COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Lahore

Assignment 2 (SP17)
Course Title: Chemical Process Principles Course Code: CHE113 Credit Hours: 3(3,0)
Course Instructor/s: Dr. Faisal Ahmed Program: BS Chemical engineering
Semester: 2nd Batch: SDP-FA16-CHE-AB Section: A,B Marks 20

Question: 1

A reactor is used to produce formaldehyde from methanol in the reaction:

CH3OH  HCHO + H2

A single-pass conversion of 60% is achieved in the reactor. The reactor product methanol is then
separated from the formaldehyde and hydrogen. The production rate of formaldehyde is 900 kg/hr.

(i) Sketch a labeled flow chart and calculate the required feed rate of methanol to the process
(kmol/hr) if there is no recycle. Molecular mass of HCHO is 30.3 kg.
(ii) Suppose the recovered methanol is recycled to the reactor and the single-pass conversion remains
60%. Sketch a labeled flow chart and determine the required fresh feed rate of methanol
(kmol/hr) and the rates (kmol/hr) at which methanol enters and leaves the reactor.

Question: 2

Methanol is produced by reacting carbon monoxide and hydrogen.

CO + H2  CH3OH

A fresh feed stream containing CO and H2 joins a recycle stream and the combined stream is fed to a
reactor. The reactor outlet stream flows at a rate of 350 mol/min and contains 10.6 wt% H 2, 64 wt% CO,
and 25.4 wt% CH3OH. (Notice that those are percentages by mass, not mole percents.) This stream enters
a cooler in which most of the methanol is condensed. The liquid methanol condensate is withdrawn as a
product, and the gas stream leaving the condenser—which contains CO, H2, and 0.40 mole %
uncondensed CH3OH vapor—is the recycle stream that combines with the fresh feed. Perform the
following actions in order.

(i) Determine the molar flow rates of CO and H2 in the fresh feed.
(ii) Sketch a properly labeled flow chart.
(iii) Perform degrees of freedom analysis to identify where to attack the problem first.
(iv) Determine the production rate of liquid methanol.
(v) Determine the single-pass and overall conversions of carbon monoxide.