UNIT OPERATIONS - II

FOR
THIRD YEAR DIPLOMA COURSE IN CHEMICAL ENGINEERING/TECHNOLOGY
PETROCHEMICAL AND POLYMER ENGINEERING

K. A. GAVHANE
Vice Principal & Head of Chemical Engg. Dept.
S.E. Society's Satara Polytechnic,
Satara.

N0901
UNIT OPERATIONS - II ISBN 978-81-96396-12-1
Twenty Ninth Edition : August 2015
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 PREFACE TO THE TWENTY NINTH EDITION

I am very happy to present this Twenty-ninth edition of the book –

Unit Operations – II in SI units to students of diploma in chemical engineering and
chemical technology.

The subject matter is divided into twelve chapters and sufficient number of
illustrative examples are given on each chapter. The entire matter is revised, arranged
in a proper order with simplified diagrams, checked thoroughly for corrections and put in
a simple language
language so that the students of diploma in chemical engineering will grasp
it very easily.

A lot of additional matter is incorporated wherever necessary so as to make the book

more complete.

The topic-Try yourself with answers is included as Appendix – I in this edition which
will positively help students to judge the depth of the subject matter. This book is also
very much useful for degree students of chemical and petrochemical engineering.

I am very thankful to staff members of chemical engineering departments located

throughout the Maharashtra for recommending this book right from the first edition.

I hope positively that students as well

well as the staff
staff members will appreciate the
content of the book.

I would welcome and appreciate suggestions and comments from students and staff
members for improving the quality of the book.

PUNE K. A. GAVHANE
November 2014 kagavhane @ yahoo.in
Mobile : 9850242440
 CONTENTS

1. Introduction 1.1 – 1.8

2. Conduction 2.1 – 2.60

3. Convection 3.1 – 3.78

4. Radiation 4.1 – 4.18

5. Heat Exchange Equipments 5.1 – 5.24

6. Evaporation 6.1 – 6.38

7. Diffusion 7.1 – 7.36

8. Distillation 8.1 – 8.80

9. Gas Absorption 9.1 – 9.30

10. Liquid-Liquid Extraction 10.1 – 10.24

11. Crystallisation 11.1 – 11.28

12. Drying 12.1 – 12.32

APPENDICES :

Appendix – I : Try Yourself A.1 – A.7

Appendix – II : Thermal Conductivity Data A.8 – A.8

Appendix – III : Steam Tables A.9 – A.15

• • •
 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Chemical Engineering is the branch of engineering which is concerned with the design
and operation of industrial chemical plants. A chemical plant is required to carry out
transformation of raw materials into desired products efficiently, economically and safely.
Chemical Engineering is that branch of engineering which deals with the production of
bulk materials from basic raw materials in a most economical and safe way by chemical
means.
The profession of chemical engineering deals with the industrial processes in which raw
materials are converted or separated into useful
useful products. The treatment of raw materials,
chemical transformation of the raw materials and separation of the desired product from a
product mixture are the usual stages of any chemical manufacturing activity. A chemical
engineer converts raw materials into useful finished products of a greater value in an optimal
way through processes involving physical and/or chemical (or biochemical) changes.
A chemical engineer is the one who is skilled in development, design, construction,
operation and control of industrial plants in which matter undergoes a change. He must
choose proper raw materials and must see that the products manufactured by him meet the
specifications set by the customers. Chemical engineers work in four main segments of the
chemical process industries : research and development, design, manufacturing/production
and sales.
The traditional roles of chemical engineers include teaching, research and development,
design, production, plant maintenance and trouble shooting, plant management, marketing,
entrepreneurship, and consultancy. Chemical engineers play a vital role in the development
and production of various essential needs of mankind like food, clothing, housing, health,
communication, energy, utilisation of natural resources, and protection of the environment.
Chemical engineers are engaged in the production of fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides,
food products, drugs and pharmaceuticals, plastics, synthetic fibers, dyes and dye
intermediates, paints and lacquers, synthetic fuels, paper, nuclear energy, synthetic rubber,
etc.
Chemical process : Every industrial chemical process is designed to produce
economically a desired product from given raw materials through a series of steps involving
Unit Operations - II 1.2 Introduction

physical or chemical change in the material under consideration. The steps involving certain
physical changes are known as the unit operations; whereas the step(s) involving chemical
changes in the material under consideration (i.e., chemical reactions) are known as the unit
process(es). Fig. 1.1 shows a typical chemical process.

