Balances de materia y energía

Problemario Fase I:
Balances de materia
Descripción
Los siguientes problemas los pueden resolver de forma colaborativa con tu equipo de trabajo
de la unidad de aprendizaje. Toma estos problemas como oportunidad para identificar dudas
o conocimiento que no quedó del todo claro y aclararlo en el foro de dudas o en la clase.

Problemas
1. Oxygen consumed by a living organism in aerobic reactions is used in adding mass to
the organism and/or the production of chemicals and carbon dioxide. Since we may
not know the molecular compositions of all species in such a reaction, it is common to
define the ratio of moles of CO 2 produced per mole of O 2 consumed as the respiratory
quotient, RQ, where

RQ=
nC O ṅC O
nO 2
¿ 2

ṅO ( )
2
2

Since it generally is impossible to predict values of RQ, they must be determined from
operating data. Mammalian cells are used in a bioreactor to convert glucose to
glutamic acid by the reaction
→
C 6 H 12 O6+ aN H 3+ b O2 ❑ p C5 H 9 N O 4 +qC O2 +r H 2 O
The feed to the bioreactor comprises 1.00 x10 2 mol C6H12O6/day, 1.20x102 molNH3/day,
and 1.10x102 mol O2/day. Data on the system show that RQ = 0.45 mol CO2
produced/mol O2 consumed.

a. Determine the five stoichiometric coefficients and the limiting reactant.

b. Assuming that the limiting reactant is consumed completely, calculate the
molar and mass flow rates of all species leaving the reactor and the fractional
conversions of the non-limiting reactants.
2. A genetically engineered strain of Escherichia coli (E. coli) is used to synthesize human
insulin for people suffering from type I diabetes mellitus. In the following simplified
reaction scheme, bacteria consume all the limiting reactant under aerobic conditions
and produce insulin and biomass.
→
C 6 H 12 O6+ aN H 3+ b O2 ❑ p C2.3 H 2.8 O1.8 N (insulin)+qC H 1.9 O 0.3 N 0.3 (biomass)+rC O2+ s H 2 O

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 Balances de materia y energía

Feed containing 150mM glucose (that is, 150x10-3 mol C6H12O6/L) and 50mM ammonia
enters a bioreactor at a rate of 100 L/h. Pure oxygen enters the reactor as a gas at the
same molar flow rate as the ammonia. The product stream leaves at a rate of 100 L/h.
The respiratory quotient (see Problem 3) RQ = 0.50 mol CO2 produced/mol O2
consumed, and the molar ratio of biomass to insulin produced in the reaction is 1.5.
The system operates at steady state.
(a) Determine the six stoichiometric coefficients and the limiting reactant.
(b) What are the fractional conversion of glucose and the production rates (g/h) of
insulin and biomass?
3. A process is carried out in which a mixture containing 25.0 wt% methanol, 42.5%
ethanol, and the balance water is separated into two fractions. A technician draws and
analyzes samples of both product streams and reports that one stream contains 39.8%
methanol and 31.5% ethanol and the other contains 19.7% methanol and 41.2% ethanol.
You examine the reported figures and tell the technician that they must be wrong and
that stream analyses should be carried out again.
a. Prove your statement.
b. How many streams do you ask the technician to analyze? Explain.
4. Strawberries contain about 15 wt% solids and 85 wt% water. To make strawberry jam,
crushed strawberries and sugar are mixed in a 45:55 mass ratio, and the mixture is
heated to evaporate water until the residue contains one-third water by mass.
a. Draw and label a flowchart of this process.
b. Do the degree-of-freedom analysis and show that the system has zero degrees
of freedom (i.e., the number of unknown process variables equals the number
of equations relating them). If you have too many unknowns, think about what
you might have forgotten to do.
c. Calculate how many pounds of strawberries are needed to make a pound of
jam.
d. Making a pound of jam is something you could accomplish in your own
kitchen (or maybe even a dorm room). However, a typical manufacturing line
for jam might produce 1500 lbm/h. List technical and economic factors you
would have to take into account as you scaled up this process from your
kitchen to a commercial operation.
5. A biotechnological product, P, is made in a batch reactor. The reactor effluent goes
through a purification process to yield a final product stream and a waste stream. The
initial charge (feed) to the reactor and the final product are each weighed, and the
reactor effluent, final product, and waste stream are each analyzed for P. The analyzer
calibration is a series of meter readings, R, corresponding to known mass fractions of P,
x P.

