Chemical Process Calculations

Material balance involving

Reactive Species
 General guidelines for different approaches – H.W.
Ex.
 General guidelines for different approaches – H.W.
Sol. Degree of Freedom Analysis:
(1) Molecular species balance: 5 unknown var. + 2 indep. Rxns. – 6 indep. Molecular species balance
(CH4, O2, N2, CO, CO2, H2O) – 1 specified methane conversion = 0 DOF
(2) Atomic species balance: 5 unknown var. – 3 indep. Atomic species balance (C, H, O) – 1
nonreactive molecular species balance (N2) – 1 specified methane conversion = 0 DOF
(3) Extents of reaction: 5 unknown var. + 2 indep. Rxns. – 5 expressions for ξ (CH4, O2, CO, CO2, H2O) –
1 nonreactive molecular species balance (N2) – 1 specified methane conversion = 0 DOF

• The information that is common to all the 3 approaches could be solved beforehand:
• 90% CH4 conversion: implies remaining is 10% that appears in output
nCH4 = 0.10 * (100 * 0.0780) = 0.780 mol CH4
• N2 balance: Being a nonreactive species, its balance equation => input = output
nN2 = (100 * 0.728) = 72.8 mol N2

Now,
The remaining unknowns (nCO, nCO2, nH2O, nO2) would be determined by all the three
approaches:

nCO = 0.780 mol CO; nCO2 = 6.24 mol CO2; nH2O = 14.0 mol H2O; nO2 = 5.75 mol O2
 General guidelines for different approaches – H.W.
Sol. Molecular Species balances: (G => Generation; C => Consumption)
 General guidelines for different approaches – H.W.
Sol. Molecular Species balances: (G => Generation; C => Consumption)
 General guidelines for different approaches – H.W.
Sol. Atomic Species balances:
 Example 1 – Nonreactive system
• (Q) A train is approaching a station at 105 cm/s. A man in one car is walking
forward at 30 cm/s relative to the seats. He is eating a foot-long hot dog, which is
entering his mouth at the rate of 2 cm/s. An ant on the hot dog is running away
from the man’s mouth at 1 cm/s. How fast is the ant approaching the station?

• (Sol.)
• 105 + 30 – 2 + 1 = 134 cm/s
 Example 2 – Nonreactive system
• (Q) A water solution containing 10% acetic acid is added to a water solution
containing 30% acetic acid flowing at the rate of 20 kg/min. The product P of the
combination leaves at the rate of 100 kg/min. What is the composition of P? For
this process:
• a. Determine how many independent balances can be written.
• b. List the names of the balances.
• c. Determine how many unknown variables can be solved for.
• d. List their names and symbols.
• e. Determine the composition of P.

• (Sol.)
 Example 3 – Nonreactive system
• (Q) Can you solve these three material balances for F, D, and P?
0.1f + 0.3D = 0.2P
0.9F + 0.7D = 0.8P
F+D=P

• (Sol.)
 Example 4 – Nonreactive system
• (Q) How many values of the concentrations and flow rates in the process shown in
are unknown? List them. The streams contain two components, 1 and 2.

• (Sol.)
 Example 5 – Nonreactive system
• (Q) In the steady-state process (with no reactions occurring) shown to determine if
a unique solution exists for the values of the variables. Does it? Show all
calculations.
• (Sol.)
 Example 6 – Nonreactive system
• (Q) Three gaseous mixtures, A, B, and C, with the compositions listed in the table
are blended into a single mixture.

• A new analyst reports that the composition of the mixture is 25% CH4, 25% C2H6,
and 50% C3H8. Without making any detailed calculations, explain how you know
the analysis is incorrect.

• (Sol.)
 Example 7 – Nonreactive system – H.W.
• (Q) A problem is posed as follows: It is desired to mix three LPG (liquefied
petroleum gas) streams denoted by A, B, and C in certain proportions so that the
final mixture will meet certain vapor-pressure specifications. These specifications
will be met by a stream of composition D as indicated in the following table.
Calculate the proportions in which streams A, B, and C must be mixed to give a
product with a composition of D. The values are liquid volume percent, but the
volumes are additive for these compounds.

The subscripts on the Cs represent the number of carbons, and the + sign on C5+
indicates all compounds of higher molecular weight as well as iso-C5. Does this
problem have a unique solution?
 Example 8 – Nonreactive system
• (Q) In preparing 2.50 moles of a mixture of three gases, SO2, H2S, and CS2, gases
from three tanks are combined into a fourth tank. The tanks have the following
compositions (mole fractions):

In the right-hand column is listed the supposed composition obtained by analysis of

the mixture. Does the set of three mole balances for the three compounds have a
solution for the number of moles taken from each of the three tanks and used to
make up the mixture? If so, what does the solution mean?
 Example 9 – Nonreactive system
• (Q) Tank A containing 90% nitrogen is mixed with Tank B containing 30% nitrogen to
get Tank C containing 65% nitrogen. You are asked to determine the ratio of the gas
used from Tank A to that used from Tank B.

• (Sol.)
 Example 10 – Nonreactive system
• (Q) A dryer takes in wet timber (20.1% water) and reduces the water content to
8.6%. You want to determine the kilograms of water removed per kilogram of
timber that enters the process.

• (Sol.)
 Example 11 – Nonreactive system
• (Q) A cylinder containing CH4, C2H6, and N2 has to be prepared in which the ratio
of the moles of CH4 to C2H6 is 1.3 to 1. Available are a cylinder containing a
mixture of 70% N2 and 30% CH4, a cylinder containing a mixture of 90% N2 and
10% C2H6, and a cylinder of pure N2. Determine the proportions in which the
respective gases from each cylinder should be used.

