Chemical Processes

What is Engineering?
Chemical Processes Outline

 Motivations
 Reactions
 Separations
 Calculations using Conservation of
Mass and Energy
 Distillation
Chemists vs Chemical Engineers

Chemists Chemical Engineers

 Design reaction  Design a process to

pathways to produce scale the chemist’s
a chemical from raw process to mass
materials produce the product

 Work in the laboratory  Work in a chemical

setting to produce plant to produce
material on the gram material in the ton and
to kilogram scale beyond range
 Why do we care about Chemical
Engineering?
Chemicals Are All Around

Dyes
Toothpaste Hydrogen
Shampoo
Gasoline
Fertilizer Food
additives
Soap
Decaffeinated
Coffee Cosmetics Polymers

Paint Sugar

Pharmaceuticals
 If that isn’t reason enough

 In the United States

 170 Major Chemical

Companies

 $400 Billion a year

 Employs more than a

million workers

http://money.cnn.com/2006/02/13/pf/college/starting_salaries/index.htm
Molecules that Chemicals Engineers
work with

 Small and Simple

Helium (He)
Ammonia (NH3)
Hydrogen Flouride (HF)
Trinitrotoluene (C6H2(NO2)3CH3)

 Large and Complicated

Insulin C257H383N65O77S6

 Large and Simple

Polyvinyl Chloride (-CH2-CHCl-)n
How to Produce Chemicals
 Two methods to obtain a desired
chemical

 Design a reactor to produce a chemical

from raw materials

 To isolate the compound that exists in

combination with other substances
through separation processes
 Chemical Reactions

Reactor
Products
Raw Materials
Raw Materials
Byproducts
Energy
Energy
Catalysts
Catalysts
 Possible Problem with Exothermic
Reactions
L

Energy Produced by
Reactor
reaction is proportional to
reactor volume L3

Energy Removed is
proportional to surface
A+B->C area L2

Possible Scale up Problem

Water Bath
 Separations
Exploits Differences of Material Properties

 Molecular Property  Separation Process

 Boiling Point  Distillation

 Freezing Point  Crystallization
 Particle size  Filtration
 Affinity to a  Chromatography
stationary phase
 Density  Centrifuge
 Selective affinity to  Adsorption
solid particles
 Separations: Unit Operations
Use separation processes to:
• Purify raw materials
• Purify products
• Purify and separate unreacted feed.

Most common types:

• Distillation
• Flash distillation
• Batch distillation
• Column distillation

• Absorption

• Stripping

• Extraction

• Chromatography
Mass and Energy Balances

Balance Equation
Input + generation – Output =
Accumulation

Control
Volume
Mass and Energy Balances
 For non-reacting systems
Generation = 0

 For systems operated at steady

state Accumulation = 0

Mass and Energy Balances reduce to

Input = Output
 Separations Calculation

V moles
40% C2H5OH

100 moles
Magic
10% C2H5OH
Separating
90% H2O
Machine

80 moles
x % C2H5OH
 Separation Calculation
V moles
40% C2H5OH

Magic
100 moles Separating
10% C2H5OH Machine
90% H2O

80 moles
x % C2H5OH

Conservation of total Moles 100 – (V+80) = 0

V =20
Conservation of moles of C2H5OH 100*.1 – (.4*V+x*80) = 0
x = 2.5%
Separations: Distillation
(Distillation Column)

Magic
Separating
Machine

Equilibrium Stages
 Distillation
Separates liquids based on differences in volatility!
Consider a liquid mixture of A and B:

Boiling point of A: 70 C
Boiling point of B: 100 C

As mixture begins to boil, the vapor phase becomes

richer in A than the liquid phase!

Condense vapor phase to get a mixture with a higher

concentration of A!
As temperature increases, the concentration of B in
the vapor phase increases.
What would be the composition of the vapor phase if the entire
liquid mixture vaporized?
Distillation
Distillation: Equilibrium Stages
A) Phases are brought into close contact
B) Components redistribute between phases to
equilibrium concentrations
C) Phases are separated carrying new component
concentrations
D) Analysis based on mass balance

• L is a stream of one phase; V is a stream of another phase.

