C hemical & M aterials

ENGINEERING

ChemMat 211 Introduction to Process Engineering

1. INTRODUCTION TO CHEMICAL AND PROCESS ENGINEERING

Contents 1. 2. 3. 4. Chemical and Materials Engineering at UoA What is a Chemical and Process Engineering? The Skills required for a Chemical (Process) Engineer. Where do Chemical (Process) Engineers work?

Main Learning Outcomes To understand what Chemical and/or Process Engineering is.

1.1 Chemical and Materials Engineering at UoA We teach Chemical and Materials Engineering at the University of Auckland The novel synergy between the two disciplines taught puts you in a unique position to contribute to the Engineering world 1.2 What is Chemical and Process Engineering? You will all be familiar with Chemistry from either School or last year at University. Your like or dislike of Chemistry will not over affect your like or dislike of Chemical Engineering. Chemical Engineering is NOT all about Chemistry. In fact, Chemical Engineering isnt really about Chemicals!!! This is because Chemical Engineering does not accurately describe what the Engineering discipline is about in fact it should be called Process Engineering. Food Engineering lies also within Process Engineering. Chemical (Process) Engineering concerns: The design, construction and operation of safe and economic processes for transforming raw materials into higher value products by physical or chemical means.

 Altering the chemical, biochemical or physical state of a material to create value added products on a large scale. Understanding, improving and controlling industrial processes in which raw materials are changed and/or separated into value added products. The Chemical (Process) Engineer must understand, develop, design and engineer both the complete process and the equipment used; choose the proper raw materials; operate the plants efficiently, safely and economically; and see to it that products meet the requirements set by the customers. Chemical (Process) Engineering is both an art and a science. This is because problems are solved by a combination of these two skills: Whenever science helps the Engineer solve a problem, scientific knowledge should be used. When, as is usually the case, science does not give a complete answer, it is necessary to use experience and judgment. A Chemical (Process) Engineer depends on the skill of utilizing all available sources of information and to use professional reasoning, calculation and judgment to reach practical solutions to processing problems. Consequently, Chemical (Process) Engineers create, understand and develop the processes and products that we depend on, including those for: Food and beverages Medicines and Pharmaceuticals Hygiene products, perfumes Chemicals and Materials Paper, plastics + lots more!

1.3 The Skills required for a Chemical (Process) Engineer To be a successful Chemical (Process) Engineer, a wide range of knowledge and skills needed. The seeds for these skills are sown in this course and they are consolidated throughout our curriculum. The basic skills that chemical engineers rely on is their knowledge of mathematics and science, sometimes chemistry, to overcome technical problems safely and economically. These basic skills are applied to many different knowledge areas, including: Unit Operations, Materials, Heat and Mass Transfer, Properties of Fluids, Thermodynamics and Kinetics, Materials Performance, Separation Processes, Advanced Materials, Process Design, Process Control, Process Economics. Additional skills required of a Chemical (Process) Engineer include:

It is important to remember that Chemical (Process) Engineering is not just a subject you study at University. It is: A way of thinking o to structure engineering problems and engineering solutions in the a clear, concise and correct manner. This skill is transferable to a range of different occupations, which is why Chemical Engineers are not only employed in the Chemical and Processing field. A way of talking Chem Eng speak o Unit operation, PFD, P&ID, CFD, recycle, reflux, retentate A way of behaving o This is because Chemical Engineering at the University of Auckland leads you to a PROFESSIONAL degree accredited by the Institute of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) and the Institute of Professional Engineers of New Zealand (IPENZ). Consequently, with a BE(C&M) from the University of Auckland you can work towards becoming a chartered and thus fully professional Engineer. o Therefore, you will need to know how to behave as professionals. The staff at the Chemical and Materials Engineering Department will be guiding you through this journey. 1.4 Where do Chemical (Process) Engineers work? The variety of processes and industries that call for the services of Chemical (Process) Engineers is enormous. Chemical (Process) Engineers work in almost every industry:

Food Processing Oil and Gas Design and Construction Space Engineering Environment

Pulp and Paper Software Biotechnology Pharmaceuticals Health and Safety

Petrochemicals Minerals Polymers Healthcare Specialty Chemicals

Also, Electronics, Law, Education, Finance, Medicine, Publishing, Music, and many more. The lecture gives further details on many of these industries plus more! So studying Chemical and Materials Engineering leads to a world of possibilities. This course will lay the foundations for what follows. Hopefully you will enjoy it! This course will introduce you to the basics of Chemical and Process Engineering, primarily: 1. Unit Operations. 2. Mass balances. 3. Energy balances.

