5. What is the weight percent of water in the concentrate leaving the evaporator?

PROBLEM 2
Freshly mined ore is to be cleaned so that later processing units are not contaminated with dirt. 3000 kg/h of dirty ore is
dumped into a large washer, in which water is allowed to soak the ore on its way to a drain at the bottom of the unit. The
solubility of dirt in water is estimated to be 0.4 g dirt/cm3 water (or 0.4 g dirt/g H2O, assuming that the water leaving the
washer is saturated with dirt). The amount of dirt remaining on the ore after this process is negligible, but water remains
absorbed on the ore surface such that the net mass flow rate of the cleaned ore is 3100 kg/h. The dirty water is cleaned in
a settler, which is able to remove 90% of the dirt in the stream without removing significant amount of water. The cleaned
stream is then combined with a fresh water stream through a mixer before re-entering the washer. The wet, clean ore enters
a dryer, in which all of the water is removed. Dry ore is removed from the dryer at 2900 kg/h.
1. Draw a complete diagram of the whole process. Label all streams properly.
2. Perform a degree-of-freedom analysis.
3. Determine the mass flow rate of fresh water to achieve the significant removal of dirt from the freshly mined ore.
4. Calculate the mass of dirty water entering the settler per minute of operation.
5. Calculate the mass fraction of dirt in the stream that enters the washer (after it has been mixed with the freshwater
stream).

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