Department of Chemical Engineering and Polymer Science

Shahjalal University of Science and Technology

Course No.: CEP 0711 1151
Tutorial 1 (Introduction to Engineering Calculation)

1. What is the kinetic energy of a vehicle with a mass of 2000 kg moving at the rate of 10
ft/s in Btu. 1 Btu = 778.2 (ft) (lbf)

2. A waste treatment pond is 50 m long and 15 m wide, and has an average depth of 2 m.
The density of the waste is 85.3 lbm/ft3. Calculate the weight of the pond contents in lbf,
using a single dimensional equation for your calculation.

3. The ideal gas law is PV = nRT, where P is pressure, V is volume, n is number of moles,
R is a constant, and T is the temperature.
(a) What are the units of R in terms of the base unit types (length, time, mass, and
temperature)?
(b) Show how these two values of R are equivalent:

(c) If an ideal gas exists in a closed container with a molar density of 0.3 mol/L at
a pressure of 0.96x 105 Pa, what temperature is the container held at?
(d) What is the molar concentration of an ideal gas with a partial pressure of 4.5 x
105 Pa, if the total pressure in the container is 6 atm?

4. Consider the Arrhenius Equation:

Ea
−
k = Ae RT
If Ea is activation in cal/mol and T is temperature in K, what is the unit of R?

5. The density of a fluid is given by the empirical equation

 = 70.5 exp(8.27 x10 −7 P)
where  = density in (lbm/ft3) and P = pressure (lbf/in2).
a. What are the units of 70.5 and 8.27x10-7?
b. Derive a formula for  (g/cm3) and P (N/m2)

6. Two thermocouples are tested by inserting their probes in boiling water, recording the
readings, removing and drying the probes, and then doing it again. The results of five
measurements are as follows
(a) For each set of temperature reading, calculate the sample mean, the range, and
the sample standard deviation.
(b) Which thermocouple reading exhibit the highest degree of scatter? Which
thermocouple is more accurate?
T (°C)-Thermocouple A 72.4 73.1 72.6 72.8 73
T (°C)-Thermocouple B 97.3 101.4 98.7 103.1 100.4

7. The volume of a microbial culture is observed to increase according to the formual

V(cm3) = et
Where t is time in second
(a) Calculate the expression for V (in3) in terms of t(h).
(b) Both the exponential function and its argument must be dimensionless. The
given equation seems to violate both of these rules, and yet the equation is valid.
Explain this paradox.

8 A seed crystal of diameter D (mm) is placed in a solution of dissolved salt, and new
 crystals are observed to nucleate (form) at a constant rate r (crystal/min). Experiments
with seed crystals of different sizes shows that the rate of nucleation varies with the
seed crystal diameter as
r(crystals/min) = 200D – 10D2 (D in mm)
(a) What are the units of the constants 200 and 10? (Assume the given equation is
valid and therefore dimensionally homogenous)
(b) Calculate the crystal nucleation rate in crystals/s corresponding to a crystal
diameter of 0.05 inch.
(c) Derive a formula for r (crystals /s) in terms of D (inches). Check the formula
using the result of part (b).

9. A horizontal cylindrical drum is 2.00 m in diameter and 4.00 m long. The drum is
slowly filled with benzene (density = 0.879 g/cm3). Derive a formula for W, the weight
in newtons of the benzene in the tank, as a function of h, the depth of the liquid in
centimetres.

10. A concentration C varies with time (min) according to the equation

C = 3.00 exp(-2.00t)

(a) What are the unit of 3.00 and 2.00?

(b) Suppose the concentration is measured at t = 0 and t = 1 min. Use two point
linear interpolation or extrapolation to estimate C(t = 0.6 min) and (t = 0.10
mol/L) from the measured values, and compare these results with the true values
of these quantites.
(c) Sketch a curve of C versus t, and show graphically the points you determined in
part (b).

11. A hygrometer is used to measure the amount of moisture in a gas stream. Steam and
dry air with known flow rates are mixed to form a gas stream with known water
content, and the hygrometer reading is recorded. The following data are taken:

Mass fraction of water, y 0.011 0.044 0.083 0.126 0.170

Hygrometer reading, R 5 20 40 60 80

(a) Draw a calibration curve and determine an equation for y(R).

(b) Suppose a sample of a stack gas is inserted in the sample chamber of the
hygrometer and a reading of R = 43 is obtained. If the mass flow rate of the
stack gas is 1200 kg/h, what is the mass flow rate of water vapour in the gas?

