Tutorial 3: Energy Balance

Question 1
Chlorine gas is to be heated from 100oC and 1 atm to 200oC.

a) Calculate the heat input (kW) required to heat a stream of the gas flowing at 5 kmol/s at

constant.

b) Calculate the heat input required in KW to raise the temperature of 5.0 kmol of chlorine

in a closed rigid vessel from 100 C degree and 1 atm to 200 C degree. What is the

physical significance of the numerical difference between the values calculated in part (a)

and (b).?

Question 2: Dehumidification of powders

As anyone who has used a salt shaker on a summer day knows, powders will clump at high

humidity. This is a problem in pharmaceutical processes where large amounts of powder must be

used. Lactose powder, a common filler (volume increasing agent), flows best at 20% relative

humidity. To obtain this, the air in the powder is supplied from a dehumidifier. If 10 kg DA/min

of filtered room air at 32 °C enters with 80% relative humidity and exits at 30 °C with 20%

relative humidity:

(a) How much water is removed from the air per minute?

(b) What is the heat duty in an hour of operation?

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Question 3: Powder flows as a function of moisture

Lactose and Avicel are the two excipients, or inactive ingredients in pharmaceutical

preparations. At a pharmaceutical production plant, it is required to dry the lactose powder and

humidify the Avicel. An enterprising engineer seeking process elegance has determined to use

the water from the dehumidifier to feed the humidifier, as shown below:

The air in the lactose powder enters at 80% relative humidity and leaves the condenser at 20%

relative humidity, while the air surrounding Avicel enters the humidifier at 40% relative

humidity and leaves at 80% relative humidity for optimal flow. Assume that air flow in the feed

streams equals one tenth of the mass flow of each powder. Careful cooling ensures that the

processes run at a constant 25 °C and 1 atm.

(a) What is the product composition and flow?

(b) How much water is leaving the condenser?

(c) How much water does the humidifier require? If the supply from the condenser is not enough,

how much makeup water is required?

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(d) What are the heat duties of the condenser and humidifier (Assume humidifier feed meets

requirement)? What is the energy gain/loss for the entire system?

(e) Is the reuse stream a good idea? List possible benefits and problems.