UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE COLOMBIA SEDE MEDELLN

FACULTAD DE MINAS DEPARTAMENTO DE PROCESOS Y ENERGA

MASS AND ENERGY BALANCES: 3007811-1
WORKSHOP I
Please give answer to the following problems. This set of problems has been taken
from: Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes, 3rd edition, R. Felder; R.
Rousseau, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2000

4.6 A distillation column is a process unit in which a feed mixture is separated by

multiple partial vaporizations and condensations to form two or more product to
streams. The overhead product stream is rich in the most volatile components of the
feed mixture (the ones that vaporize most readily), and the bottom product stream is rich
in the least volatile components.
The following flowchart shows a distillation column with two feed streams and three
product streams:

(a) How many independent material balances may be written for this system?
(b) How many of the unknown flow rates and/or mole fractions must be specified
before the others may be calculated? (See Example 4.3-4. Also remember what you
know about the component mole fractions of a mixture-for example, the relationship
between x 2 and y 2 .) Briefly explain your answer.
(c) Suppose values are given for m& 1 and x 2 . Give a series of equations, each involving
only a single unknown, for the remaining variables. Circle the variable for which you
would solve. (Once a variable has been calculated in one of these equations, it may
appear in subsequent equations without being counted as an unknown.)

4.7 Liquid extraction is an operation used to separate the components of a liquid

mixture of two or more species. In the simplest case, the mixture contains two
components: a solute (A) and a liquid solvent (B). The mixture is contacted in an
agitated vessel with a second liquid solvent (C) that has two key properties: A dissolves
in it, and B is immiscible or nearly immiscible with it. (For example, B may be a water,
C a hydrocarbon oil, and A a species that dissolves en both water and oil.) Some of the
A transfers from B to C, and then the B-rich phase (the raffinate) and C-rich phase (the
extract) separate from each other in a settling tank. If the raffinate is then contacted with
fresh C in another stage, more A will be transferred from it. This process can be
repeated until essentially all of the A has been extracted from the B.
Shown below is a flowchart of a process in which acetic acid (A) is extracted from a
mixture of acetic acid and water (B) into 1-hexanol (C), a liquid immiscible with water.

(a) What is the maximum number of independent material balances that can be written
for this process?
(b) Calculate m& C , m& E , and m& R , using the given mixture feed rate as a basis and writing
balances in an order such that you never have an equation that involves more than one
unknown variable.
(c) Calculate the difference between the amount of acetic acid in the feed mixture and
that in the 0.5% mixture and show that it equals amount that leaves in the 9.6%
mixture.
(d) Acetic acid is relatively difficult to separate completely from water by distillation
(see problem 4.6) and relatively easy to separate from hexanol by distillation. Sketch a
flowchart of a two-unit process the might be used to recover nearly pure acetic acid
from an acetic acid-water mixture.
4.9 Strawberries contain about 15 wt % solids and 85 wt % water. To make strawberry
jam, crushed strawberries and sugar are mixed in a 45 : 55 mass ratio, and the mixture is
heated to evaporate water until the residue contains one-third water by mass.
(a) Draw and label a flowchart of this process.
(b) Do the degree-of-freedom analysis and show that the system has zero degrees of
freedom (i.e., the number of unknown process variables equals the number of equations
relating them). If you have too many unknowns, think about what you might have
forgotten to do.

(c) Calculate how many pounds of strawberries are needed to make a pound of jam.

4.10 Three hundred gallons of a mixture containing 75 wt % ethanol (ethyl alcohol) and
25% water (mixture specific gravity = 0.877 ) and a quantity of a 40.0 wt % ethanol60.0 % water mixture (SG = 0.952 ) are blended to produce a mixture containing
60.0 wt % ethanol. The object of this problem is to determine V 40 , the required volume
of the 40% mixture.
(a) Draw and label a flowchart of the mixing process and do the degree-of-freedom
analysis.
(b) Calculate V 40 .

