CL152IntroductiontoChemicalEngineering

1. Amixtureofpropaneandbutaneisburnedwithexcessair.Partialanalysisofthestack

gasproducesthefollowingdrybasisvolumepercentages:0.0527%C3H8,0.0527%
C4H10,1.48%CO,and7.12%CO2.Thestackgasisatanabsolutepressureof780mm
Hganddewpointofthegasis46.5oC.Antoineequationforcalculatingvapourpressure
1750.286
*
*
ofwateris: log 10 p = 8.10765 o
,where T isinoCand p isinmmHg.
T C + 235.000
Calculatethefollowing:

( )

a) Molarcompositionofthefuel.
b) Theoreticalairandpercentageexcessair.

2. Thisquestionconsistsofthreesubparts.

a) Avesselcontainsaliquidphasethatisinequilibriumwithvapourphaseata

certaintemperatureandapressureof1atmosphere.Thevapourphase
contains30.0mole%benzeneand41.6mole%tolueneandthebalanceis
nitrogen.Vapourpressuresofbenzeneandtolueneatthetemperatureofthe
vesselare1020.8mmHgand406.8mmHg,respectively.UsingRaoultslaw,
determinethemolefractionsofbenzeneandtolueneintheliquidphase?

b) C2H4issuppliedtoareactorat110oCand137atmwhereitpolymerizesto

polyethylene.OneofyourfriendsthinksthatC2H4couldbeconsideredasideal
gasbecauseofhightemperaturewhileanotherfriendbelievesthatitisnonideal
becauseofhighpressure.Whichofthemdoyousupport?Justifyyoursupport.
Tc=283.1KandPc=50.5atm.

c) 125SCMH(standardcubicmetersperhour)ofagascontaining70.0mole%CH4
and30.0mole%H2at40oCand1.1atmisburnedwithexcessairinafurnace.
WhatisthemolarflowrateofH2inthegasenteringthefurnace?

3. Answerthefollowingbriefly

a) Whatarei)adiabaticflametemperature,ii)higherheatingvalueofafuelandiii)
lowerheatingvalueofafuel?

b) Whatisthebenefitofpreheatingairfedtoafurnace?

c) Explainthefollowingseeminglycontradictoryargument:Inanexothermic

reaction,heatofreactionisnegative,whichmeansthatthetotalenthalpyof
productsislessthanthetotalenthalpyofreactants.But,ifheatisnotremoved,
productsareatahighertemperaturethanreactants.

d) Explaininyourownwordsthemeaningofwetbulbtemperature.

e) DrawLangmuiradsorptionisothermandexplainhowitcouldbegenerated.

4. Airatadrybulbtemperatureof35oCandawetbulbtemperatureof30oCiscooledat

constantpressureto20oC.Withthehelpofpsychrometricchartsprovidedonpage4of
theexam,answerthefollowingforabasisof1kgdryair.

i.
ii.
iii.

Whatisthepercentagerelativehumidityofairat35oC?

Whatisthedewpointtemperature( C)?

Calculatetheamountofwatercondensedinkg?

iv.

EstimateheattoberemovedforcondensationinkJ.

v.

Whatisthehumidvolumeoftheairat35oCinm3?

5. Theendothermicliquidphasereaction
A+B

2C

proceedstocompletioninareactor.Theliquidmixtureinthereactorisvigorously
agitatedwiththehelpofanagitatordrivenbyamotor.Agitationensuresgoodmixing
and,theoutletconditionsofthereactoraresameastheconditionsinthereactor.That
is,compositionandtemperatureoftheexitingstreamaresameasthoseinthereactor.
Theheatnecessaryforthereactionisprovidedthroughajacketsurroundingthereactor.
Saturatedsteamat11.2barand185.5oCentersannularspacebetweenthereactorand
thejacketandcondensateleavestheannularspaceatsamepressureandtemperature
(11.2barand185.5oC).
Theheattransferratefromthecondensingsteamtothereactionmixturecanbe
estimatedbythefollowingequation:
Q(kW)=0.79(TsT)
TsistemperatureofcondensingsteamandTistemperatureofreactionmixture,bothin
o
C.Followingdataaregiven:
Agitatorshafthorsepower:25hp(1hp=746W)
Standardheatofreaction=+46.5kJ/gmol

Feed(gmol/h)

4536

4536

FeedTemperature(oC)

26.67

26.67

Specificheat,kJ/(moloC)

0.21

0.18

0.20

i)Prepareandfillaninletoutletenthalpytable;someoftheentriescouldbein
termsofthereactortemperature.

ii)Usingthetableinparti),findthereactortemperaturebymakinganenergy
balance.
iii) Determinethesteamflowrateifenthalpiesofsaturatedsteamandwaterat11.2
barare2780kJ/kgand785kJ/kg,respectively.