C hemical & M aterials

ENGINEERING

ChemMat 211 Introduction to Process Engineering

2. INTRODUCTION TO UNIT OPERATIONS

Suggested Textbook McCabe W., Smith J., Harriott P. (2004). Unit Operations of Chemical Engineering, McGraw-Hill. Other texts 1. Perry R.H. and Green D.W. (1997). Perrys Chemical Engineers Handbook, Seventh Edition. McGRaw-Hill. 2. Earle R. L. and Earle M.D. (1983). Unit Operations in Food Processing. The Web Edition. http://www.nzifst.org.nz/unitoperations. NZIFST (Inc.). 3. Sinnott R.K. (2005). Chemical Engineering Design, Fourth Edition: Coulson & Richardson's Chemical Engineering Volume 6. Butterworth-Heinemann. Contents

Introduction to Unit Operations.

Main Learning Outcomes To be able to explain the meaning and purpose of the following terms: Unit process Mixing Separation

2.1 Introduction to Unit Operations

Because of the variety and complexity of modern processes, the field of Process Engineering is split into convenient sectors. An economical method of organizing the subject matter of Process Engineering can be based on two facts: 1. Although the number of overall processes, producing an array of different products that must be dealt with by a Process Engineer is great, each one can be broken down into a series of basic steps, called unit operations. These unit operations are the same no matter which overall process they are in. For example in milk processing, homogenization, pasteurization, chilling, and

packaging are each unit operations which are connected to create the overall process. A process may have many unit operations to obtain the desired product. 2. In every overall process, these unit operations can be described using the same physical laws. For example, in many processes solids and fluids must be moved; heat or other forms of energy must be transferred from one subject to another; and tasks like drying, size reduction, distillation and evaporation must be performed. Thus, the concept of unit operations is: A complex process which converts raw materials into value-added products can be simplified and more easily understood, analysed, controlled and improved by splitting it up into simpler unit operations. These unit operations therefore unify and simply the understanding of all chemical engineering processes. Chemical engineering unit operations traditionally consist of six classes: 1. Mass transfer (including separation) processes: including mixing, gas absorption, distillation, extraction, adsorption, drying, filtration etc. 2. Reaction processes: which include reactors. 3. Heat transfer processes: including evaporation, condensation etc. 4. Fluid flow processes: including fluids transportation, solids fluidization etc. 5. Thermodynamic processes: including gas liquefaction, refrigeration etc. 6. Mechanical processes: including solids transportation, crushing and pulverization, screening and sieving etc. There are also combination processes, such as reaction separation processes such as reactive extraction and reactive distillation. Chemical Engineers draw such unit processes as a line diagram in order to better understand the connections between the process streams. This is similar to the circuit diagrams you will be familiar with that Electrical Engineers use to better understand the connections between components in complex electrical circuits. To draw a PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM (PFD) or PROCESS FLOW SHEET Use boxes for unit processes Use arrows for process streams (inputs & outputs) The flow diagram for a mixing process is given here. You will be drawing many of these PFDs in this course.

Feed 2: B Feed 1: A Mixer Mixed Outlet: A, B, C

Feed 3: C etc

2.2

Definition of Unit Operations Mixing and separation

For simplification, this section will only introduce two basic unit processes, separation and mixing. However, throughout the course, you will encounter many more, and theyll be discussed then. Also, the Felder & Rousseau textbook comes with an interactive CD-ROM with a visual encyclopedia of Chemical Enginering Equipment.

