Manglo, John Andrae B.

HW 2 Review on Material Balance

1. In the Deacon process for the manufacture of chlorine, HCl and O2 react to form Cl2 and
H2O. Sufficient air (21 mole% O2, 79% N2) is fed to provide 35% excess oxygen and the
fractional conversion of HCl is 85%. Calculate the mole fractions of the product stream
components.

a) Atomic balance method

25 % excess O2
31.25

HCl Cl2
Reactor H 2O
100 HCl = 30
O2

Cl balance:
100(1) = n Cl2 (2) + 30 (1)
n Cl2 = 35
H balance:
100(1) = n H2O (2) + 30 (1)
n H2O = 35
O balance:
31.25(2) = (35) + n O2 (2)
n O2 = 13.75

2. Methane reacts with chlorine to produce methyl chloride and hydrogen chloride
CH4 + Cl2 CH3Cl + HCl
Once formed the methyl chloride may undergo further chlorination to form methylene
chloride (CH2Cl2), chloroform (CHCl3) and carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)

In a methyl chloride production process, methane and chlorine are fed to a reactor in a
mole ratio of 5:1. (The ratio is kept high to minimize polysubstitution). A single pass
chlorine conversion of 100 % may be assumed. The mole ratio of CH 3Cl to CH2Cl2 in the
product is 4:1 and negligible amounts of chloroform and carbon tetrachloride are
produced. The product gases are cooled, condensing the CH3Cl and CH2Cl2, which are
then separated in a distillation column. The gas leaving the condenser goes to a
scrubber, in which HCl is absorbed. The gas leaving the scrubber, which may be
considered pure methane, is recycled back to the reactor.
For a production of 1000 kg of CH3Cl/hr, calculate
a) the flow rate and molar composition of the fresh feed
b) the rate at which HCl must be removed in the scrubber
c) the molar flow rate of the recycle stream

Problem 2

Scrubber