4.11 If the percentage of fuel in a fuel-air mixture falls below a certain value called the
lower flammability limit (LFL), the mixture cannot be ignited. For example, the LFL of
propane in air is 2.05 mole % C 3 H 8 . If the percentage of propane in a propane-air
mixture is greater than 2.05 mole % , the gas mixture can ignite if it is exposed to a
flame or spark; if the percentage is lower than LFL, the mixture will not ignite. (There
is also an upper flammability limit, which for propane in air is 11.4% .)
A mixture of propane in air containing 4.03 mole % C 3 H 8 (fuel gas) is the feed to a
combustion furnace. If there is a problem in the furnace, a stream of pure air (dilution
air) is added to the fuel mixture prior to the furnace inlet to make sure that ignition is
not possible.
(a) Draw and label a flowchart of the fuel gas-dilution air mixing unit, presuming that
the gas entering the furnace contains propane at the LFL, and do degree-of-freedom
analysis.
(b) If propane flows at a rate of 150 mol C 3 H 8 / s in the original fuel-air mixture, what
is the minimum molar flow rate of the dilution air?
(c) How would the actual dilution air feed rate probably compare with the value
calculated in part (b)? (>, < , =) Explain.

4.12 One thousand kilograms per hour of a mixture containing equal parts by mass of
methanol and water is distilled. Product streams leave the top and the bottom of the
distillation column. The flow rate of the bottom stream is measured and found to
be 673 Kg / h , and the overhead stream is analyzed and found to contain 96.0 wt %
methanol.
(a) Draw and label a flowchart of the process and do the degree-of-freedom analysis.
(b) Calculate the mass and mole fractions of methanol and the molar flow rates of
methanol and water in the bottom product stream.
(c) Suppose the bottom product stream is analyzed and the mole fraction of methanol is
found to be significantly higher than the value calculated in part (b). List as many
possible reasons for the discrepancy as you can think of. Include in your list possible
violations of assumptions made in part (b).

4.13 A pharmaceutical product, P, is made in a batch reactor. The reactor effluent goes
through a purification process to yield a final product stream and a waste stream. The
initial charge (feed) to the reactor and the final product are each weighed, and the
reactor effluent, final product, and waste stream are each analyzed for P. The analyzer
calibration is a series of meter readings, R, corresponding to known mass fractions of P,
xp .
xp

0.08 0.16 0.25 0.45

105

160

245

360

(a) Plot the analyzer calibration data on logarithmic axes and determine an expression
for x p (R) .
(b) The data sheet for one run is shown below:
Batch #: 23601
Date: 10/4
Mass charged to reactor: 2253 Kg
Mass of purified product: 1239 Kg
Reactor effluent analysis: R=388
Final product analysis: R=583
Waste stream analysis: R=140
Calculate the mass fractions of P in all three streams. Then calculate the percentage
yield of the purification process,
Yp =

Kg P in final product
100%
Kg P in reactor effluent

(c) You are the engineer in charge of the process. You review the given run sheet and
the calculations of part (b), perform additional balance calculations, and realize that all
of the recorded run data cannot possibly be correct. State how you know, itemize
possible causes of the problem, state which cause is most likely, and suggest a step to
correct it.

4.15 A liquid mixture contains 60.0 wt % ethanol (E) 5.0 wt % of a dissolve solute (S),
and the balance water. A stream of this mixture is fed to a continuous distillation
column operating at steady state. Products streams emerge at the top and bottom of the
column. The column design calls for the product streams to have equal mass flow rates
and for the top stream contain 90.0 wt % ethanol and no S.
(a) Assume a basis of calculation, draw and fully label a process flowchart, do the
degree-of-freedom analysis, and verify that all unknown streams flows and
compositions can be calculated. (Dont do any calculations yet.)
(b) Calculate (i) la mass fraction of S in the bottom stream and (ii) the fraction of the
ethanol in feed the leaves in the bottom product stream (i.e., Kg E in bottom stream/kg
E in feed) if the process operates as designed.
(c) An analyzer is available to determine the composition of ethanol-water mixtures.
The calibration curve for the analyzer is a straight line on a plot on logarithmic axes of
mass fraction of ethanol, x( Kg E / Kg mixture) , versus analyzer reading, R. The line

passes through the points ( R = 15, x = 0.100) and ( R = 38, x = 0.400) . Derive an
expression for x as a function of R ( x = ...) based on the calibration, and use it to
determine the value of R that should be obtained if the top product stream from the
distillation column is analyzed.
(d) Suppose a sample of the bottom stream is taken and analyzed and the reading
obtained is not the one calculated in part (c). Assume that the calculation in part (c) is
correct and that the plant operator fallowed the correct procedure in doing the analysis.
Give five significantly different possible causes for the deviation between
Rmeasured and R predicted , including several assumptions made when writing the balances of
part (c). For each one, suggest something that the operator could do to check whether it
is in fact the problem.

4.21 A dilute aqueous solution of H 2 SO4 (Solution A) is to be mixed with a solution

containing 90.0 wt % H 2 SO4 (Solution B) to produce a 75.0 wt % solution (Solution C).

The flow rate and concentration of Solution A change periodically, so that it is

necessary to adjust the flow rate of Solution B to keep the product H 2 SO4 concentration
constant.
Flowmeters A and B have linear calibration plots of mass flow rate (m& ) versus meter
reading (R), which pass through the followings points:
Flowmeter A:

Flowmeter B:

m& A = 150 lbm / h, RA = 25

m& A = 500 lbm / h, RA = 70
m& B = 200 lbm / h, RB = 20
m& B = 800 lbm / h, RB = 60

The analyzer calibration is a straight line on a semilog plot of % H 2 SO4 ( x) on a

logarithmic scale versus meter reading ( Rx ) on a linear scale. The line passes through the
points ( x = 20%, Rx = 4.0) and ( x = 100%, Rx = 10.0) .

(a) Calculate the flow rate of Solution B needed to process 300 lbm / h of 55% H 2 SO4
(Solution A), and the resulting flow rate of solution C. (The calibration data are not
needed for this part).
(b) Derive the calibration equations for m& A ( R A ) , m& B ( R B ) and x( R x ) . Calculate the
values of R A , RB , and R x corresponding to the flow rates and concentrations of part (a).
(c) The process technicians job is to read Flowmeter A and the analyzer periodically,
and then to adjust the flow rate of Solution B to its required value. Derive a formula that
the technician can use for RB in terms of R A and R x , and then check it by substituting
the values of part (a).

4.23 An artificial kidney is a device that removes water and waste metabolites from
blood. In one such device, the hollow fiber hemodialyzer, blood flows from an artery
through the insides of a bundle of hollow cellulose acetate fibers, and dialyzing fluid,
which consists of water and various dissolved salts, flows on the outside of the fibers.
Water and waste metabolites-principally urea, creatinine, uric acid and phosphate ionspass through the fiber walls into the dialyzing fluid, and the purified blood is returned to
a vein.

At some time during a dialysis the arterial and venous blood conditions are as follows:

Flow Rate
Urea ( H 2 NCONH 2 )
concentration

Arterial
Venous
(entering) blood (exiting) blood
200,0 mL / min 195,0 mL / min
1,90 mg / mL

1,75 mg / mL

(a) Calculate the rates at which urea and water are being removed from the blood.
(b) If the dialyzing fluid enters at a rate of 1500 ml / min and the exiting solution
(dialysate) leaves at approximately the same rate, calculate the concentration of urea in
the dialysate.
(c) Suppose we want to reduce the patients urea level from an initial value of
2.7 mg / mL to a final value of 1.1 mg / mL . If the total blood volume is 5.0 liters and the
average rate of urea removal is that calculated in part (a), how long must the patient be
dialyzed? (Neglect the loss in total blood volume due to the removal of water in the
dialyzer.)