12. A conductivity meter is used to measure the concentration of a solute A in an aqueous

solution. Set values of CA (mg/L) in a solution measure corresponding values of
electrical conductivity (μS/cm). The electrical conductivities for different
concentrations of A are given the following table.
CA 4.62 17.4 63.8 95.1 213
κ 10.0 28.5 92 147 316

a) Derive an expression for CA(κ).

b) Aqueous solutions are drawn from two process vessels and analyzed. Their
electrical conductivities are found to be κa = 200 μS/cm and κb = 550 μS/cm.
Estimate the salt concentrations in both vessels.

13. A solution containing hazardous waste is charged into a storage tank and subjected to a
chemical treatment that decomposes the waste to harmless product. The concentration
of the decomposing waste, C, has been reported to vary with time according to the
 formula
C = 1/(a + bt)
When sufficient has elapsed for the concentration to drop to 0.01 g/L, the content of the
tank are discharged into a river that passes by the plant.
The following data are taken for C and t:
t (h) 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0
C (g/L) 1.43 1.02 0.73 0.53 0.38

(a) If the given formula is correct, what plot would yield a straight line that would
enable you to determine the parameters a and b?
(b) Estimate a and b using the method of least square. Check the goodness of fit by
generating a plot of C versus t that shows both measured and predicted values of
C.
(c) Using the results of part (b), estimate the initial concentration of the waste in the
tank and time required for C to reach its discharged level.

14. The rate at which a substance passes through a semi-permeable membrane is

determined by the diffusivity D (cm/s) of the gas. D varies with the membrane
temperature T (K) according to the Arrhenius equation:
D = D0 exp(-E/RT)
Where D0 = the preexponential factor
E = the activation energy for diffusion
R = 1.987 cal/(mol. K)
Diffusivities of SO2 in a flourosilicone rubber tube are measured at several
temperatures with the following results:
T (K) 347.0 374.2 396.2 420.7 447.7 471.2
D (cm2/s) 1.34 2.50 4.55 8.52 14.07 19.99
6
x 10

(a) What are the units of D0 and E?

(b) How should the data be plotted to obtain a straight line on rectangular
coordinates?
(c) Plot the data in the manner indicated in part (b) and determine D0 and E from
the resulting line

15. The relation between the pressure aP and volume V of the air in a cylinder during the
upstroke of a piston in an air compressor can be expressed as
PVk = C
Where k and C are constants. During a compressor test, the following data are taken
P (mm Hg) 760 1140 1520 2280 3040 3800
V (cm3) 48.3 37.4 31.3 24.1 20.0 17.4

Determine the values of k and C that best fit the data. (Give both numerical values and
units)
17. A chemical reaction A→ B is carried out in a closed vessel. The following data are
taken for the concentration of A, CA (g/L), as a function of time, t (min), from the start
of the reaction
t(min) 0 36 65 100 160 ∞
CA (g/liter) 0.1823 0.1453 0.1216 0.1025 0.0795 0.0495

A proposed reaction mechanism predicts that CA and t should be related by the

expression
 C A − C Ae
ln = −kt
C A0 − C Ae
where k is the reaction rate constant.
(a) Do the data support this prediction? If so, determine the value of k.
(b) If the tank volume 30.5 gallons and there is no B in the tank at t = 0, how much
B (g) does the tank contain after two hours?
18. A toxic waste product from a chemical process, A, is treated in a holding tank with a
bacterial agent that causes it to decompose. The initial concentration of A in the tank is
CA0 = 10.0 mol A/liter. Samples are frequently drawn from the reactor and analyzed for
A, leading to the following data:
t(min) 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
CA (mol 10.0 6.1 3.7 2.2 1.3 0.8 0.5
A/liter)

(a) Determine an expression for CA(t).

(b) Determine the holding time required for the A to fall below its safe value of
0.001mol/L.

19. The following table is a summary of data taken on the growth of yeast cells in a
bioreactor:

The data can be fit with the function

X = X0 exp(μt)
where X is the concentration of cells at any time t, X0 is the starting concentration of
cells, and μ is the specific growth rate.
(a) Based on the data in the table, what are the units of the specific growth rate?
(b) Give two ways to plot the data so as to obtain a straight line. Each of your responses
should be of
the form “plot ____ versus ____ on ____ axes.”
(c) Plot the data in one of the ways suggested in Part (b) and determine μ from the
plot.
(d) How much time is required for the yeast population to double?
20. The following (x; y) data are recorded:

a) Determine the coefficients of a power law expression y = axb using the method
of least squares.
b) Draw your calculated line on the same plot as the data.
21

Use a straight plot to verify this data and determine m and r.