CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 0

Problem
No. Section
4.1 4.1
4.2 4.2
4.4 4.3
4.6 4.3
4.7 4.3
4.9 4.3
4.10 4.3
4.12 4.3
4.15 4.3
4.16 4.3
4.18 4.3
4.28 4.4
4.29 4.4
4.30 4.4
4.31 4.5
4.33 4.5
4.34 4.5
4.36 4.5
4.39 4.6
4.40 4.6
4.43 4.7
4.49 4.6
4.50 4.6
4.51 4.7
4.52 4.7
4.56 4.7
4.59 4.8
4.68 4.8
4.69 4.8
4.70 4.8
4.71 4.8
4.73 4.8
4.77 4.8
4.78 4.8
 CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 1

4.1 Water enters a 2.00-m3 tank at a rate of 6.00 kg/s and is withdrawn at a rate
of 3.00 kg/s. The tank is initially half full.
a) Is this process continuous, batch, or semi-batch? Is it transient or steady state?
b) Write a mass balance for the process. Identify the terms of the general balance
equation present in your equation and state the reason for omitting any terms.
c) How long will the tank take to overflow?
 CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 2

From 4th
edition 4.2 Rain is falling on a poorly designed 150-m2 flat roof of a contemporary
home. The design flaw requires the water level on the roof to reach
approximately 5 cm above the plane of the roof before the water flows into
drains.
a) Taking the accumulated rain on the roof as the system, can the process before
the water level reaches 5 cm be considered batch, semi-batch, or continuous?
Is it transient or steady state? Once the water starts to flow into the drains, how
do your answers change?
b) Before the water starts draining, which of the terms in the general balance
equation can be omitted? Why? How do your responses change after water
starts draining?
c) Water begins flowing from the roof after 30 minutes of rainfall. What will the
rate of draining (L/s) be if rain continues to fall at the same rate?
d) The homeowner is considering installation of a “green” roof that is partially
or completely covered with vegetation. If this is done, how would your
answers to Parts (a) and (b) change? List at least two concerns and two
environmental benefits of the new roof.
CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 3

4.4 Draw and label the given streams and derive expression for the indicated
quantities in terms of labeled variables. The solution of Part (a) is given as an
illustration.
(a) A continues stream contains 40.0 mole% benzene and the balance toluene.
Write expression for the molar and mass flow rates of benzene, 𝑛𝐵̇ (mol
C6H6/s), in term of the total molar flow rate of the stream, 𝑛̇ (mol/s).
(b) The feed to a batch process contains equimolar quantities of nitrogen and
methane. Write an expression for the kilograms of nitrogen in term of the
total moles n(mol) of this mixture.
(c) A stream containing ethane, propane, and butane has a mass flow rate of
100.0 g/s. Write an expression for the molar flow rate of ethane, 𝑛𝐸̇ (lb-
mole C2H6/h), in terms of the mass fraction of this species, xE.
(d) A continues stream of humid air contains water vapor and dry air, the latter
containing approximately 21 mole% O2 and 79% N2. Write expression for
the molar flow rate of O2 and for the mole fraction of H2O and O2 in the gas
in terms of 𝑛1̇ (lb-mole H2O/s) and 𝑛2̇ (lb-mole dry air/s).
(e) The product from a batch reactor contains NO, NO2 and N2O4. The mole
fraction of NO is 0.400. Write an expression for the gram-moles of N2O4 in
terms of n(mol mixture) and 𝑦NO2 (mol NO2/mol).
 CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 4

4.6 A distillation column is a process unit in

which a feed mixture is separated by multiple
partial vaporizations and condensations to form
two or more product streams. The overhead
product stream is rich in the most volatile
components of the feed mixture (the ones that
vaporize most readily), and the bottom product
stream is rich in the least volatile components.