Raw materials Physical   Chemical Physical Product(s)

treatment treatment treatment
step(s) step(s) step(s)

Recycle

Fig. 1.1 : Typical chemical process

The raw materials undergo physical treatment steps so as to put them in the form in
which they can be very easily reacted. Then, they pass through the reactor in which chemical
transformation of some or all of the raw materials takes place by one or more chemical
reactions. The product mixture comprising of the products produced and unreacted raw
materials undergo further physical treatments - separation, purification to obtain the desired
product. So, any chemical process carried out on a commercial scale, can be thought of as a
series of the unit operations and unit process(es) performed on the raw materials in a correct
sequence from the feed to the product end.
UNIT OPERATIONS
The concept of unit operations was introduced by A.D. Little in 1905.
The operations carried out in the process industries involving physical changes in the
system under consideration are regarded as the unit operations.
Features :
1. These are physical in nature, i.e., changes involved in them are primarily physical.
2. These are common to all types
types of diverse industries.
3. Individual operations have common techniques and are based on the same scientific
principles regardless of the material being processed.
4. They are independent of industries in which they are carried out.
5. Practical methods of carrying them out may be more or less different in different
industries.
Hence, the concentration of solutions by evaporation is a unit operation (involving a
change in the concentration of the solution) that can be carried out in all types of diverse
industries. This operation is basically similar in the handling of sugar or salt, or fruit juices
with some differences in the most suitable arrangements.
They are basically used to conduct the physical steps of preparing the reactants,
separating and purifying the products, recycling the unconverted reactants and controlling the
energy transfer in and out of the chemical reactor.
A physical change resulting in a change in any property of matter occurs by the action of
Unit Operations - II 1.3 Introduction

Broadly, unit operations are Mechanical Operations, e.g., size reduction (crushing and
grinding), filtration, size separation, etc. Fluid Flow Operations in which the pressure
difference acts as a driving force, Heat Transfer (Operations) in which the temperature
difference acts as a driving force and Mass Transfer Operations in which the concentration
difference/ gradient acts as a driving force, e.g., distillation, gas absorption, drying, etc.
The theory of unit operations is based on the fundamental laws of physical sciences such
as law of conservation of mass, law of conservation of energy, Newton's laws of motion,
Ideal gas law, Dalton's law of partial pressure, Newton's law of cooling, Raoult's law, etc.
CLASSIFICATION OF UNIT OPERATIONS
1. Fluid flow : It is concerned with the principles that determine the flow or
transportation of any fluid from one location to another.
2. Mechanical operations : These involve size reduction of solids by crushing,
grinding and pulverising, mixing, conveying and mechanical separations such as decantation,
filtration, settling and sedimentation, screening, flotation, etc.
3. Heat transfer : It deals with a study of the rate of heat energy transfer from one
place to another owing to the existence of a temperature difference. It deals with the
determination of rates of heat transfer. Heat transfer occurs in heating, cooling, phase
change, evaporation, drying, distillation, etc. The modes/mechanisms by which heat transfer
may occur are conduction, convection and radiation.
4. Mass transfer : It is concerned with the transfer of mass from one phase to another
distinct phase. Mass transfer operations depend on molecules diffusing or vaporising from
one distinct phase to another and are based on (or they utilise) differences in vapour pressure,
solubility, or diffusivity. Molecular diffusion and turbulent/eddy diffusion are the
mechanisms of mass transfer. Mass transfer operations include separation techniques like
distillation, gas absorption, drying, extraction, crystallisation, etc.
This text covers heat and mass transfer operations - a part portion of the unit operations
of chemical engineering.
Unit Systems :
Various systems of units and the basic / fundamental quantities associated with them are
given below.
Fundamental Unit Systems Dimension
Quantity SI MKS CGS FPS
Length Meter (m) Meter (m) Centimeter (cm) Foot (ft) L
Mass Kilogram (kg) Kilogram (kg) Gram (g) Pound (lb) M
Time Second (s) Second (s) Second (s) Second (s) θ
Temperature Kelvin (K) Celsius (oC) Celsius (oC) Fahrenheit (oF) T
oC = degrees Celsius
K = Kelvin
Symbolic abbreviations of the units are given in bracket.
Unit Operations - II 1.4 Introduction

BASIC SI UNITS

Mass : kilogram (kg)

Length : meter (m)

Time : second (s)

Temperature : kelvin (K)

Mole : kilogram mole (kmol)

Force : newton (N)

Pressure : newton / (meter) 2 [N/m2 = Pa (pascal)]

Energy : newton · meter (N.m) = J (joule)

Power : newton · meter / second ((N.m)/s = J/s = W)

1. Pressure : The units of pressure in SI, MKS and FPS systems are N/m 2 (known as
pascal, symbol Pa), kgf/cm 2 and lbf / in2 (known as psi) respectively.

1 atm = 760 torr (or mm Hg) = 101325 N/m2 or Pa

= 101.325 kPa = 1.033 kgf/cm2

2. Work / Energy : The units of work (energy) in SI, MKS, CGS and FPS systems are
 joule (J), m.kgf, erg and ft.lbf respectively.

3. Heat : The units of heat in SI, MKS, CGS and FPS systems are joule (J), kilocalorie
(kcal), calorie (cal) and British thermal unit (Btu) respectively.

1 cal = 4.187 J,

1 Btu = 1055.056 J

In the SI system, heat flow/heat flux is usually expressed in watts (W).

Some of the prefixes for SI units :

(i) giga (G) – multiply by 109

(ii) mega (M) – multiply by 106

(iii) kilo (k) – multiply by 103

(iv) milli (m) – multiply by 10–3

(v) micro (µ) multiply by 10–6