Material Balances

Chapter 6: Introduction to Material Balance

Objectives:

1. Understand the features of process, system, open,

closed, steady-state, and unsteady-state systems.

2. Express in words what the material balance is for a

process involving single or multiple components.

3. Understand how a chemical reaction affects the

material balance.

4. Recognize a batch or semi-batch process and write the

material balance.

44
Definitions
Process - an operation or series of operations that causes a physical or chemical change
thereby converting raw materials into products. Chemical Engineering Examples: reactors,
mixers, separators, biological systems, etc.
Balance - an accounting or inventory of mass and changes.
System – an arbitrary portion or whole of a process as specified by the engineer analyzing
the problem.

C
A
MX RP P
Mix React Separate
B
W
Simplified Process Flow Diagram for Ethanol Production from Corn.
What is the System Boundary?

46
 System Classification
Before writing a material balance (MB) you must first identify
the type of system and process in question. 1000 kg System
H2 O boundary
Closed System: A system that does not have material crossing
the system boundary.
Open System: A system in which material crosses the 100 kg 100 kg
system boundary. H2O/min H2O/min
1000 kg
Steady-State System: Process variables (i.e., T, P, V, flow rates) H2 O
do not change with time.
Unsteady state System (Transient):
100 kg 90 kg
Process variables change with time. (After 50 min)
H2O/min 1500 kg H2O/min
Process Classification H2 O

Batch Process: A process in which material is neither added to nor

removed from the process during its operation. Batch processes fall into
the category of closed systems.
Continuous process: A process in which material enters and/or exits
continuously.
Semi-Batch Process: any process that is neither batch nor
1000 kg
continuous, materials enters the system but product is not
100 kg H2O
removed during operation. H O/min 47
2
Test yourself: Process classification
Classify the following processes as batch, continuous, or semibatch, and steady-state or
unsteady-state (transient).

1. A balloon is filled with air at a steady rate of 2 g/min.

2. A bottle of milk is taken from the refrigerator and left on the kitchen table.

3. Carbon monoxide and steam are fed into a tubular reactor at a steady-rate and react to
form carbon dioxide and hydrogen. Products and unused reactants are withdrawn at the other
end. The reactor contains air when the process is started up. The temperature of the reactor is
also constant, and the composition and flow rate of the entering reactant stream are also
independent of time. Classify the process (a) initially and (b) after a long period of time has
elapsed.

48
 General Mass Balance
A balance on a quantity in a system ( a single process unit, a collection of units, or an entire
process) including reactions can be written in the following way:
Accumulation = Input – Output + Generation - Consumption
System Boundary
Input streams
to system
output streams
System over which from system
mass balance is made

Example: Mass Balance

Input = Generation =

Output = Consumption =

Accumulation =
A country has a population of 10 million people in 1900 AD. Over the period from 1900 to 2000, 6 million
people immigrated into the country, 2 million people emigrated from the country, 5 million people were
born in the country and 3 million people died in the country. What is the population of the country in the
year 2000 AD?
49
Material Balance Simplifications
The following rules may be used to simplify the material balance equation:
Accumulation = In – Out + Generation – Consumption
If the system is at steady-state, set accumulation = 0
In – Out + Generation – Consumption = 0
If the material balance is for a single component,
set generation = 0 and consumption = 0
Accumulation = In – Out
If the balanced substance is a nonreactive species, (neither a reactant nor a product), set
generation = 0 and consumption = 0
Accumulation = In – Out
If the system is an unsteady-state process, the accumulation term over a time interval can be
calculated as:
Accumulation = Final material - Initial material
in the system in the system

50
Reaction Balances
CO2, CO, O2 CO2, CO, O2
2 CO + O2 = 2 CO2

A material balance can be written in terms of the following conserved quantities:

In Out

Total Mass Total (kg/hr) Total (kg/hr)

Mass (or moles) of kg CO /hr kg CO /hr

a chemical compound kg O2 /hr kg O2 /hr
kg CO2 /hr kg CO2 /hr

Mass (or moles) of kg C /hr kg C /hr

an atomic species kg O /hr kg O /hr

51
Test yourself: Material Balance
Verify if total mass balance is valid. Naphtha
250,000 ton /yr

Steam Cracker

CH4, H2 (39,500 T/yr)

Fuel Gas

Polyethylene (30,000 T/yr)

Ethylene
(55,000 T/yr) C2= Polystyrene (5,000 T/yr)
Reactions

Propylene PVC (40,000 T/yr)

(45,000 T/yr) Acryonitrile (20,000 T/yr)
C3=
Reactions Dodecylbenzene (8,000 T/yr)
Phenol / acetone (15,750 T/yr)
Butene
(30,700 T/yr) Synthetic rubber (10,000 T/yr)
C4= Reactions
Butenes (24,000 T/yr)
Aromatics
(68,000 T/yr)
Aromatics Aromatics (48,000 T/yr)
Reactions
Fuel Oil
(3,800 T/yr)
Heavy Oil

52
Some Basic Process Unit Functions
Splitter – divides a single input into two or more outputs
of the same composition (no reaction) Splitter

Mixer – combines two or more inputs

(usually of different compositions) into Mixer
a single output) (no reaction)

Separator – separates a single input into two or more Separator

outputs of different composition (no reaction)

Reactor – carries out a chemical reaction that converts Reactor

atomic or molecular species in the input to different
atomic or molecular species in the output
Heat
Heat exchanger – transfers heat from one input exchanger
to a second input (no reaction)

Pump – changes the pressure of an input to that of the Pump

corresponding output (no reaction)

Actual process units can combine these different functions into a single
piece of hardware, and are given different names 53
 Distillation
Column Separator
Reflux Condenser Heat Exchanger + Splitter
Bottoms Reboiler Heat Exchanger
Inside the Column
Internal trays (or packing) are used to enhance
component contact
 Each tray accomplishes a fraction of the separation
task by transferring the more volatile species to the gas
phase and the less volatile species to the liquid phase
 Can perform material and energy balances on:
– an individual tray
– the column, bottoms
reboiler, or top condenser
– the entire system

white = vapour 54
blue = liquid