Chemical Engineering Principles-I Dr.Ali H.

Abbar

Figure 12.1: Figure 12.la shows a single unit with serial flows. Figure 12.b shows multiple units but still with
serial flows. Figure 12.lc shows the addition of recycle.

Recycle without Chemical Reaction

Recycle of material occurs in a variety of processes that do not involve chemical reaction, including
distillation, crystallization, and heating and refrigeration systems.

Examine Figure 12.2. You can write material balances for several different systems, four of which are shown
by dashed lines in Figure 12.2 (Overall balance 1, Mixer balance 2, Process balance 3 & Separator
balance 4).

The fresh feed enters the overall system and the overall or net product is removed.

The total (gross) feed enters the process and the gross product is removed.

In addition, you can make balances (not shown in Figure 12.2) about combinations of subsystems, such as the
process plus the separator (3 plus 4), or the mixing point plus the process (2 plus 3).

Figure 12.2 Process with recycle (the numbers designate possible system boundaries for the material balances).
Example 35
Figure E12.la is a schematic of a process for the production of flake NaOH, which is used in households to clear
plugged drains in the plumbing (e.g., Drano).

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The fresh feed to the process is 10,000 lb/hr of a 40% aqueous NaOH solution. The fresh feed is combined with the
recycled filtrate from the crystallizer, and fed to the evaporator where water is removed to produce a 50% NaOH
solution, which in turn is fed to the crystallizer. The crystallizer produces a filter cake that is 95% NaOH crystals and
5% solution that itself consists of 45% NaOH. The filtrate contains 45% NaOH.
a. You are asked to determine the flow rate of water removed by the evaporator, and the recycle rate for this
process.
b. Assume that the same production rate of NaOH flakes occurs, but the filtrate is not recycled. What would be
the total feed rate of 40% NaOH have to be then? Assume that the product solution from the evaporator still
contains 50% NaOH.
Solution
Open, steady-state process.
a. Basis: 10,000 lb fresh feed (equivalent to 1 hour)
The unknowns are W, G, P, and R.
Overall NaOH balance
(0.4)(10,000) = 0.95 P + (0.45) (0.05) P
P = 4113 lb
Overall H2O balance
(0.6) (10,000) = W+ [(0.55)(0.05)](4113)
W= 5887 lb
(or use the overall total balance 10,000 = 4113 + W)

The total amount of NaOH exiting with P is [(0.95) + (0.45)(0.05)](4113) = 4000 lb

NaOH balance on the crystallizer 0.5 G = 4000 + 0.45 R

H2O balance on the crystallizer 0.5 G = 113 + 0.55 R
(or use the total balance G = R + 4113)
R = 38,870 lb
b. Figure E12.lb.

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The basis is now P = 4113 lb (the same as 1 hour)

The unknowns are now F, W, G, and H.
NaOH balance on the crystallizer
0.5 G = [(0.95) + (0.05) (0.45)] (4113) + 0.45 H
H2O balance on the crystallizer
0.5G = [(0.05) (0.55) (4113)] + 0.55 H
H = 38,870 lb
Overall NaOH balance
0.40 F = 0.45(38,870) + 4000
F = 53,730 lb
 Note that without recycle, the feed rate must be 5.37 times larger than with recycle to produce the same
amount of product.

Recycle with Chemical Reaction

 The most common application of recycle for systems involving chemical reaction is the recycle of reactants, an
application that is used to increase the overall conversion in a reactor. Figure 12.3 shows a simple example for
the reaction

Figure 12.3 A simple recycle system with chemical reaction.

If you calculate the extent of reaction for the overall process in Figure 12.3 based on B

If you use material balances to calculate the output P of the reactor (on the basis of 1 second) you get A = 900 g mol
B = 100 g mol

And the extent of reaction based on B for the reactor by itself as the system is

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In general, the extent of reaction is the same regardless of whether an overall material balance is used or a material
balance for the reactor is used.

• Two types of conversion when reactions occur:

1. Overall fraction conversion:

mass (moles) of reactant in the fresh feed - mass (moles) of reactant in the output of the overall process
mass (moles) of reactant in the fresh feed

2. Single - pass (“once - through”) fraction conversion:

mass (moles) of reactant fed into the reactor - mass (moles) of reactant exiting the reactor
mass (moles) of reactant fed into the reactor

For the simple recycle reactor in Figure 12.3, the overall conversion is

And the single-pass conversion is

When the fresh feed consists of more than one reactant, the conversion can be expressed for a single component,
usually the limiting reactant, or the most important (expensive) reactant.

