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Lecture 1 - Introduction

This document discusses different types of chemical processes and material balances. It defines batch, continuous, and semi-batch processes. Batch processes involve charging materials at the start and removing products all at once later. Continuous processes have inputs and outputs flowing continuously. Semi-batch processes are neither fully batch or continuous. Material balances can be steady state or unsteady state depending on whether process variables change over time. The document provides examples of classifying different processes and using the general material balance equation to account for accumulation. It emphasizes the importance of flowcharts for organizing material balance calculations.

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David Rivera Arjona
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120 views20 pages

Lecture 1 - Introduction

This document discusses different types of chemical processes and material balances. It defines batch, continuous, and semi-batch processes. Batch processes involve charging materials at the start and removing products all at once later. Continuous processes have inputs and outputs flowing continuously. Semi-batch processes are neither fully batch or continuous. Material balances can be steady state or unsteady state depending on whether process variables change over time. The document provides examples of classifying different processes and using the general material balance equation to account for accumulation. It emphasizes the importance of flowcharts for organizing material balance calculations.

Uploaded by

David Rivera Arjona
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Introduction

Processes can be classified


 Batch

 Continuous

 Semi batch
 Batch - Feed charged into system at start of
process
- Products removed all at once later
- No mass crosses system boundary
 Continuous - Inputs and outputs flow continuously
throughout duration of process

Mixer

Continuous-stirred
tank reactor (CSTR)
Batch

 Continuous

 Semi batch - Any process that is neither batch or


continuous!
Material Balances
 Steady State - when all variables in a process (T, P,
V, flowrates etc) DO NOT change

 Unsteady State - when process variables change


with time

 Batch and semi batch processes are unsteady state


operations

 Continuous processes can be both steady state and


unsteady state
Material Balances
Batch processing
 Used for relatively small quantities of a product-
pharmaceuticals

Continuous processing
 Large production rates (petrochemical)
 Run close to steady state
 When would unsteady state exist?
 On start-up
 Following a change
Material Balances-class activity – in pairs
Classify the following as
 batch, continuous or semi batch,
 and steady or unsteady state

1. Balloon filled with air at steady rate of 2g/min

2. Water is boiled in an open flask

3. A bottle of milk is taken from a fridge and left on the


kitchen bench
Material Balances-class activity
Classify the following as batch, continuous or semi
batch, and steady or unsteady state

1. Balloon filled with air at steady rate of 2g/min

Semi-batch Unsteady state

2. Water is boiled in an open flask

Semi-batch Unsteady state


Material Balances-class activity
Classify the following as batch, continuous or semi
batch, and steady or unsteady state

3. A bottle of milk is taken from a fridge and left on the


kitchen bench

Batch – assume no mass loss

Unsteady state – change in temperature


Material Balances-class activity
Classify the following as batch, continuous or semi
batch, and steady or unsteady state

4. Carbon monoxide and steam are fed into a tubular


reactor at a steady rate and react to form CO 2 & H2.
Products & unused reactants are withdrawn at other
end. The reactor contains air on start up. Reactor
temperature is constant and the composition and flow-
rate of the entering reactant stream are independent of
time. Classify the process

a) Initially b) After a long period of time


Continuous Continuous
Unsteady state Steady state
General Mass Balance Equation (GMBE)
CH4 is a component of both the input & output streams
of a continuous process unit. In an effort to determine
whether the unit is performing as designed, a chemical
engineer has been asked to measure the mass flow
rates of CH4 in both streams.

qin qout
(kgCH4/hr) (kgCH4/hr)
Process Unit

The chemical engineer found the measurements to be


different: qin ≠ qout
WHY???
General Mass Balance Equation (GMBE)
Four explanations for this are:
 Methane is leaking
 Methane is being consumed or generated
 Methane is accumulating in unit - possibly absorbing
on the walls
 Measurements are wrong

From now on, we will assume that measurements are


correct and there are no leaks
General Mass Balance Equation (GMBE)
Input – Output + Generation – Consumption
=
Accumulation

 Input - enters through system boundary


 Output - leaves through system boundary
 Generation - produced within system
 Consumption - consumed within system
 Accumulation - build up within system

GENERAL MASS BALANCE EQUATION

Let’s try the class activity in your notes


Class Activity

Input – Output + Generation – Consumption = Accumulation

50,000 – 75,000 + 22,000 – 19,000 = accumulation

-22,000 = accumulation

The population of the city decreases by 22,000 people/year


Material Balances
Two types of balances may be written:
1.Differential - What happens at instant in time
Each term is written as rate (kg/hr)

2.Integral - What happens between 2 instants in time


Each term is written as amount (i.e. kg)

We will only consider:


 Integral balances applied to simple batch systems

between initial & final states


 Differential balances applied to continuous steady

state systems
Material Balances
Input – Output + Generation – Consumption = Accumulation

For simple batch & continuous steady state processes:

Accumulation = 0

input + generation = output + consumption

OR

Output = Input + generation - consumption


Drawing flowcharts
 Organise information provided in convenient way that
makes subsequent analysis and calculation easier
 Most efficient method is to draw a flowchart
 Use schematics/symbols to represent process units
 Lines with arrows represent inputs/outputs
 Get material balance calculations started
 Must be fully labelled when started
 Flowcharts act as running tallies
Suggestions for labelling flowcharts
1. Write values/units of stream variables at given places
Stream containing 21 mol% O2 and 79% N2 at 580 °C
and 1.9 atm flowing at 600 mol/hr:

600 mol/h
0.21 mol O2 /mol
0.79 mol N2 /mol
T = 580 °C, P = 1.9 atm

 What gas is it?


21 mol O2
 21 mol% O2 = = 0.21 mol O 2 /mol
100 total mol gas

mole fraction
Process stream can be given in two ways:
a) Directly as amount (flowrate) of each component
b) Total amount (flowrate) of stream and fractions

Examples
(1.a) (1.b)
100 kmol/min
60 kmol N2 /min 0.6 kmol N2 /kmol
40 kmol O2 /min 0.4 kmol O2 /kmol

(2.a) (2.b)
10 lb-mol
3.0 lb-mol CH4 0.3 lb-mol CH4 /lb-mol
4.0 lb-mol C2H4 0.4 lb-mol C2H4 /lb-mol
3.0 lb-mol C2H6 0.3 lb-mol C2H6 /lb-mol
Class Activity Solution
(1.a) (1.b)
100 kmol/min
60 kmol N2 /min 0.6 kmol N2 /kmol
40 kmol O2 /min 0.4 kmol O2 /kmol

If the flowrate is doubled:

120 kmol N2 /min 200 kmol/min


80 kmol O2 /min 0.6 kmol N2 /kmol
0.4 kmol O2 /kmol

The mole fractions remain the same

The sum of the mole fractions will always be 1

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