• (Sol.)
 Example 12 – Nonreactive system
• (Q) A cellulose solution contains 5.2% cellulose by weight in water. How many
kilograms of 1.2% solution are required to dilute 100 kg of the 5.2% solution to
4.2%?

• (Sol.)
 Example 13 – Nonreactive system
• (Q) Salt in crude oil must be removed before the oil undergoes processing in a
refinery. The crude oil is fed to a washing unit where freshwater fed to the unit
mixes with the oil and dissolves a portion of the salt contained in the oil. The oil
(containing some salt but no water), being less dense than the water, can be
removed at the top of the washer. If the “spent” wash water contains 15% salt and
the crude oil contains 5% salt, determine the concentration of salt in the “washed”
oil product if the ratio of crude oil (with salt) to water used is 4 to 1.

• (Sol.)
 Example 14 – Nonreactive system
• (Q) You buy 100 kg of cucumbers that contain 99% water. A few days later they are
found to be 98% water. Is it true that the cucumbers now weigh only 50 kg?

• (Sol.)
 Example 15 – Nonreactive system
• (Q) The fern Pteris vittata has been shown [Nature, 409, 579 (2001)] to effectively
extract arsenic from soils. The study showed that in normal soil, which contains 6
ppm of arsenic, in two weeks the fern reduced the soil concentration to 5 ppm
while accumulating 755 ppm of arsenic. In this experiment, what was the ratio of
the soil mass to the plant mass? The initial arsenic in the fern was 5 ppm.

• (Sol.)
 Example 16 – Nonreactive system
• (Q) Sludge is wet solids that result from the processing in municipal sewage
systems. The sludge has to be dried before it can be composted or otherwise
handled. If a sludge containing 70% water and 30% solids is passed through a dryer,
and the resulting product contains 25% water, how much water is evaporated per
ton of sludge sent to the dryer?

• (Sol.)
 Example 17 – Nonreactive system
• (Q) is a sketch of an artificial kidney, a medical device used to remove waste
metabolites from the blood in cases of kidney malfunction. The dialyzing fluid
passes across a hollow membrane, and the waste products diffuse from the blood
into the dialyzing fluid. If the blood entering the unit flows at the rate of 220
mL/min, and the blood exiting the unit flows at the rate of 215 mL/min, how much
water and urea (the main waste product) pass into the dialysate if the entering
concentration of urea is 2.30 mg/mL and the exit concentration of urea is 1.70
mg/mL?
• If the dialyzing fluid flows into the unit at the rate of 1500 mL/min, what is the
concentration of the urea in the dialysate?

• (Sol.)
 Example 18 – Nonreactive system
• (Q) A multiple-stage evaporator concentrates a weak NaOH solution from 3% to
18% and processes 2 tons of feed solution per day. How much product is made per
day? How much water is evaporated per day?

• (Sol.)
 Example 19 – Nonreactive system
• (Q) A liquid adhesive consists of a polymer dissolved in a solvent. The amount of
polymer in the solution is important to the application. An adhesive dealer receives
an order for 3000 lb of an adhesive solution containing 13% polymer by weight. On
hand are 500 lb of 10% solution and very large quantities of 20% solution and pure
solvent. Calculate the weight of each that must be blended together to fill this
order. Use all of the 10% solution.

• (Sol.)
 Example 20 – Nonreactive system
• (Q) A lacquer plant must deliver 1000 lb of an 8% nitrocellulose solution. The plant
has in stock a 5.5% solution. How much dry nitrocellulose must be dissolved in the
solution to fill the order?

• (Sol.)
 Example 21 – Nonreactive system
• (Q) A gas containing 80% CH4 and 20% He is sent through a quartz diffusion tube
(see Figure below) to recover the helium. Twenty percent by weight of the original
gas is recovered, and its composition is 50% He. Calculate the composition of the
waste gas if 100 kg moles of gas are processed per minute.

• (Sol.)
 Example 22 – Nonreactive system
• (Q) In many fermentations, the maximum amount of cell mass must be obtained.
However, the amount of mass that can be made is ultimately limited by the cell
volume. Cells occupy a finite volume and have a rigid shape so that they cannot be
packed beyond a certain limit. There will always be some water remaining in the
interstices between the adjacent cells, which represent the void volume that at
best can be as low as 40% of the fermenter volume. Calculate the maximum cell
mass on a dry basis per liter of the fermenter that can be obtained if the wet cell
density is 1.1 g/cm3. Note that cells themselves consist of about 75% water and
25% solids, and cell mass is reported as dry weight in the fermentation industry.

• (Sol.)
 Example 23 – Nonreactive system
• (Q) A polymer blend is to be formed from the three compounds whose
compositions and approximate formulas are listed in the following table.
Determine the percentages of each compound A, B, and C to be introduced into the
mixture to achieve the desired composition.
• How would you decide to blend compounds A, B, and C to achieve the desired
mixture D[(CH4)x = 10%, (C2H6)x = 30%, (C3H8)x = 60%]?

• (Sol.)
Thank You
 References
• Himmelblau, D.M. and Riggs, J.B., 2012. Basic principles and calculations in
chemical engineering. FT press.

• Felder, R.M. and Rousseau, R.W., 1986. Elementary principles of chemical

processes.

• Perry, J.H., 1950. Chemical engineers' handbook.