The flowchart shows a distillation column with

two feed streams and three product streams:

a) How many independent material balances may

be written for this system?
b) How many of the unknown flow rates and/or mole fractions must be specified
before the others may be calculated? Briefly explain your answer.
c) Suppose values are given for 𝑚̇1 and 𝑥2 . Give a series of equations, each
involving only a single unknown, for the remaining variables. Circle the
variable for which you would solve. (Once a variable has been calculated in
one of these equations, it may appear in subsequent equations without being
counted as an unknown.)
 CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 5

4.7 Liquid extraction is an operation used to separate the components of a

liquid mixture of two or more species. In the simplest case, the mixture
contains two components: a solute (A) and a liquid solvent (B). The mixture is
contacted in an agitated vessel with a second liquid solvent (C) that has two
key properties: A dissolves in it, and B is immiscible or nearly immiscible with
it. (For example, B may be water, C a hydrocarbon oil, and A a species soluble
in both water and oil.) Some of the A transfers from B to C, and then B-rich
phase (the raffinate) and the C-rich phase (the extract) separate from each other
in a settling tank. If the raffinate is then contacted with fresh C in another stage,
more A will be transferred from it. This process can be repeated until
essentially all of the A has been extracted from the B.
Shown below is a flowchart of a process in which acetic acid (A) is extracted
from mixture of acetic acid and water (B) into 1-hexanol (C), a liquid
immiscible with water.

(a) What is the maximum number of independent material balances that can be
written for this process?
(b) Calculate 𝑚̇C , 𝑚̇E and 𝑚̇R using the given mixture feed rate as a basis and
writing balances in an order such that you never have an equation that involves
more than one unknown variable.
(c) Calculate the difference between the amount of acetic acid in the feed mixture
and that in the 0.5% mixture, and show that it equals the amount that leaves in
the 9.6% mixture.
(d) Acetic acid is relatively difficult to separate completely from water by
distillation (see problem 4.8) and relatively easy to separate from hexanol by
distillation. Sketch a flowchart of a two-unit process that might be used to
recover nearly pure acetic acid from an acetic-water mixture.
 CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 6

4.9 Strawberries contain about 15 wt% solids and 85 wt% water. To make
strawberry jam, crushed Strawberries and sugar are mixed in a 45:55 mass
ratio, and the mixture is heated to evaporate water until the residue contains
one-third water by mass.
(a) Draw and label a flowchart of this process
(b) Do a degree-of-freedom analysis and show that the system has zero degrees of
freedom (i.e., the number of unknown process variables equals the number of
equations relating them). If you have too many unknown, think about what
you might have forgotten to do.
(c) Calculate how many pounds of strawberries you could accomplish in your own
kitchen (or maybe even a dorm room). However, a typical manufacturing line
for jam might produce 1500 lbm/h. List technical and economic factors you
would have to take into account as your scaled up this process from your
kitchen to a commercial operation.
CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 7

4.10 Three hundred gallon of mixture containing 75.0 wt% ethanol (ethyl
alcohol) and 25% water (mixture specific gravity = 0.877) and a quantity of a
40.0 wt% ethanol- 60% water mixture (SG = 0.952) are blended to produce a
mixture containing 60.0 wt% ethanol. The object of this problem is to
determine V40, the required volume of the 40% mixture.
(a) Draw and label a flowchart of the mixing process and do the degree-of-
freedom analysis.
(b) Calculate V40.
 CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 8

4.12 One thousand kilograms per hour of a mixture containing equal parts by
mass of methanol and water is distilled. Product streams leave the top and the
bottom of the distillation column. The flow rate of the bottom stream is
measured and found to be 673 kg/h, and the overhead stream is analyzed and
found to contain 96.0 wt% methanol.
a) Draw and label a flowchart of the process and do the degree-of-freedom
analysis.
b) Calculate the mass and mole fractions of methanol and the molar flow rates of
methanol and water in the bottom product stream.
c) Suppose the bottom product stream is analyzed and the mole fraction of
methanol is found to be significantly higher than the value calculated in part
(b). List as many possible reasons for the discrepancy as you can think of.
Include in your list possible violations of assumptions made in part (b).
CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 9

