Chemical Process Calculations
Credits-4
Scheme: 3-1-0 (L-T-P)
Tutorials
Instructor
Dr. Rohidas Bhoi
Department of Chemical Engineering
Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur
Tutorial 1
1-Unit conversion
1. Convert 2200 m/s to km/hr
2. Change 400 in3/day to cm3/min (example 2.1)
3. One hundred kg of water is flowing through a pipe at a rate of 10
m/s. what is the kinetic energy of water in joules?
4. What is the potential energy of 200 kg drum hanging 3.5 m above
the surface of the earth with reference to the surface of the
earth?
5. The rate of microchip etching is given as d= 16.2-16.2 e-0.021t
(where t<200, d is in microns and t is in seconds). Convert the
relation so that d can be expressed in inch and t can be in
minutes. (Example 2.5)
Dimensional consistency
Example 1. An orifice meter is used to measure the rate of
flow of a fluid in pipes. The flow rate is related to the
pressure drop by the following equation:
where u = fluid velocity
Δp = pressure drop (force per unit area)
ρ = density of the flowing fluid
c = constant
• What are the units of c in the SI system of units?
Dimensional consistency
Example 1. The thermal conductivity k of a liquid metal is
predicted via the empirical equation
where k is in J/(s)(m)(K)
T is in Kelvin
A and B are constants.
• What are the units of A and B?
Tutorial 2
Choosing a basis
Example 1 Choosing a Basis
The dehydration of the lower-molecular-weight alkanes can
be carried out using a ceric oxide (CeO) catalyst. What are
the mass fraction and mole fraction of Ce and O in the
catalyst?
Example 2. Average molecular weight
Most processes for producing high-energy-content gas or
gasoline from coal include some type of gasification step to
make hydrogen or synthesis gas. Pressure gasification is
preferred because of its greater yield of methane and higher
rate of gasification.
Given that a 50.0 kg test run of gas averages 10.0% H2,
40.0% CH4, 30.0% CO, and 20.0% CO2, what is the average
molecular weight of the gas?
Density of sugar solution
Example 4
If you add 50 g of sugar to 500 mL of water, how do you
calculate the density of the sugar solution?
Example 5
The specific gravity of steel is 7.9. What is the volume in
cubic feet of a steel ingot weighing 4000 lb?
Example 6
A solution in water contains 1.704 kg of HNO3/kg H2O, and
the solution has a specific gravity of 1.382 at 20°C. How
many kilograms of HNO3 per cubic meter of solution at
20°C are there?
Density of water
Concentration
Example 7
The current OSHA 8 hr limit for HCN in air is 10.0 ppm. A
lethal dose of HCN in air is (from the Merck Index) 300 mg/kg
of air at room temperature. How many milligrams of HCN per
kilogram of air is 10.0 ppm? What fraction of the lethal dose
is 10.0 ppm?
Example 8
In normal living cells, the nitrogen requirement for the cells is
provided from protein metabolism (i.e., consumption of protein in
the cells). When cells are grown commercially such as in the
pharmaceutical industry, (NH4)2SO4 is usually used as the
source of nitrogen. Determine the amount of (NH4)2SO4
consumed in a fermentation medium in which the final cell
concentration is 35 g/L in a 500 L volume of fermentation
medium. Assume that the cells contain 9 wt % N, and that
(NH4)2SO4 is the only nitrogen source.
Temperature
Example 9
The heat capacity of sulfuric acid in a handbook has the units
J/[(g mol)(°C)] and is given by the relation
heat capacity = 139.1 + 1.56 × 10–1T
where T is expressed in degrees Celsius. Modify the formula
so that the resulting expression yields the heat capacity with
the associated units of Btu/[(lb mol) (°R)] with T in degrees
Rankine.
Tutorial 3
Problem-1
• Antimony is obtained by heating pulverized stibnite (Sb2S3) with
scrap iron and drawing off the molten antimony from the bottom
of the reaction vessel:
Sb2S3 + 3Fe → 2Sb + 3FeS
Suppose that 0.600 kg of stibnite and 0.250 kg of iron turnings are
heated together to give 0.200 kg of Sb metal. Determine
a. The limiting reactant
b. The percentage of excess reactant
c. The degree of completion (fraction)
d. The percent conversion based on Sb2S3
e. The yield in kilograms of Sb produced per kilogram of Sb2S3 fed to the
reactor
Problem-2
• One can view the blast furnace from a simple viewpoint as a process
in which the principal reaction is
Fe2O3 + 3C → 2Fe + 3CO
but some other undesired side reactions occur, mainly
Fe2O3 + C → 2FeO + CO
After 600.0 lb of carbon (coke) are mixed with 1.00 ton of pure iron
oxide, Fe2O3, the process produces 1200.0 lb of pure iron, 183 lb of
FeO, and 85.0 lb of Fe2O3. Calculate the following items:
a. The percentage of excess carbon furnished, based on the principal
reaction
b. The percentage conversion of Fe2O3 to Fe
c. The pounds of carbon used up and the pounds of CO produced per
ton of Fe2O3 charged
d. The selectivity in this process (of Fe with respect to FeO)
Tutorial 4
Problem-1
• Natural gas is piped from the well at 300K and 400 kPa. The gas is
found to contain 93.0 % methane, 4.5% ethane and rest nitrogen.
Calculate the following:
a. The partial pressure of nitrogen
b. The pure component volume of ethane in 10 m3 of the gas
c. The density at STP conditions in kg/m3
d. The density of the gas as piped in kg/m3
e. The average molecular weight of the gas
f. The composition on wt%
Problem-2
• Carbon dioxide dissociates into the carbon monoxide and oxygen at 1
bar and 3500K:
CO2 CO + ½ O2
25 L of CO2 at 1 bar and 300 K is heated to 3500 K at constant pressure. If
all gases behave ideally, determine:
a. The final volume of gas if no dissociation had occurred
b. The final volume is found to be 0.35 m3, what fraction of CO2 is
dissociated?
Tutorial 5
Problem-1
• An oxygen cylinder used as a standby source of oxygen
contains 1.000 ft3 of O2 at 70°F and 200 psig. What will be
the volume of this O2 in a dry-gas holder at 90°F and 4.00 in.
H2O above atmospheric? The barometer reads 29.92 in. Hg
Problem-2
• Flue gas at a temperature of 1800°F is introduced to a
scrubber through a pipe that has an inside diameter of 4.0
ft. The inlet velocity to and the outlet velocity from the
scrubber are 25 ft/s and 20 ft/s, respectively. The scrubber
cools the flue gas to 550°F. Determine the duct size
required at the outlet of the unit.
Problem-3
Calculate the compressibility factor z, and determine whether
the following gases can be treated as ideal at the listed
temperature and pressure:
a. Water at 1000°C and 2000 kPa
b. Oxygen at 35°C and 1500 kPa
c. Methane at 10°C and 1000 kPa