PRACTICE PROBLEMS IN CHEMICAL ENGINEERING CALCULATIONS

PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM

Draw and completely label the PFD for the following problems.

1. An ethanol–methanol–propanol stream is fed at a rate of 2000 kg/h to a distillation

column. Feed is 20% methanol. Ninety percent of the methanol is to be recovered in the
distillate along with 60% of ethanol. All of the 400 kg/h of propanol fed to the process
must be sent to the bottom.
2. An ethanol–methanol stream fed at a rate of 100 kg/h is to be separated in a distillation
column. The feed has 40 wt% ethanol and the distillate has 80% methanol by weight.
Note that 80 wt% of methanol in the feed is to be recovered as distillate
3. A stream of aqueous hydrochloric acid, 57.3 wt% HCl, is mixed with pure water to
produce a stream of 16.5% acid.
4. An absorber is used to remove acetone from a nitrogen carrier gas. The feed, with
acetone weight fraction 0.213, enters at a rate of 200 kg/h. The absorbing liquid is water,
which enters at a rate of 1000 kg/h. The exit gas stream is 0.8 wt% acetone and 2.9%
water vapor.
5. Air containing 3% acetone and 2% water is fed to an absorber column. The mass flow
rate of air is 1000 kg/h. Pure water is used as absorbent to absorb acetone from air. The
air leaving the absorber should be free of acetone. The air leaving the absorber was found
to contain 0.5% water. The bottom product of the absorber is sent to a distillation column
to separate acetone from water. The bottom of the distillation column was found to
contain 4% acetone, and the balance is water. The vapor from the head of the absorber is
condensed. The concentration of the condensate is 99% acetone and the balance is water.
6. A liquid mixture containing 38 mol% benzene (B), 35.0 mol% toluene (T), and 27.0
mol% xylene (X) is fed to a distillation column. The bottom product contains 97.0 mol%
X and the balance is T, bearing in mind that 93.0% of X in the feed is recovered in this
stream. The overhead product is fed to a second column. The overhead product from the
second column contains 95 mol% B and 5.0 mol% T, bearing in mind that 96.0 mol% of
the benzene fed to the system is recovered in this stream.