AE 205 Materials and Energy Balances

Asst. Prof. Dr. Tippabust Eksangsri

Chapter 5:
Material Balance for
Multi-Unit Operations
 Process Flowsheet (Flow Chart)

1. Process Information: key properties data, market conditions, technical

information, etc., are collected.

2. Input/Output Diagram: All major inputs and outputs streams and their
stoichiometric balances are illustrated, according to the potential chemical
pathways.

3. Functions Diagram: All the major functions of the process and materials
flow to and from those functions are specified. The functions include reaction
boxes, separation boxes, finishing boxes, etc.

4. Operations Diagram: Detail technologies used such as types of reactor,

operating conditions, etc. are specified.

5. Process Flowsheet: Details for each function are described, ready to use.
Process Flowsheet Development
Sodium Dodecylbenzene Sulfonate Surfactant
Manufacturing

Input/Output Diagram
Function Diagram
Operation Diagram
Process Flowsheet
MB for Multiple Units Process
Example 1: on MB for Multi-units Process
Example 2: on MB for Multi-units Process
 Recycle System
The stream containing the recycled material is known
as a recycle stream.
Because of relatively high cost of industrial feeds,
recycle of unused reactants/feed is a common
practice.
Recovery of catalyst, circulation of working fluids,
dilution of process streams, control of process
variables, etc., are all reasons for applications of
recycle system.
Recycle ratio = mass of recycle/mass of fresh feed
 Example 3: Evaporative Crystallizer

Forty-five hundred kilograms per hour of a solution that is one-third K2CrO4

by mass is joined by a recycle stream containing 36.4% K2CrO4, and the
combined stream is fed into an evaporator. The concentrated stream leaving
the evaporator contains 49.4% : this stream is fed into a crystallizer in which it
is cooled (causing crystals of K2CrO4 to come out of solution) and then
filtered.

The filter cake consists of crystal and a solution that contains 36.4% K2CrO4 by
mass; the crystals account for 95% of total mass of filter cake. The solution
that passes through the filter, also 36.4% K2CrO4, is the recycled stream.

Calculate the rate of evaporation, the rate of production of crystalline K2CrO4,

the feed rates that the evaporator and the crystallizer must be designed, and
the recycle ratio
The flowchart of steady state process to recover crystalline
potassium chromate (K2CrO4) from an aqueous solution of this
salt is shown below.
Recycle with Chemical Reaction
 Example 4: Cyclohexane Production

Cyclohexane can be made from the reaction of benzene and

hydrogen gas.

C6H6 + 3H2 C2H12

After the reaction in the reactor, the gross product is separated

to spit the net product and the recycle stream. Determine the
ratio of the recycle stream to the fresh feed stream if the overall
conversion through the reactor is 95% and the single-pass
conversion through the reactor is 20%. Assume that 20% excess
of hydrogen is used in the fresh feed, and that the composition
of recycle stream is 22.74mol% benzene and 78.6mol%
hydrogen.
 Example 5: Fructose Production from Glucose

Immobilized glucose isomerase is used as a catalyst in producing

fructose from glucose in a fixed-bed reactor (water is a solvent).
For the system shown below, what percent conversion of glucose
results on one pass through the reactor when a ratio of the exit
stream to the recycle stream in mass units is equal to 8.33?

Recycle

Feed Fixed-bed Product

40% glucose 4% fructose Reactor
in water
 Purging
A problem may arise in processes that involve recycling. Suppose
a material that enters with the fresh feed or is produced in a
reaction remains entirely in a recycle stream, rather than being
carried out in a process product. If nothing were done about this
situation, the substance would continuously enter the process
and would have no way of leaving; it would therefore steadily
accumulate, making the attainment of steady state impossible.
To prevent this buildup. A portion of the recycle stream must be
withdrawn as a purge stream to rid the process of the substance
in question.
Example 6: on Purging in Ethylene Oxide Production
Example 7: Recycle and Purge in the synthesis of
Methanol

Methanol is produced in the reaction of carbon dioxide and hydrogen:

CO2 + 3H2 CH3OH + H2O
The fresh feed to the process contains hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and 0.4
mole% inerts. The reactor effluent passes to a condenser that removes
essentially all of the methanol and water formed and none of the reactants or
inerts. The unused reactants and inerts are recycled to the reactor. To avoid
buildup of the inerts in the system, a purge stream is withdrawn from the
recycle.

The feed to the reactor contains 28.0 mole% CO2, 70.0mole% H2, and 2.0
mole% inerts. The single-pass e conversion of hydrogen is 60%. Calculate the
molar flow rates and molar compositions of the fresh feed, the total feed to
the reactor, the recycle stream, and the purge stream for a production rate of
155 kmol CH3OH /hr.
Recycle and Purge in the synthesis of Methanol
 Bypass
Bypass is a fraction of feed stream that is diverted around the
unit and combined with the output streams of such a unit. By
varying the fraction of the feed that is bypassed, we can vary the
composition and properties of the product.
A stream containing 5.15wt% chromium is contained in the wastewater from
a metal finishing plant. The wastewater stream is fed to a treatment unit that
removes 95% of the chromium in the feed and recycles it to the plant. The
residual liquid stream leaving the treatment unit is sent to a waste lagoon.
The treatment unit has a maximum capacity of 4500 kg wastewater/hr. If the
wastewater leaves the finishing plant at a rate higher than the capacity of the
treatment unit, the excess by passes the unit and combines with the residual
liquid leaving the unit, and the combined stream goes to the waste lagoon.

Wastewater leaves the finishing plant at a rate of 6,000 kg/hr. Calculate the
flow rate of liquid to the waste lagoon, and the mass fraction of Cr in this
liquid.
Example 8: Bypassing wastewater to waste Lagoon