• Use subscripts to identify stage of origination (for multiple
stage problems)
• Total mass balance (mass/time): L0 + V2 = L1 + V1 = M
Distillation
Represent vapor liquid equilibrium data for more volatile
component in an x-vs-y graph

Pressure constant, but temperature is changing!

 Distillation: McCabe-Thiele Calculation
Calculation of theoretical number of equilibrium stages

xD

Operating Line
xF
xB
Distillation: McCabe-Thiele
Distillation

 Benefits  Drawbacks

 Applicable for  High heating and

many liquid cooling costs
systems
 Technology is well  Azeotropes
developed
 High Throughput
Azeotrope
Separations limitation

Due to molecular interactions. Composition of vapor

equal to composition of liquid mixture.
Distillation

Batch distillation
apparatus – only one
equilibrium stage!
Conclusions

 Chemicals are produced by

reactions or separations
 The driving force for separations are
property differences
 Mass and Energy are Conserved
 Distillation is the workhorse of
separations
Today’s Laboratory
 Three Parts:
 Energy Transfer
 Chromatography
 Batch Distillation
 (One equilibrium stage)
Today’s Laboratory: Energy Transfer

Want efficient transfer and conversion

of energy ($$)

In lab, will be examining energy

transfer in the form of heat:
warming a pot of water with a hot
plate – what is the efficiency of
energy transport from electricity to
the water?
Today’s Laboratory: Chromatography

 Separation technique that takes

advantage of varying affinities of solutes
for a given solvent traveling up a filter
paper.
 Solutes: colored dyes
 Solvents: water, methanol, 2-propanol
 Measure the distance traveled by the
solutes and solvents!

**Methanol and 2-propanol are poisons! Wear

safety goggles, do not ingest or inhale and
rinse skin immediately if spilled.
Today’s Laboratory: Distillation
 Using distillation to separate a liquid
mixture of ethanol and water
 Ethanol is the more volatile material (it will boil
first)
 Take samples of distillate with time to
determine the concentration of ethanol in
the mixture!

**Ethanol is a poison! Wear safety goggles, do

not ingest or inhale and rinse skin immediately
if spilled.
 Assume three components: A = dye, B = oil, C =
water
xA = mass fraction of A in stream L
yA = mass fraction of A in stream V
(e.g., L0 xA0 = mass of component A
in stream L0 )
Component mass balance (mass/time):
L0 xA0 + V2 yA2 = L1 xA1 + V1 yA1
= M xAM
L0 xC0 + V2 yC2 = L1 xC1 + V1 yC1
= M xCM
(equation for B not necessary because
xA + xB + xC = 1)
Suppose the following: V is oil (B) contaminated with dye
(A). L is water (C) which is used to extract the dye from the
oil. When V comes in contact with L, the dye redistributes
itself between the V and L. L and V are immiscible (i.e., two
distinct liquid phases).
Oil flow = V(1 - yA) = V’ = constant
Water flow = L(1 - xA) = L’ = constant
Then, for mass balance of the A component:
Another assumption: dye concentrations yA1, xA1
come into equilibrium according to Henry’s Law: yA1 =
H xA1 , where H depends on the substances A, B, C.
Specific problem: 100kg/hr of dye-contaminated oil
(1% by weight) is mixed with 100 kg/hr of water to
reduce the dye concentration in the oil. What is the
resulting dye concentration in oil after passing through
the mixing stage if dye equilibrium is attained and
Henry’s constant H = 4?
Sol’n:
L’ = 100kg/hr V’ = 100 ( 1 - .01) =
99 kg/hr
xA0 = 0 (no dye in incoming water)
yA2 = .01 (initial contamination in oil)
yA1 = 4 xA1 (equilibrium concentration of dye
between oil and water)
 *
xD
Rectifying operating line

* zF

q-line

y-int ~ 0.36 Stripping operating line

*x
B

Nideal = 6 2/3