2.2.1 Mixing (General)

Mixing is the blending or combination of two or more components to form a single mass or mixture. Mixing typically occurs in an agitated vessel where the components are added and the agitation (typically stirring) blends the solutions together. This mixture then exits the vessel as one stream. Schematically this looks like:
Feed 1: A Feed 3: C etc Feed 2: B

SS: No accumulation

2.1.2 Separation (General)

Separator = removes one or more component s

Photo of mixing tanks in Industry

Multicomponent Stream A (e.g. 80%) B (e.g. 20%)

Removed Component B

Cleaner Multicomponent Stream A (e.g. 99%) B (e.g. 1%)

A separation process transform a mixture of two or more components into two or more distinct products. Separation processes include evaporation, crystallisation, adsorption, adsorption, filtration, distillation,

C hemical & M aterials

ENGINEERING

ChemMat 211 Introduction to Process Engineering

3. FUNDAMENTALS OF MATERIAL BALANCES

Textbook Felder R.M. and Rousseau R.W.(2005). Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes. Chapters 3, 4. Other texts

Reklaitis G.V. (1983). Introduction to Material and Energy Balances. Chapters 2, 3, 4. Sinnott R.K. (2005). Chemical Engineering Design, Fourth Edition: Coulson & Richardson's Chemical Engineering Volume 6. Butterworth-Heinemann. Himmelblau D.M., Riggs J.B. (2004). Basic Principles and Calculations in Chemical Engineering, Seventh Edition. Prentice Hall. Chapters 3 and 6 to 12. Contents

Introduction to Material Balances Material balance calculation procedure Calculations with multiple units, recycles, bypasses and purges Calculations with reactive systems Calculations with combustion reactions Main Learning Outcomes To be able to explain the meaning and purpose of the following terms: batch, semibatch, continuous, transient and steady-state processes; recycle; purge; degrees of freedom; fractional conversion of a limiting reactant; yield and selectivity; theoretical air and percent excess air in a combustion reaction. Given a process description: (a) draw and fully label a flowchart; (b) choose a convenient basis of calculation; (c) for a multiple unit process, identify the subsystems for which balances might be written; (d) write, in order, the equations to be used to calculate the missing process variables; 8

(e) perform the calculations. For reacting systems, you should be able to do: molecular species balances, atomic species balances or extents of reaction for process calculations. For a combustion reactor: given information about the fuel composition, calculate the feed rate of air from a given excess or vice versa.

3.1

Introduction to Material Balances Chapter 4.1, F&R (2005)

Material balances, or the conservation of mass is a fundamental law of nature: Material can be neither created nor destroyed Exception = nuclear reactions (which we dont cover) A material balance is the application of this law to any process. It is one of the most vital skills you will learn as a Chemical or Process Engineer! It is an important part of process design and analysis, so we will dedicate a 3rd of this course to it. It takes a change in mindset from traditional problem solving to learn how to be good at material balancing. A new language (Chem Eng), a new set of rules and a new way of thinking needs to be observed before you can. You will also need to learn to deal with problems where not all the required information is obvious or given on the problem sheet you will need to calculate or find data in order to solve many of the more advanced material balances! The general balance equation

INPUT + Generation Output- Consumption = Accumulation

Example 1: General Balance Equation

Each year 30,000 people move into Auckland, 12,000 move out, 15,000 are born and 18,000 die. Calculate a balance on the population of Auckland.

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3.1.1 Process Classification

Processes can be classified as batch, continuous or semi-batch Batch process Feed introduced at the beginning of the process, products removed at the end. The process change occurs over time. Example: baking biscuits or beer fermentation yeast and wort added to fermentation vessel, beer and spent yeast removed at the end of fermentation.

Batch stirred tank reactor

Continuous process The inputs and outputs constantly flow into and out of the process Process change occurs over space (distance) and time example: spray drying of milk powder milk concentrate and air fed constantly to the dryer, powder and humidified air constantly removed

In

In

Out Continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR)

Reaction occurs along the length of the reactor

Out Plug flow reactor

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Semi-batch process: Any process that is neither batch nor continuous Example: dissolution of a powder slow addition of a powder to a solvent in a mixing vessel without removing any material Example: combustion continuous addition of air onto batch solid reactant

Out
Batch Solids

In

Continuous Air

Flow rates and Species Fractions You should know: m, n, Mw, V, T, P (yes?) But, is everyone familiar with flow rates? Mass flow rate: or F kg h-1, g s-1, etc Molar flow rate: or N mol h-1 Volumetric flow rate: or v or Q m3h-1, Ls-1, etc And, mass fractions (w) and mole fractions (x) for species 1 to S?