6.Weatherreportinanewspaperindicatesthatthemaximumtemperatureofairduringthe
dayis32oCandtherelativehumidityis50%.
a. Twothermometersarefixedtoaboardonawall.Thebulbofoneofthemiswrapped
withcottonandispartlydippedinapoolofliquidtokeepthecottonmoist.Whatisthe
temperaturereadbythethermometers?
b. Youcollect1kgoftheairattheconditionsgivenintheproblem.Towhattemperature
mustitbecooledtocondense75%ofwater?

7. AnequimolarliquidmixtureofnhexaneandnoctaneisflowingatapressureP
and140oC.Itspressureisreducedto1atmandthetemperatureto80oCto
produceavapourphaseandaliquidphasethatareinequilibriumwitheach
other.

a. WhatistheminimumvalueofPinmmHg?Whathappensif
thepressureislowerthantheminimumvalue?Vapour
pressuresofnhexaneandnoctaneat140oCare4602mm
Hgand1113mmHg,respectively.

b. Whatfractionoffeedliquidisvapourized?Vapourpressures
ofnhexaneandnoctaneat80oCare1068mmHgand175
mmHg,respectively.

8. Anairstreamcontaining2.0mole%carbontetrachloride(CCl4)isflowing

continuouslyatarateof10.0mole/minthroughabedof1kgactivatedcarbon.
CCl4adsorbsonthecarbon.Theadsorptionequilibriumcanbepredictedan
isothermgivenbyX=0.076p,whereXisgCCl4/gcarbonandpispartial
pressureofCCl4inmmHg.Predictbreakthroughtimeforthebed.Itisthetime
atwhichequilibriumisattainedandtheconcentrationofCCl4intheoutletair
steamissameasitsinletconcentration.

a. Consideramulticomponentmixtureconsistingofncomponentswithxiandyi

beingmolefractionsofithcomponentinliquidandvapourphases,respectively.

Pi* isvapourpressureofithcomponent.ThemixtureisatapressureP.Explain

howthebubblepointandthedewpointtemperaturesofthemixtureare
estimated.DrawTxydiagramclearlyindicatingvariablesonxandyaxesand
bubblepointanddewpointcurves.

b. Amixtureconsistingof50mole%benzeneand50mole%tolueneistobe

separatedbypassingitthroughavalveacrosswhichthepressurefallstoP(mm
Hg).Theoutletstreamfromthevalveentersachamberatthereducedpressure
P;thechamberismaintainedatatemperatureof70oC.EstimatetherangeofP,
thatis,itslowerandupperlimits.Whathappenstoseparationifthechamberis
operatedatpressuresbeyondtheestimatedrange?

Vapourpressuresofbenzeneandtolueneat70oCare551mmHgand204mm
Hg,respectively.

c. Definedistributioncoefficientforextractionofasolute(A)fromasolvent(B)

usinganothersolvent(C).Thetwosolvents,BandC,aremutuallyimmiscible.

d. Amixturecontainingwater,acetoneandmethylisobutylketone(MIBK)splitsinto
twophasesspontaneouslyat25oC.Oneofthephasescontains75wt%MIBK.
Determinethecompositionsofeachphasewiththehelpoftriangularphase
diagramprovided.ConsultFelderstextbookforternaryequilibriumdiagram.

e. DrawaLangmuiradsorptionisothermforasoluteadsorbingonanadsorbent

clearlyindicatingthevariablesonxandyaxes.Wouldtheamountofthesolute
adsorbedriseorfallifthetemperatureofadsorptionisraised?

f.

Theequilibriumadsorptivityofwateronsilicagelisgivenbytheexpression
X(kgwater/100kgsilicagel)=12.5

p water
*
p water

*
p water ispartialpressureofwaterand p water
isvapourpressureofwateratthe

systemtemperature.Whatisthemaximumamountofwater(kg)thatcanbe
adsorbedin10kgofthegel?

9. DefineRaoultsandHenryslaws.Underwhatconditionstheabovelawshold
good?Giveoneexampleofasystemforeachlaw.