Principle of Chemical

Engineering
First Semester, second Year
European Credit Transfer System ECTS

Dr.Firas Salim Mohammed Al-Ghulami

Chemical Engineering Department
Technical College of Engineering
Duhok Polytechnic University
 The objective of this course is to teach you how to systematically formulate and solve
material and energy balance problems. More important, you should learn to systematically
formulate and solve all types of problems using the methods presented in this text.
 to learn about processes that chemical engineers work with, from the types of processes
found in the refining and chemical industries to those found in bioengineering,
nanoengineering, and the microelectronics industries.
 The analysis used in this course will be based largely on a macroscopic scale (i.e.,
representing a complex system as a uniform system).

This course is organized as follows:

Reference Books
1. Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes 3rd Edition (2005) Richard M. Felder
and Ronald W. Rousseau.
2. Principles of Chemical Engineering Processes 2nd Edition (2015) Nayef Ghasem and
Redhouane Henda.
 Chapter 2. Introductory Concepts
objectives in studying Introductory Concepts are to be able to

1. Understand and explain the difference between the SI and the AE systems of units
2. Convert a value in one set of units into an equivalent value in another set of units
3. Apply the concepts of dimensional consistency to determine the validity of an equation or
function.
4. Employ an appropriate number of significant figures in your calculations
5. Convert from mass to moles and vice versa
6. Validate your answer to a problem
7. Choose an appropriate basis to solve a problem
8. Effectively employ the various units associated with density, concentration,
temperature, and pressure.
9. Calculate the average molecular weight of a mixture.

Dr.Firas Salim Mohammed Al-Ghulami

 Dimensions, Units, and Their Conversion

Dimensions is a property that can be measured, such as length, time, mass, or

temperature, or calculated by multiplying or dividing other dimensions, such as
length/time (velocity), length (volume), or mass/length (density).
units are the means of expressing the dimensions, such as feet or centimeters for length,
and hours or seconds for time.
In this lectures you will use the two most commonly used systems of units:
1. SI, formally called System International Unites, and informally called SI or more often
(redundantly) the SI system of units.
2. AE, or American Engineering system of units.
Dimensions and their respective units are classified as
• Fundamental (or basic) dimensions/units are those that can be measured independently
and are sufficient to describe essential physical quantities.
• Derived dimensions/units are those that can be developed in terms of the fundamental
dimensions/units.
Dr.Firas Salim Mohammed Al-Ghulami
Table 1.1 SI Units

Dr.Firas Salim Mohammed Al-Ghulami

Table 1.2 American Engineering (AE) System Units

Dr.Firas Salim Mohammed Al-Ghulami

Figure 1.1 Relation between the basic dimensions (in boxes) and various derived dimensions
(in ellipses).

Dr.Firas Salim Mohammed Al-Ghulami

Table 2.3. SI Prefixes

Operations with Units

When quantities with units are added or subtracted, they need to be expressed in the same
units. For example,

On the other hand,

can be performed (because the dimensions are the same, mass) only after the units are
transformed to be the same, either pounds, grams, or ounces, or some other mass unit.

Dr.Firas Salim Mohammed Al-Ghulami

Multiplication and Division
numerical values and their corresponding units may always be combined by multiplication or
division.
but you cannot cancel or merge units unless they are identical. Thus, 3 m2/60 cm can be
converted to 3 m2/0.6 m, and then to 5 m, but in m/s2, the units cannot be cancelled or
combined.
Example 1.1 Add the following: (a) 1 foot + 3 seconds (b) 1 horsepower + 300 watts
Solution The operation indicated by 1 ft + 3 s
has no meaning since the dimensions of the two terms are not the same.
In the case of 1 hp + 300 watts
the dimensions are the same (energy per unit time), but the units are different. You must
transform the two quantities into like units, such as horsepower or watts, before the addition
can be carried out. Since 1 hp = 746 watts, 746 watts + 300 watts = 1046 watts
Conversion of Units and Conversion Factors
A measured quantity can be expressed in terms of any units having the appropriate
dimension. A particular velocity, may be expressed in ft/s, miles/h, cm/yr, or any other
ratio of a length unit to a time unit. The numerical value of the velocity naturally depends
on the units chosen.
The equivalence between two expressions of the
same quantity may be defined in terms of a ratio:

Ratios of the form of Equations are known as Conversion Factors

To convert a quantity expressed in terms of one unit to its equivalent in terms of another
unit, multiply the given quantity by the conversion factor (new unit/old unit)
Dr.Firas Salim Mohammed Al-Ghulami
 Example 1.2 (a) Convert 2 km to miles. (b) Convert 400 in.3/day to cm3/min.
Solution (a) One way to carry out the conversion is to look up a direct conversion factor,
namely 1.61 km = 1 mile:

Another way is to use conversion factors you know

In part (b) note that not only are the numbers in the conversion of inches to centimeters
raised to a power, but the units also are raised to the same power.

Dr.Firas Salim Mohammed Al-Ghulami

 Mass = M Length = L
Area = L2 Volume = L3
Velocity = L/t Acceleration = L/t2
Force = M*L/t2 Energy/Work/Heat = M*L2/t2
Power = M*L2/t3 Pressure = M/(L*t2)
Density = M/L3 Viscosity = M/(L*t)
Diffusivity L2/s Thermal conductivity = M*L/(t3*T)
Specific Heat Capacity L2/(T*t2)
Specific Enthalpy, Gibbs Energy L2/t2
Specific Entropy L2/(t2*T)

Force: 1 kg/(m*s2) = 1 Newton, N Energy: 1 N*m = 1 J

Power: 1 J/s = 1 Watt, W Pressure: 1 N/m^2 = 1 Pa
Volume: 1 m = 1000 Liters, L
3 Thermodynamic temperature: 1 C = K – 273.15, K is Kelvin

Dr.Firas Salim Mohammed Al-Ghulami

Example Convert an acceleration of 1 cm/s2 to its equivalent in km/yr2

Example Conversion Between Systems of Units

Convert 23 lbm.ft/min2 to its equivalent in kg.cm/s2. 1 lbm.= 0.453593 kg, 100 cm = 3.281 ft

Dr.Firas Salim Mohammed Al-Ghulami

FORCE AND WEIGHT
Newton’s second law of motion, force is proportional to the product of mass and acceleration
(length/time2). Kg.m/s2 (SI), g cm/s2 (CGS), and lb.ft/s2 (American engineering).
1 newton (N) = 1 kg m/s2 1 dyne = 1 g cm/s2
In the American engineering system, the derived force unit — called a pound force (lbf) — is
defined as the product of a unit mass (1lbm) and the acceleration of gravity at sea level which
is 32.174 ft/s2:
1 lbf = 32.174 lbm.ft/s2
For example, the force in newtons required to accelerate a mass of 4.00 kg at a rate of
9.00 m/s2 is:

The force in lb required to accelerate a mass of 4.00 lb at a rate of 9.00 ft/s2.

Dr.Firas Salim Mohammed Al-Ghulami

EXAMPLE Weight and Mass
Water has a density of 62.4 lbm/ft3. How much does 2.000 ft3 of water weigh (1) at sea level
and (2) in Denver, Colorado, where the altitude is 5374 ft and the gravitational acceleration is
32.139 ft/s2?
The mass of the water is

The weight of the water is