xP 0.08 0.16 0.25 0.45

R 105 160 245 360

a. Plot the analyzer calibration data on logarithmic axes and determine an

expression for x P (R) .
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 Balances de materia y energía

b. The data sheet for one run is shown below:

Batch #:23601
Date:10/4
Mass charged to reactor: 2253 kg
Mass of purified product: 1239 kg
Reactor effluent analysis: R=388
Final product analysis: R=583
Waste stream analysis: R=140
Calculate the mass fractions of P in all three streams. Then calculate the
percentage yield of the purification process,
kgP∈ final product
Y P= x 100 %
kg∈reactor effluent
c. You are the engineer in charge of the process. You review the given run sheet
and the calculations of Part (b), perform additional balance calculations, and
realize that all of the recorded run data cannot possibly be correct. State how
you know, itemize possible causes of the problem, state which cause is most
likely, and suggest a step to correct it.
6. Certain vegetables and fruits contain plant pigments called carotenoids that are
metabolized in the body to produce Vitamin A. Lack of Vitamin A causes an estimated
250,000 to 500,000 children world wide to become blind every year. An approach to
reducing blindness and other childhood health problems resulting from this deficiency
is to use genetic engineering of rice—a food staple in developing countries and
economically disadvantaged regions of the world—so that rice becomes a dietary
source of Vitamin A. For example, a strain known as Golden Rice has been genetically
engineered so that it can produce and store carotenoids such as β-carotene (which
helps give carrots and squash their yellow-orange color). One type of Golden Rice
contains approximately 30 micrograms of carotenoids (81%β-carotene, 16%α-carotene,
and 3%β-cryptoxanthin) per gram of uncooked rice. A study has reported that when a
person eats Golden Rice, their body metabolizes 1 microgram of Vitamin A for every
3.8 micrograms of β-carotene they consume.
a. It is recommended that children between 1 and 3 years of age should get 300
micrograms of Vitamin A per day. Considering only the metabolism of β-
carotene given above, how many grams of Golden Rice would a child have to
eat in order to obtain this much Vitamin A? Does this seem like a reasonable
amount of rice to eat in one day, if one cup of cooked rice is approximately 175
g?
b. α-carotene and β-cryptoxanthin can also be converted into Vitamin A, but
when compared to β-carotene, it takes twice as much of each of these
compounds to produce one unit of Vitamin A. Considering all of the
carotenoids in Golden Rice as potential sources of Vitamin A, how many grams
of Golden Rice would a three-year-old child have to eat in order to obtain the
recommended daily amount of Vitamin A?
Exploratory Exercises—Research and Discover
c. Some individuals are not convinced that genetically modified foods are safe to
grow or to eat. What kinds of risks or uncertainties are cited by these

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 Balances de materia y energía

individuals? What kinds of measures are taken by farmers and suppliers of

genetically modified seeds to minimize these risks?
d. Some people do not believe that Golden Rice is a practical, viable solution to
Vitamin A deficiency around the world. Summarize the major arguments for
and against production and distribution of Golden Rice.

7. Seawater containing 3.50 wt% salt passes through a series of 10 evaporators. Roughly
equal quantities of water are vaporized in each of the 10 units and then condensed and
combined to obtain a product stream of fresh water. The brine leaving each evaporator
but the tenth is fed to the next evaporator. The brine leaving the tenth evaporator
contains 5.00 wt% salt.
a. Draw a flowchart of the process showing the first, fourth, and tenth
evaporators. Label all the streams entering and leaving these three evaporators.
b. Write in order the set of equations you would solve to determine the fractional
yield of fresh water from the process (kg H 2O recovered/kg H2O in process
feed) and the weight percent of salt in the solution leaving the fourth
evaporator. Each equation you write should contain no more than one
previously undetermined variable. In each equation, circle the variable for
which you would solve. Do not do the calculations.
c. Solve the equations derived in Part (b) for the two specified quantities.
Exploratory Exercise—Research and Discover(d)The problem statement made
no mention of the disposition of the 5 wt% effluent from the tenth evaporator.
Suggest two possibilities for its disposition and describe any environmental
concerns that might need to be considered.
8. Plantea un problema de tu vida cotidiana en donde puedas aplicar lo revisado en la
fase 1 del curso.

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Problemario Fase I IB-FA-UANL