INTRODUCTION

To
Unit Operations
CHEN 308, CHEN 401, CHEN 403 and CHEN 405

Unit Operations and Equipment of Chemical Engineering

The course in unit operations and equipment of chemical engineering, as an
academic discipline, dates back to 1909.

In spite of their great variety, all chemical processes may be resolved into
comparatively small number of unit operations each of which appears again and
again in the various processes. Each unit operation performs a definite function no
matter where it is used, and the individual operations cut across all of the chemical
process industry.

In the study of unit operations and their groups, we rely on unified kinetic
relations.

The course in unit operations and equipment of Chemical Engineering is based on

general laws of physics and chemistry and provides in effect a theoretical basis for
chemical engineering on which one can analyze or develop a chemical process and
design the required equipment. It falls in the class of general engineering courses
that shape the mind of chemical reactor designers and chemical plant engineers.

When a student/designer has mastered the course in unit operations and equipment
of chemical engineering, the student/designer will be in a position to design
whatever equipment is necessary for a given process, including its general layout
and dimensions, proceeding from specified process variables. The chemical plant
engineer who is in charge of running chemical equipment can find in this course
data on how to use his plant in a rational way, how to run a process so as to expend
minimal quantities of starting materials and utilities, and how to get the most out of
the equipment.

All unit operations of chemical engineering are customarily classed into five basic
groups, depending on their basis, as follows:

Operations based on fluid mechanics. Here the operation rate is determined by

the laws of fluid mechanics. This group includes the sedimentation of solid
particles suspended in a liquid or gaseous medium by gravity, centrifugal force or
electrostatic field, filtration of liquids and gases through a bed of a particulate

Introduction to Unit Operations CHEN308, 401, 403 &405 Prof. NS Maina

material due to a difference in pressure above and below the bed, agitation and
mixing in a liquid medium, and fluidization of solid particulate materials.

Operations based on heat transfer. Here the operation rate is determined by the
laws of heat transfer. This group includes heating, evaporation, cooling, and
condensation.

Operations based on mass transfer. Their rate is decided by the rate at which a
substance changes from one phase to another, that is, by the laws of mass transfer.
This group includes absorption, distillation, liquid extraction, sublimation,
crystallization, adsorption, drying and some others.

Chemical conversions. This term refers to the chemical changes that the starting
materials undergo as they are converted to products. Their rates are determined by
reaction kinetics.

Operations based on mechanical principles. This group includes size reduction

of solids, classification of particulate materials and their mixing.
As its seen, the classification of unit operations is based on kinetic relationships.

It appears reasonable to follow the same pattern in classifying the equipment

required to carry out the respective operations. Thus, we have (1) equipment based
on fluid mechanics; (2) equipment based on heat transfer; (3) equipment based on
mass transfer, (4) chemical reactors; and (5) equipment for size reduction and
classification.

Kinetic Relations Involved in Unit Operations

Knowledge of the kinetic relations involved in unit operations is essential for the
student/designer to be able to calculate the basic dimensions of plant units.

The kinetic relations bearing on fluid-mechanical, heat-transfer and mass-transfer

operations and chemical conversions may be stated in the form of a general law as
follows:

The rate of an operation is directly proportional to the driving force and

inversely proportional to resistance. On calling the reciprocal of resistance the
rate coefficient, we may write the following basic kinetic equations.

Introduction to Unit Operations CHEN308, 401, 403 &405 Prof. NS Maina

For the flow of a fluid through an apparatus,

dv P
= = K1  P ………….. (1)
Adt R1

where V = volume of the fluid passing through

A = cross-sectional area of the apparatus
t = time
K1 = rate coefficient (reciprocal of hydraulic resistance, R1)
P = pressure drop across the apparatus

For heat transfer,

dQ  t
= = K2  P ……………… (2)
Adt R2

where Q = quantity of heat transferred

A = cross-sectional area of heat transfer
K2 = heat-transfer coefficient (reciprocal of the resistance to
heat transfer, R2)
t = mean temperature difference between the materials
involved in heat transfer

For mass transfer,

dM  C
= = K3  C ………….. (3)
Adt R3

where M = quantity of material transferred from one phase to

another
A = cross-sectional area of phase contact
K3 = mass-transfer coefficient (reciprocal of the resistance to
mass transfer, R3)
C = difference between the equilibrium and operating
concentrations of the substance in the phases

For chemical conversions,

Introduction to Unit Operations CHEN308, 401, 403 &405 Prof. NS Maina

 dM
= K 4 f ( c) …………. (4)
Vdt

where M = quantity of the material reacted

V = reactor volume
K4 = reaction rate coefficient
F(c) = driving force which is a function of the reactant
concentrations.

The rate coefficients of various operations mainly depend on the velocity of the
material streams involved. Therefore, the derivation of all kinetic relations is based
on the laws that govern the flow of substances.

General Principles of Chemical Process and Equipment Design

The objectives sought in developing a chemical process and in designing the
equipment required to effect it are to determine the mass flow rates of the materials
to be processed, to estimate the energy requirements, and to calculate the basic
dimensions for the pieces of equipment involved.

A process is analyzed and the equipment involved is designed in a certain definite

sequence. To begin with and proceeding from the laws of fluid dynamics or
thermodynamics, one finds equilibrium conditions and ascertains the direction of
the process. Once the equilibrium conditions have been established it is an easy
matter to obtain the initial and final values for the process variables.

Basing oneself on the law of conservation of mass, one writes a material balance

 Gi =  G f ………. (5)

where Gi = total quantity of starting materials

Gf = total quantity of products

Then the heat effect of the process is determined, and proceeding from the law of
conservation of energy, one writes a heat balance.

 Qi + Qr =  Q f + Ql ………… (6)

where Qi = heat input to the reactor with the starting materials
Qr = heat of reaction, or the heat effect of the process

Introduction to Unit Operations CHEN308, 401, 403 &405 Prof. NS Maina

 Qf = heat leaving the reactor with the products
Ql = heat lost to the surroundings.

From the values of the operating and equilibrium parameters, one then determines
the driving force of the process or operation.

By invoking the laws of kinetics (fluid-dynamic, heat-transfer, mass-transfer, and

chemical), one finds the rate coefficient or constant of a process or operation.

The data this obtained give a clue as to the characteristic dimension of the reactor
or any other unit of plant, such as capacity (or volume) cross-sectional area,
heating surface area, phase contact area, and so on. For this purpose, use is made of
the general relation.

S = M/K ………… (7)

Where S = basic dimension of the reactor or machine

M = quantity of material processed or reacted per unit time
 = driving force of the operation
K = rate constant

It follows from equation (7) that the driving force and the rate constant are the
key variables bearing on the size of the piece of equipment involved.
Evaluation of these two variables is the most crucial part of the design procedure
because it involves what is known as scale-up the extension of the data obtained as
a result of laboratory studies to industrial units.

1. Chemical Engineering by J.M. Coulson & Richardson Vol. II & V

2. Unit Operations and Equipment of Chemical Engineering by A. Planovsky

and P. Nikolaev.

3. Unit Operations by McCabe & Smith

4. Fluid flow for Chemical Engineers by F.A. Holland

5. Principles of Chemical Engineering by Allam Foust

6. A.Q. Kern “Process Heat Transfer (for heat exchangers).

Introduction to Unit Operations CHEN308, 401, 403 &405 Prof. NS Maina