4.15 A liquid mixture contains 60.0 wt% ethanol (E), 5.0 wt% of a dissolved
solute (S), and the balance water. A stream of this mixture is fed to a continues
distillation column operating at a steady state. Product streams emerge at the
top and bottom of the column. The column design calls for the product strams
to have equal mass flow rates and for the top stream to contain 90.0 wt%
ethanol and no S.
(a) Assume a basis of calculation, draw and fully label a process flowchart, do
the degree-of-freedom analysis, and verify that all unknown streams flows
and compositions can be calculated. (Don’t do any calculations yet.)
(b) Calculate (i) the mass fraction of S in the bottom stream and (ii) the fraction
of the ethanol in the feed that leaves in the bottom product stream (i.e., kg
E in bottom stream/kg E in feed) if the process operates as designed.
(c) An analyzer is available to determine the composition of ethanol-water
mixtures. The calibration curve for the analyzer is a straight line on a plot
on logarithmic axes of mass fraction of ethanol, x (kg E/kg mixture), versus
analyzer reading, R. The line passes through the points (R=15, x=0.100)
and (R=38, x=0.400). Derive an expression for x as a function of R (x=…)
based on the calibration, and use it to determine the value of R that should
be obtained if the top product stream from the distillation column is
analyzed.
(d) Suppose a sample of the top stream is taken and analyzed and the reading
obtained is not the one calculated in Part (c). Assume that the calculation
on Part (c) is correct and that the plant operator followed the correct
procedure in doing the analysis. Give five significantly different possible
causes for the deviation between R measured and R predicted, including
several assumptions made when writing the balances of Part (c). Foe each
one, suggest something that the operator could do to check whether it is in
fact the problem
CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 10

4.16 Two aqueous sulfuric acid solutions containing 20.0 wt% H2SO4
(SG=1.139) and 60.0 wt% H2SO4 (SG=1.498) are mixed to form a 4.00 molar
solution (SG=1.213)
(a) Calculate the mass fraction of sulfuric acid in the product solution
(b) Taking 100 kg of the 20% feed solution as a basis, draw and label a
flowchart of this process, labeling both masses and volumes, and do the
degree-of-freedom analysis. Calculate the feed ratio (liters 20%
solution/liter 60% solution)
(c) What feed rate of the 60% solution (L/h) would be required to produce 1250
kg/h of the product?
 CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 11

4.18 Wet sugar that contains one-fifth water by mass is conveyed through an
evaporator in which 85.0% of the entering water is vaporized.
(a) taking a basis of 100kg feed, calculate (i) xw, the mass fraction of water in
the wet sugar leaving the evaporator, and (ii)the ratio (kg H2O vaporized/kg
wet sugar leaving the evaporator).
(b)If 1000 tons/day of wet sugar is fed to the evaporator, how much additional
water must be removed from the outlet sugar to dry it completely, and what
annual revenue can be expected if dry sugar sells for $0.15/lbm?
(c) The evaporator is built to achieve the production rate of part (a), installed,
and started up, and the water content of the partially dried sugar is measured
on successive days of operation. The results follow.
Day 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
xw 0.0513 0.0486 0.0500 0.0507 0.0541 0.0498 0.0512 0.0474 0.0511 0.0494
In subsequent runs, the evaporator is to be shut down for maintenance if xW
falls more than three standard deviations from the mean of this series of runs.
Calculate the endpoints of this range.
(d) Considering the result of part (a) and (c) together, what can you conclude about
the recently installed evaporator?
CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 12

4.28 Following is a labeled flowchart for a steady-state two-unit process, with

boundaries shown to denote subsystems about which balances can be taken.
State the maximum number of balances that can be written for each subsystem
and the order in which you would write balances to determine the unknown
process variables.
CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 13

4.29 A liquid mixture containing 30.0mole% benzene (B),25.0% toluene (T),

and the balance xylene (X) is fed to a distillation column. The bottoms product
contains 98.0mole% X and no B, and 96.0% of the X in the reed is recovered
in this stream. The overhead product is fed to a second column. The overhead
product from the second column contains 97.0% of the B in the feed to this
column. The composition of this stream is 94.0 mole% B and the balance T.
(a) Draw and label a flowchart of this process and do the degree-of-freedom
anai1alys to prove that for an assumed basis of calculation, molar flow
rates. and compositions of all process streams can be calculated from the
given information. Write in order the equations you would solve to
calculate unknown process variables. In each equation (or pair of
simultaneous equations), circle the variable(s) for which you would solve.
Do not do the calculations.
(b) Calculate(i) the percentage of the benzene in the process feed (i.e. , the feed
to the first column) that emerges in the overhead product from the second
column and (ii) the percentage of toluene in the process feed that emerges
in the bottom product from the second column.
CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 14

