CHEMICAL ENGINEERING CALCULATIONS

LECTURE NOTES 1: INTRODUCTION TO BASIC CONCEPTS AND CALCULATIONS

Chemical Engineering has been existing since 1887 but it is not a common knowledge to
people. It was first established as a profession in the United Kingdom at the University of
Manchester in 1887 by George E. Davis in the form of twelve lectures covering various aspects of
industrial chemical practices. This field of engineering is concerned in a large scale of chemical
manufacturing by converting raw material into useful and economical products through physical,
thermal, or chemical changes. At the beginning of studying chemical engineering, it can be seen that
the data students uses are expressed in a variety of units. Through this, students can learn on how to
convert these quantities into the desired unit of measurement before proceeding to his calcultions.
Such examples of system units are the SI System of Units, C.G.S. System, and Engineering Units.

Dimensional Homogeneity is also important in solving these Engineering Calculations. A

general procedure is presented in order to make the dimensions of an equation homegeneous
or consistent, and this is called the “Dimensional Analysis”. Doing this will make the equation
valid, and simplifies the computation process. Dimensionless Quantities on the other hand are
quantities in which all dimensions are canceled. The subject aforementioned is beneficial in
tackling Processes and Process Variables. Variables or parameter are necessary to describe
chemical systems and processes. These are properties that can be measured and recorded to
define the conditions of a system at anytime. Examples of these are mass, volume, density,
concetration, composition, temperature, pressure, and flow rate.
This material allows student to have an in-depth and detailed understanding of
Chemical Engineering, Engineering Calculations, Dimensional Homegeneity and Dimensionless
Quantities, and Process and Process Variables.
LECTURE NOTES 2: PROCESS UNITS AND DEGREES OF FREEDOM
As mentioned from the last topic, chemical engineers focuses on converting raw
materials into useful and economical products in a large or industrial scale. In order to forgo
with this ambitions, coordinated series of unit physical operations and unit chemical processes
are used. These units operations focuses on the physical change of the materials with or without
any chemical changes taking places while unit processes results in the chemical changes of the
materials affected by different factors. Examples of unit operations involve divider, mixer, dryer,
filter, evaporator, distillation, dehumidifier, gas dryer, and more.
A chemical process is composed of a single unit operation or several unit operations and
unit equipment. In order to describe the flow of these process, chemical engineers uses a
Process Flow Diagram or PFD, where it shows the relationship of the unit operations and unit
equipment, as well as the expected output of each operation. However, there are circumstances
when the expected amount of completion is not attained. There should be a way to recover
these unused materials and feed it again to the system in order for the completion rate to be
attained. We can use three flow arrangements such as recycle, bypass, and purge. The
combination of these three is mostly used in most processes.
Problems involving the identification and calculation of the missing variables in a PFD is
mostly common for chemical engineering students. In order to know how and what to get, we
perform Degree of Freedom Analysis. Using this, we count the total number of variables; subtract
from that the number of independent equations relating the variables and the number of
independent known values. However, there are differences in conduction DFA Analysis for a
Sungle Unit Process and a Multi-Unit Process. This module will help the students have a firm
grasped on the topics mentioned above.
LECTURE NOTES 3: MATERIAL BALANCE CALCULATIONS WITHOUT REACTIONS
Material balance is the fundamental tool of chemical engineering that gives us the basis
for the analysis and design of chemical processes. We deal with the transformation of raw
products of lower value into products of higher value. This material balance is our tool of
keeping track of what goes in and out of the system as well as what is going on inside it. Without
accruacte material balances, it is impossible to design or operate a chemical plant safely and
economically.
This module will focus on the material balance calculations of a single and multi-unit
systems with no involvement of any chemical reactions. These systems are defined to be a
region in space chosen to study. This may be an open system, a closed system, an isolated
system, and more. Chemical processes involved in these systems are classified based on how it
operates, and how it varies with time. Chemical processes based on how it operates are batch
processes, continuous processes, and semi-batch processes. Those that varies with time are
steady state, and transient or unsteady state.
Calculations of Material Balances can be quite tricky most especially for multi-unit
process. But the general rules in solving these problem involve drawing and labeling a PFD,
selecting a basis for calculation purposes, conducting a DFA analysis, write down the material
balance equations, and lastly, solving the equations to obtain the unknown values.
This module will further provide guidance in solving each material balance problem for
every unit operations and the combination of it.
LECTURE NOTES 4: MATERIAL BALANCE WITH CHEMICAL REACTIONS
Chemical reaction’s occurence in a process brings several complication into the material
balance procedure. However, it plays a vital role in the manufacturing process. The
stoichiometric equation of the reaction inflicts constraints on the relative amounts of reactants
and procducts in the input and output streams of the system. Stoichiometry plays an important
role to bealance the proportion of the chemical species in the equation with one another.
Limiting reactant, excess reactant, percent conversion, completion, yield, selectivity, and
fractional conversion are solved under stoichiometry.
In most chemical processes, reactants are brought together with the object of producing
a desired product in a chemical reaction. However, instances wherein the reactants combine in
a way that is not desired and therefore creates a problem with the process. These side reactions
can lead to a waste of raw materials and there is a need to spend more to have more raw
materials inserted in the system to achieve the desired results.
Material balance with chemical reactions involves two different types of approaches,
which are molecular species balances and atomic species balances in order to determine the
unknowns in the process. These will be further discussed in the module. Chemical reactions
also occur in systems with recycle, purge, and splitter units. Two definitions of reactant
conversions are used in the analysis of chemical reactors with product separation and recycle of
unconsumed reactants which are the overall conversion, and the single-pass conversion. The
Degrees of Freedom Analysis is also discussed in this module in which we will be needing the
number of variables, number of balances, number of specificed compositions, and number of
relations. Using all of this, students are expected to be able to solve material balance with
chemical reactions at the end of the module.
LECTURE NOTES 5A: SINGLE-PHASE SYSTEM
Chemical engineering calculations rely heavily on the availability of physical properties
of materials. Single-phase system means that we encounter problems only a species with one
phase, meaning only on a solid phase, on a liquid phase, or a gas phase. For this chapter,
students are expected to be able to determine the pressure, volume, number of moles, or
temperature of a substance. There are many methodologies in order to determine these
physical properties of a process material, these are: look it up; estimate it; or measure it. Tables
containing data are readily available in Perry’s Chemical Engineer’s Handbook. If these
densities are not found, we can estimate it using two methods: Assuming volume additivity; and
averaging the pure-component densities.
Calculations involving mass change due to these physical properties can be solved by
calculating based on mole basis, calculating on a pure-component, or calculating on a partial
pressure basis. This module also highlighted methods of calculating for the physical properties
of gases that are either an ideal gas or a non-ideal (real) gas.
LECTURE NOTES 5B: MULTI-PHASE SYSTEM
On the contrary of a Single-phase System, Multi-phase System involces all of the phase-
change operations on a single species. This type of system involves processes to change the
colligative properties of a substance. Examples of these are freezing, melting, evaporation, and
condensation, and most separation and purification processes, which are designed to separate
components of mixtures from one another. Most separations are accomplished by freeing a
mixture of species A and B into a two-phase system under conditions such that most of the A
remians in its original phase and most of the B transfer into a second phase.
One way to identify when and where the change in phases occur is through the use of a
phase diagram. Estimation of vapor pressure can also be applied by using the previous
methology which is looking it up or estimating it. However, in intances that we are unable to do
so, we can also measure it using formulas such as Clausius-Clapeyron equation, Cox chart vapor
pressure plots, and Antoine Equation.
In material balance, we have
LECTURE NOTES 6: MATERIAL BALANCE IN INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES