Basic Chemical Engineering

Lecture - 2
 Basic Concepts of Chemical
Engineering
• Units & Dimensions
• What are Dimensions:
Dimensions are our basic concepts of measurement such as length,
time, mass, temperature, etc.

But dimensions alone cannot suffice for our requirements. We

need to quantify these concepts of measurement for our day to day use.
 Basic Concepts of Chemical
Engineering
• Units & Dimensions
• What is a Unit:
A unit of measurement is a definite magnitude of a physical quantity,
defined and adopted by convention and/or by law, that is used as a
standard for measurement of the same physical quantity.
Unit is how you define a quantity under discussion. If we say that
weight of the computer is 10 kilogram, weight of the computer is the
quantity under discussion & 10 kilogram is its unit.

Similar Common examples of Units are meter, Co, Km/hr, etc.

Units are determined relative to a physical quantity, which is taken as a

standard.
 Common Systems of Units
• Over time a lot of international unit systems have
evolved, few of which are in use worldwide.
Basic Mathematic Operations on Units
• Add or Subtract  Units & Dimensions are SAME

5 kilograms + 3 kilograms = ? Possible

10 kilograms – 6 joules = ? Not Possible
20 kilograms + 10 pounds = ? Possible
Basic Mathematic Operations on Units
• Multiply or Divide  Units are NOT SAME
But You cannot cancel them with each other unless they are the same.

20 centimeter ÷ 5 seconds = 4 cm/s Possible

4 kilogram x 20 miligram = 80 kg Not Possible
10 Newton x 3 meter = 30 N.m Possible
50 ft2 ÷ 2 ft = 25 ft Possible

2 hp
2 horsepower ÷ 746 Watt = Not Possible
746 watt
Unit Conversion & Conversion Factors
• Conversion Factors
 Unit Conversion & Conversion Factor
• Dimensional Equation
Example 1.2:
If a plane travels twice the speed of sound (assume
that the speed of sound is 1100 ft/s), how fast it is
going in miles per hour?

Practice Yourself: Convert 20 gal/hr to m3/s.

 Unit Conversion & Conversion Factor
Example 1.3:
Change 400 in3/day to cm3/min.

Practice Yourself: Convert 25 ft3/year to m3/s.

 Units for Constants Used in Equations
• Units for Constants vary according to the System of
Units being used.

• Let us consider the example of the equation

F ∞m×a
F=C×m×a
F
C
m a
F = Force
C= Constant of Proportionality
m = Mass
a = acceleration
 Units for Constants Used in Equations
• Example 1.4 Use of gc:

One hundred pounds of water is flowing through a pipe

at the rate of 10 ft/s. What is the kinetic energy of this
water in (ft)(lbf)?

Practice Yourself:
What is the potential Energy in (ft)(lbf) of a 100 lb drum
hanging 10 ft above the surface of the earth with
reference to the surface of the earth?
 Being Careful About Units
• Some times Units may sound the same but
they belong to different dimensions, you have
to decide based on common sense.

A man is 6 feet tall but has only two feet.

N . m vs. m . N
m . s (meter . Second) vs. ms (Milli Second)
 Course Outline for
BSc. Chemical Engineering
• CHE116 Basic Chemical Engineering
Introduction to chemical engineering: Introduction to Engineering Profession.
Responsibilities and ethics for engineers. Role of chemical engineer. History of
profession and future directions. Career opportunities in Chemical Engineering.
Basic concepts of Chemical Engineering: Units and dimensions, conversion of
units. Process variables; pressure, temperature, concentrations and Composition
of mixtures.
Material balances: Fundamentals of material balances; Program of analysis of
material balance problems, material balance calculations, Balances on non
reactive systems, balance on reactive systems and Processes, Recycle, By-pass and
purge calculations, Case studies on balances for important industrial processes.
Ideal gases, equations of state for real gases. The compressibility factor equation
of state.
Energy Balance: Concepts and units, Forms of energy: The first law of
thermodynamics. Calculation of enthalpy changes. Applications of the general
energy balance without reactions occurring.
Ethics: Professional ethics: The ethics challenge and ethical case studies.
• Credit hours/ Contact Hours - 2
 Quick Review
• Differentiate between Units & Dimensions?

• Units are determined relative to a _________, which is taken

as a standard.

• Solve Practice Yourself Questions on Notebook.