4.30 Seawater containing 3.50 wt% salt passes through a series of I 0

evaporators. Roughly equal quantities of water are vaporized in each of
the 10 units and then condensed and combined to obtain a product stream
of fresh water. The brine leaving each evaporator but the tenth is fed to the
next evaporator. The brine leaving the tenth evaporator contains 5.00 we%
salt.
a) Draw a flowchart of the process showing the first, fourth. and tenth
evaporators. Label all the streams entering and leaving theses three
evaporators.
b) Write in order the set of equations you would solve to determine the
fractional yield of fresh water from the process (kg H2O
recovered/kg H2O in process feed) and the weight percent of salt in
the solution leaving the fourth evaporator. Each equation you write
should contain no more than one previously undetermined variable.
In each equation, circle the variable for which you would solve. Do
not do the calculations.
c) Solve the equations derived in Part (b) for the two specified
quantities.
CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 15

4.31
 CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 16

4.33 A stream containing 5.15 wt% chromium, Cr, 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/h.
If wastewater leaves the finishing plant at a rate higher than the capacity of the
treatment unit, the excess (anything above 4500 kg/h) bypasses the unit and
combines with the residual liquid leaving the unit, and the combined stream
goes to the waste lagoon.

a) Without assuming a basis of calculation, draw and label a flowchart of the

process.
b) Wastewater leaves the finishing plant at a rate 𝑚̇1 = 6000 kg/h. Calculate the
flow rate of liquid to the waste lagoon, 𝑚̇6 (kg/h), and the mass fraction of Cr
in this liquid, 𝑥6 (kg Cr/kg).
c) The company has hired you as a consultant to help them determine whether or
not to add capacity to the treatment unit to increase the recovery of chromium.
What would you need to know to make this determination?
CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 17

4.34
 CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 18

4.36 In the production of a bean oil, beans containing 13.0 wt% oil and 87.0%
solids are ground and fed to a stirred tank (the extractor) along with a recycled
stream of liquid -hexane. The feed ratio is 3 kg hexane/kg beans. The ground
beans are suspended in the liquid, and essentially all of the oil in the beans is
extracted into the hexane. The extractor effluent passes to a filter. The filter
cake contains 75.0 wt% bean solids and the balance bean oil and hexane, the
latter two in the same ratio in which they emerge from the extractor. The filter
cake is discarded, and the liquid filtrate is fed to a heated evaporator in which
the hexane is vaporized, and the oil remains as a liquid. The oil is stored in
drums and shipped. The hexane vapor is subsequently cooled and condensed,
and the liquid hexane condensate is recycled to the extractor.
d) Draw and label a flowchart of the process, do the degree-of-freedom analysis,
and write in an efficient order the equations you would solve to determine all
unknown stream variables, circling the variables for which you would solve.
e) Calculate the yield of bean oil product (kg oil/kg beans fed), the required fresh
hexane feed (kg C6H14 /kg beans fed), and the recycle to fresh feed ratio (kg
hexane recycled/kg fresh feed).
f) It has been suggested that a heat exchanger might be added to the process.
This process unit would consist of a bundle of parallel metal tubes contained
in an outer shell. The liquid filtrate would pass from the filter through the
inside of the tubes and then go on to the evaporator. The hot hexane vapor on
its way from the evaporator to the extractor would flow through the shell,
passing over the outside of the tubes and heating the filtrate. How might the
inclusion of this unit lead to a reduction in the operating cost of the process?
g) Suggest additional steps that might improve the process economics.
CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 19

4.39
CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 20

4.40
CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 21

4.43
CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 22

4.49
CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 23

4.50
CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 24

4.51
CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 25

4.52
CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 26

4.56
CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 27

4.59
CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 28

4.68 Butane is burned with air. No carbon monoxide is present in the

combustion products.
(a) Use degree-of-freedom analysis to prove that if the percentage excess air
and the percentage conversion of butane are specified, the molar concentration
of the product gas can be determined.
(b) Calculate the molar composition of the product gas for each of the
following three cases: (i) theoretical air supplied, 100% conversion of butane;
(ii) 20% excess air, 100% conversion of butane; and (iii) 20% excess air, 90%
conversion of butane.
 CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 29

4.69 A mixture of 75 mole% propane and 25 mole% hydrogen is burned with

25% excess air. Fractional conversions of 90% of the propane and 85% of the
hydrogen are achieved; of the propane that reacts, 95% reacts to form CO2 and
the balance reacts to form CO. The hot combustion product gas passes through
a boiler in which heat transferred from the gas converts boiler feedwater into
steam.
d) Calculate the concentration of CO (ppm) in the stack gas.
e) The CO in the stack gas is a pollutant. Its concentration can be decreased by
increasing the percent excess air fed to the furnace. Think of at least two costs
of doing so. (Hint: The heat released by the combustion goes into heating the
combustion products, and the higher the combustion product temperature, the
more steam is produced.)
CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 30

4.70 n-Pentane is burned with excess air in a continuous combustion chamber.

d) A technician runs an analysis and reports that the product gas contains 0.270
mole% pentane, 5.3% oxygen, 9.1% carbon dioxide, and the balance
nitrogen on a dry basis. Assume 100 mol of dry product gas as a basis of
calculation, draw and label a flowchart, perform a degree-of freedom
analysis based on atomic species balances, and show that the system has 1
degrees of freedom. Interpret this result.
e) Use balances to prove that the reported percentages could not possibly be
correct.
f) The technician reruns the analysis and reports new values of 0.304 mole%
pentane, 5.9% oxygen, 10.2% carbon dioxide, and the balance nitrogen.
Verify that this result could be correct and, assuming that it is, calculate the
percent excess air fed to the reactor and the fractional conversion of
pentane.
CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 31

4.71 Liquid methanol is fed to a space heater at a rate of 12.0 L/h and burned
with excess air. The product gas is analyzed, and the following dry-basis mole
percentages are determined:
CH3OH = 0.45%, CO2 = 9.03%, and CO 1.81%
a) Draw and label a flowchart and verify that the system has zero degrees of
freedom.
b) Calculate the fractional conversion of methanol, the percentage excess air
fed, and the mole fraction of water in the product gas.
c) Suppose the combustion products are released directly into a room. What
potential problems do you see and what remedies can you suggest?
CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 32

4.73 A mixture of propane and butane is burned with pure oxygen. The
combustion product contains 47.4 mole% H2O. After all the water removed
from the product, the residual gas contains 69.4 mole% CO2 and the balance
O2.
(a) What is the mole percent of propane in the fuel?
(b) It now turns out that the fuel mixture may contain not only propane and
butane but also other hydrocarbons. All that is certain is that there is no oxygen
in the fuel. Use atomic balances to calculate the elemental molar composition
of the fuel from the given combustion product analysis (i.e., what mole percent
is C and what percent is H). Prove that your solution is consistent with results
of part (a)
CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 33

4.77 The product gas from solid fuel combustion reaction has the following
dry-basis molar composition: 72.0 % CO2, 2.27% CO, 0.0592% SO2, and
25.4% O2. Pure oxygen is fed to the furnace in 20% excess of that required to
burn the fuel completely. There is no oxygen in the fuel. Calculate the
elemental composition (mole % of the various elements) of the fuel, stating
any assumptions you have to make to arrive at your answer.
CHENG 111 Tutorial Sheet (Chapter 4) 34

4.78 A fuel oil is fed to a furnace and burned with 25% excess air. The oil
contains 87.0 wt% C, 10.0% H, and 3.0% S. Analysis of the furnace exhaust
gas shows only N2, O2, CO2, SO2 and H2O. The sulfur dioxide emission rate
is to be controlled by passing the exhaust gas through a scrubber, in which
most of SO2 is absorbed in an alkaline solution. The gases leaving the scrubber
(all of the N2, O2, and CO2 and some of the H2O and SO2 entering the unit)
pass out to a stack. The scrubber has a limited capacity, however, so that a
fraction of the furnace exhaust gas must be bypassed directly to the stack.
At one point during the operation of the process, the scrubber removes 90% of
the SO2 in the gas fed to it, and the combined stack of gas contains 612.5 ppm
(part per million) SO2 on a dry basis; that is, every million moles of dry stack
gas contain 612.5 moles of SO2. Calculate the fraction of the exhaust bypassing
the scrubber at this moment.