wi =

mass of component total mass

wi = mi

ni =

mole of component total moles

xi = ni

m
j =1

&
j

w
j =1

=1

n
j =1

&
j

x
j =1

=1

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3.1.2 Steady vs unsteady state

Steady state: (calculations are easy!) means all process variables are constant with time (temperatures, pressures, volumes, flowrates etc) Similar in concept to EQUILIBRIUM, but not the same! Unsteady state: (calculations are hard!) process variables change with time Batch/semi-batch processes must be un-steady state (why?) Continuous may be either steady or unsteady state unsteady at start-up or when a control variable is changed usually aim for steady state operation

Steady state reached from: http://ece.gmu.edu/~gbeale/ece_421/ images/ess_01_03.gif

Unsteady state from:http://www.mathdaily.com/lessons/upload/1/13/ Sine_Cosine_Graph.png

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Example 2. A liquid phase chemical reaction takes place in a well stirred tank. The concentration of A in the feed is Cao (mol/m3), and that in the tank and the outlet stream is Ca (mol/m3). Neither concentration varies with time. The volume of the tank and outlet stream is V m3, and the volumetric flow rate is m3/s. The reaction rate (the rate at which A is consumed by reaction in the tank) is given by the expression: r (mol A consumed/s) = kVCA Where k is a constant. (a) Is this process continuous, batch or semi batch? Is it transient or steady-state? (b) Write a differential balance on A starting with the terms in the general balance equation

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3.2

Material Balance Calculation Procedure Chapters 4.2 4.3, F&R (2005)

Calculations involved in balances are simple algebra So you need to have good basic maths skills! The skill is in: interpreting the information available then arranging it in a form from which it can be solved This requires a methodical procedure The following algorithm should help you with this.

Advice from the author of your textbook, Richard M. Felder, who teaches this course at North Carolina State University: The course starts off with deceptively easy material: units and dimensions, definitions of process variables, and material balance problems that can be solved with college freshman and even high school methods. We give sermons about carrying units, drawing and labeling flow charts, doing the problem bookkeeping or degree-of-freedom analysis before plunging into the math, but they dont believe usand sure enough, they get the right answers doing it their way. Then the game changes. The problems get longer, and we keep throwing more information into the pot. We give them multiple process units, recycle and purge, single and multiple reactions, volumetric flow rates instead of mass or molar flow rates, and relative saturations or dew points instead of mole fractionsand the problems that used to take them thirty minutes start taking an hour, then two hours. They write equation after equation, but never seem to have quite enough information to solve for the quantities they are trying to calculate. Some begin to believe that there may be a point, after all, in being systematic about setting up problem solutions, and save themselves; others resist to the bitter end and fail. I dont recall ever failing a student in stoichiometry (Introduction to Process Engineering) who really understood how to draw and label a flow chart and to use it systematically in the course of a problem solution. From STOICHIOMETRY WITHOUT TEARS, Chemical Engineering Education, 24(4), 188196 (Fall 1990). So please follow the following problem solving algorithm for all problems. Algorithm for solving material balances A. B. C. D. E. F. Draw flow sheet ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS do this. Assign symbols to unknowns Define assumptions Choose a basis Unit conversions Write balance equations

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G. Perform degree of freedom analysis or simple problem book keeping check that it can be solved! H. Solve equations Start with those with the fewest unknowns Avoid simultaneous equations I. Calculate and give the answer in appropriate units and form people often forget this step! You will lose marks without it !!!! We will now go through this algorithm step by step. A. Draw flow sheet This is the first step and often the hardest step. This step is where you take written information and transform it into a diagram that represents the process unit operation (or more often than not, a series of unit operations) you will solve the mass balance around. To draw a FLOW CHART or FLOW SHEET Use boxes for unit processes Use arrows for process streams (inputs & outputs) The values of all known stream variables are added, i.e. total flow/amount of stream e.g. kg h-1 flow/amount of each component component concentrations e.g. mol L-1 or mol mol-1

Total flow rate

Unknowns

Component flow rates

Simple flow sheet, everything specified, ready to solve Homework: see if you can solve it! Labelling the flow sheet: Masses Flowrates Component and stream differentiation: 16

