Lecture 6: 3/2/2012 Material Balances 1
Chapter 6: Introduction to Material Balance Objectives: 1. Understand the features of process, system, open, closed, steady-state, and unsteady-state systems. 2. Express in words what the material balance is for a process involving single or multiple components. 3. Understand how a chemical reaction affects the material balance. 4. Recognize a batch or semi-batch process and write the material balance. 2
Definitions Process - an operation or series of operations that causes a physical or chemical change thereby converting raw materials into products. Chemical Engineering Examples: reactors, mixers, separators, biological systems, etc. Balance - an accounting or inventory of mass and changes. System an arbitrary portion or whole of a process as specified by the engineer analyzing the problem. A B C Mix MX RP React Separate W P 3
Simplified Process Flow Diagram for Ethanol Production from Corn. What is the System Boundary? 4
System Classification Before writing a material balance (MB) you must first identify the type of system and process in question. Closed System: A system that does not have material crossing the system boundary. 1000 kg H 2 O System boundary Open System: A system in which material crosses the system boundary. Steady-State System: Process variables (i.e., T, P, V, flow rates) do not change with time. 100 kg H 2 O/min 1000 kg H 2 O 100 kg H 2 O/min Unsteady state System (Transient): Process variables change with time. 100 kg H 2 O/min 1500 kg H 2 O 90 kg H 2 O/min (After 50 min) 5
Process Classification Batch Process: A process in which material is neither added to nor removed from the process during its operation. Batch processes fall into the category of closed systems. Continuous process: A process in which material enters and/or exits continuously. Semi-Batch Process: any process that is neither batch nor continuous, materials enters the system but product is not removed during operation. 100 kg H 2 O/min 1000 kg H2O 6
Test yourself: Process classification Classify the following processes as batch, continuous, or semibatch, and steady-state or unsteady-state (transient). 1. A balloon is filled with air at a steady rate of 2 g/min. 2. A bottle of milk is taken from the refrigerator and left on the kitchen table. 3. Carbon monoxide and steam are fed into a tubular reactor at a steady-rate and react to form carbon dioxide and hydrogen. Products and unused reactants are withdrawn at the other end. The reactor contains air when the process is started up. The temperature of the reactor is also constant, and the composition and flow rate of the entering reactant stream are also independent of time. Classify the process (a) initially and (b) after a long period of time has elapsed. 7
General Mass Balance A balance on a quantity in a system ( a single process unit, a collection of units, or an entire process) including reactions can be written in the following way: Accumulation = Input Output + Generation - Consumption Input streams to system System Boundary System over which mass balance is made output streams from system 8
Example: Mass Balance Input = Output = Generation = Consumption = Accumulation = A country has a population of 10 million people in 1900 AD. Over the period from 1900 to 2000, 6 million people immigrated into the country, 2 million people emigrated from the country, 5 million people were born in the country and 3 million people died in the country. What is the population of the country in the year 2000 AD? 9
Material Balance Simplifications The following rules may be used to simplify the material balance equation: Accumulation = In Out + Generation Consumption If the system is at steady-state, set accumulation = 0 In Out + Generation Consumption = 0 If the material balance is for a single component, set generation = 0 and consumption = 0 Accumulation = In Out If the balanced substance is a nonreactive species, (neither a reactant nor a product), set generation = 0 and consumption = 0 Accumulation = In Out If the system is an unsteady-state process, the accumulation term over a time interval can be calculated as: Accumulation = Final material - Initial material in the system in the system 10
Test yourself: Material Balance Bioremediation is a method of cleaning up contaminated groundwater and soil. If a dilute solution of nutrients is pumped via a well into a closed soil layer underground at the rate of 1.5 kg/hr, and a recovery well removes 1.2 kg of depleted solution per hour, answer the following questions: a. What is the system (draw a picture)? b. What is the value of the input per hour? c. What is the value of the output per hour? d. What is the value of the accumulation per hour? e. What assumption has to be made to answer (d)? 11
Reaction Balances CO 2, CO, O 2 CO 2, CO, O 2 2 CO + O 2 = 2 CO 2 A material balance can be written in terms of the following conserved quantities: Total Mass In Total (kg/hr) Out Total (kg/hr) Mass (or moles) of a chemical compound kg CO /hr kg O 2 /hr kg CO 2 /hr kg CO /hr kg O 2 /hr kg CO 2 /hr Mass (or moles) of an atomic species kg C /hr kg O /hr kg C /hr kg O /hr 12
Test yourself: Material Balance Verify if total mass balance is valid. Naphtha 250,000 ton /yr Steam Cracker CH 4, H 2 (39,500 T/yr) Ethylene (55,000 T/yr) C2= Reactions Fuel Gas Polyethylene (30,000 T/yr) Polystyrene (5,000 T/yr) Propylene PVC (40,000 T/yr) (45,000 T/yr) Acryonitrile (20,000 T/yr) C3= Reactions Dodecylbenzene (8,000 T/yr) Phenol / acetone (15,750 T/yr) Butene (30,700 T/yr) Synthetic rubber (10,000 T/yr) C4= Reactions Butenes (24,000 T/yr) Aromatics (68,000 T/yr) Aromatics Aromatics (48,000 T/yr) Reactions Fuel Oil (3,800 T/yr) Heavy Oil 13
Some Basic Process Unit Functions Splitter divides a single input into two or more outputs of the same composition (no reaction) Splitter Mixer combines two or more inputs (usually of different compositions) into a single output) (no reaction) Mixer Separator separates a single input into two or more outputs of different composition (no reaction) Separator 14
Some Basic Process Unit Functions Reactor carries out a chemical reaction that converts atomic or molecular species in the input to different atomic or molecular species in the output Reactor Heat exchanger transfers heat from one input to a second input (no reaction) Heat exchanger Pump changes the pressure of an input to that of the corresponding output (no reaction) Pump Actual process units can combine these different functions into a single piece of hardware, and are given different names 15
Distillation Column Reflux Condenser Bottoms Reboiler Separator Heat Exchanger + Splitter Heat Exchanger 16
Distillation Inside the Column Internal trays (or packing) are used to enhance component contact Each tray accomplishes a fraction of the separation task by transferring the more volatile species to the gas phase and the less volatile species to the liquid phase Can perform material and energy balances on: an individual tray the column, bottoms reboiler, or top condenser the entire system white = vapour blue = liquid 17
Fractional Distillation 18
Balances Depend on the Choice of System Boundary 19