♦ The overall conversion and the single-pass conversion can be expressed in terms of the extent of reaction, ξ.

Example 36
Cyclohexane (C6H12) can be made by the reaction of benzene (Bz) (C6H6) with hydrogen according to the following
reaction:

For the process shown in Figure El2.2, determine the ratio of the recycle stream to the fresh feed stream if the overall
conversion of benzene is 95%, and the single-pass conversion is 20%. Assume that 20% excess hydrogen is used in the
fresh feed, and that the composition of the recycle stream is 22.74 mol % benzene and 77.26 mol % hydrogen.

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Solution
The process is open and steady state.
Basis = 100 mol (g mol or lb mol) of fresh benzene feed
Excess H2 = (in – required)/ required (for complete reaction)
In H2 (Feed):

The total fresh feed = 100 + 360 = 460 mol.

From Equation (12.1) for benzene (νBz = - 1)

ξ = 95 reacting moles.

The species overall balances are

The amount of the Bz feed to the reactor is 100 + 0.2274 R, and ξ = 95. Thus, for benzene

and R = 1649 mol

Finally, the ratio of recycle to fresh feed is

Example 37
Immobilized glucose isomerase is used as a catalyst in producing fructose from glucose in a fixed-bed reactor (water is
the solvent). For the system shown in Figure El2.3a, what percent conversion of glucose results on one pass through the
reactor when the ratio of the exit stream to the recycle stream in mass units is equal to 8.33? The reaction is

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Solution
The process is an open, steady-state process with a reaction occurring and a recycle.

 Figure E12.3b includes all the known and unknown values of the variables using appropriate notation (W
stands for water, G for glucose, and F for fructose).
 Note that the recycle stream and product stream have the same composition, and consequently the same
mass symbols are used in the diagram for each stream.

Pick as a basis S = 100 kg

Overall balances
Total: P = S = 100 kg
Consequently,
[P/R = 8.33]

Overall no water is generated or consumed, hence

Water:

Mixing point 1

Or

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Next from the glucose balance

Reactor plus Separator 2

Total: T = 12 + 100 = 112 (a redundant equation)

Check by using Equation 12.2 and the extent of reaction

Example 38
Reactors that involve biological materials (bioreactors) use living organisms to produce a variety of products.
Bioreactors are used for producing ethanol, antibiotics, and proteins for dietary supplements and medical diagnosis.
Figure E12.4 shows a recycle bioreactor in which the overall conversion of the proprietary component in the fresh feed
to product is 100%. The conversion of the proprietary component to product per pass in the reactor is 40%. Determine
the amount of recycle and the mass percent of component in the recycle stream if the product stream contains 90%
product, and the feed to the reactor contains 3 wt % of the component.

Assume that the component and the product have essentially the same molecular weight, and that the waste contains
only water and dead cells.

Solution
Basis = 100 kg of fresh feed (F).
Overall balances
Total balance: 100 = P + W
Component balance: 0.10 (100) = 0.90 P

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P = 11.l kg W = 88.9 kg

The reactor plus the product recovery unit balance

Mixer balance
Component balance: 100 (0.10) + 15 = 0.03 F′ F′ = 833 kg
Total balance: R + 100 = F′ R = 833 – 100 = 733 kg

Bypass and Purge

a. A bypass stream—a stream that skips one or more stages of the process an goes directly to another
downstream stage (Figure 12.4).
A bypass stream can be used to control the composition of a final exit stream from a unit by mixing the bypass
stream and the unit exit stream in suitable proportions to obtain the desired final composition.

Figure 12.4 A process with a bypass stream.

b. A purge stream—a stream bled off from the process to remove an accumulation of inert or unwanted material
that might otherwise build up in the recycle stream (Figure 12.5).

Figure 12.5 A process with a recycle stream with purge.

Example 39
In the feedstock preparation section of a plant manufacturing natural gasoline, isopentane is removed from butane-free
gasoline. Assume for purposes of simplification that the process and components are as shown in Figure E12.5. What
fraction of the butane-free gasoline is passed through the isopentane tower? The process is in the steady state and no
reaction occurs.

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