B. Define unknowns Symbols are assigned to unknown variables Minimise symbols used eg use Q and 2Q if you know one flow is twice the other eg use x and (1-x) if you only have two components C. Define Assumptions All assumptions should be explicitly stated next to or under the flow diagram. D. Choose a basis Basis of calculation needs to be chosen This is a mass or moles or flow rate to base the entire calculation on. Use most convenient given Or assume one if none given E. Unit Conversions Convert volumes to mass or moles Have consistent units if you have both masses and moles, convert to one or the other F. General balance equation When material is added into a system (e.g. water into a tank), there are only three things that may happen to it: output: it leaves the system accumulation: it stays within the system consumption: it is converted to another species Additionally generation: more of the material in question may be produced by conversion from another species

In
consumption? generation? accumulation?

Out

Therefore, a generalised balance on the material in a system can be written as: Input + generation output consumption = accumulation

This can be derived for: total mass (mass balance), total moles (mole balance) components (chemical species/molecules, agglomerates, isomers etc) atomic species Simplifications: If we have no reactions: generation = consumption = 0 17

Used for: overall (total) mass balance as all species will be accounted for! non-reacting system since conservation of mass and species applies!

G. Degree of freedom analysis We will not cover this in detail. Basically, it is a check to see if the material balance can be solved. You should check: number of unknowns = number of independent balances number of balances = number of chemical species And so if: Both numbers equal problem can be solved More unknowns than equations underspecified, problem cannot be solved More equations than unknowns over specified, problem cannot be solved Example: Felder and Rousseau, Example 4.3-4 p.100 Steps H & I: see in examples

3.2.1 Types of material balance

Differential balance: Indicates what is happening in the process at an instant in time. Each term of the balance equation is a flow rate e.g. kg/s, mol/h Is applied to continuous, steady state processes

Integral balance: Describes what happens over a period of time Each term in the balance equation is a discrete amount e.g. kg, mol Usually applied to a batch process, with the time interval being the duration of the process.

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3.2.1.1 Differential balances: Balances on continuous steady state processes

By definition, at steady state operation there can be no change in process variables Accumulation = ________ Input + generation output consumption = accumulation Therefore the balance reduces to: Input + generation = output + consumption

SS: No accumulation

SS: No accumulation & With no reactions, generation & consumption = 0 Input = Output

Example 3: A continuous distillation process (separation process)

500 kg hr-1 of a mixture of methanol and water that contains 40% methanol by mass is separated in a distillation column. At steady state, the mass flow rate of methanol in the vapour stream is 150 kg hr -1 and that at water in the bottom stream is 275 kg hr -1. Write balances on methanol and water to calculate the unknown component flow rates in the output streams.

3.2.1.2

Integral balances: MASS balances on batch processes

In a batch process, all mass introduced at the start of the process will be removed at the end (although in a changed state via reaction or processing) total mass balance is therefore always of the form:

Initial input = final output In terms of a single component, any accumulation (or depletion) can only be due to generation or consumption (e.g. by reaction) A balance on any component is therefore of the form: Initial input + generation = final output + consumption
Example 4: Batch mixing process (Integral balances). Two aqueous salt solutions of different concentrations are mixed in a batch tank. The concentration of the first solution is 20%w/w sodium chloride and the second is 50%w/w. If 700 kg of the first solution is combined with 200 kg of the second, what is the mass and composition of the product?

Example 5. A liquid mixture of benzene and toluene contains 55% benzene by mass. The mixture is to be partially evaporated to yield a vapour containing 85% benzene and a residual liquid containing 10.6% benzene by mass. Suppose the proves is continuous and at steady state, with a feed rate of 100kg/h of the 55% mixture. Let mv(kg/h) and m1(kg/h) be the mass flow rate of the vapour and liquid product streams respectively. Draw and label a process flowchart, then write and solve balances on total mass and on benzene to determine the expected values of mv(kg/h) and m1(kg/h). For each balance, state which terms of the general balance equation you discharged and why.

Exam Question 2008: A gas containing propane (C3H8 ) is diluted with air in a mixing unit. The flow rate of the gas is 150 mol C3H8 mol/s and the mole fraction of C3H8 is 4 %. The mole fraction of C3H8 in the outlet gas is 2%. (i) (ii) Fully draw and label a flow diagram including all known and unknown variables. (4 marks) Calculate the molar flow rate of the dilution air (6 marks)