Principles of Chemical Engineering | Dr.

Alnaseri, Hayder Part IV

Material Balances on Multiple-Unites Processes

Industrial chemical processes rarely involve just one process unit. One or more chemical reactors are
often present, as are units for mixing reactants, blending products, heating and cooling process
streams, separating products from each other and from unconsumed reactants, and removing
potentially hazardous pollutants from streams prior to discharging the streams to the plant
environment. Before we analyze such processes, we must take a closer look at what we mean by a
system.

In general terms, a “system” is any portion of a process that can be enclosed within a hypothetical
box (boundary). It may be the entire process, an interconnected combination of some of the process
units, a single unit, or a point at which two or more process streams come together or one stream
splits into branches. The inputs and outputs to a system are the process streams that intersect the
system boundary.
A
Feed 2

B C F

Product 3
Feed 1 L Unit 1 T Unit 2 B M Unit 3

D E

Feed 4

Feed 3 Product 1 Product 2

1. Overall balance (A): Feed 1 + Feed 2 + Feed 3 + Feed 4 = Product 1 + Product 2 + Product 3
2. System (B) balance: L + Feed 3 = T
3. System (C) balance: T = Product 1 + B
4. System (D)balance: Feed 1 + Feed 2 = L
5. System (E) balance: B + Feed 4 = M
6. System (F) balance: M = Product 2 + Product 3

The procedure for material balance calculations on multiple-unit processes is nearly the same as that
outlined in Part II. The difference is that with multiple-unit processes you may have to isolate and
write balances on several subsystems of the process to obtain enough equations to determine all
unknown stream variables. When analyzing multiple-unit processes, carry out degree-of-freedom
analyses on the overall process and on each subsystem, taking into account only the streams that

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Principles of Chemical Engineering | Dr. Alnaseri, Hayder Part IV

intersect the boundary of the system under consideration. Do not begin to write and solve equations
for a subsystem until you have verified that it has zero degrees of freedom.

Note: when starting the solution, we have to looking for the system that has more knowing
information

Ex;

A labeled flowchart of a continuous steady-state two-unit process is shown below. Each stream
contains two components, A and B, in different proportions. Three streams whose flow rates and/or
compositions are not known are labeled 1, 2, and 3. Calculate the unknown flow rates and
compositions of streams 1, 2, and 3.

P1 = 40.0 kg/h A P2 = 30.0 kg/h

Steps 1-5 0.900 kg A/kg 0.600 kg A/kg
0.100 kg B/kg 0.400 kg B/kg

F1 = 100.0 kg/h 𝑚̇1 (𝑘𝑔/ℎ) 𝑚̇2 (𝑘𝑔/ℎ) 𝑚̇3 (𝑘𝑔/ℎ)

𝑚̇
0.500 kg A/kg 𝑚̇
𝑥1 1 (𝑘𝑔 𝐴/𝑘𝑔) 𝑚̇
𝑥1 2 (𝑘𝑔 𝐴/𝑘𝑔) 𝑥1 3 (𝑘𝑔 𝐴/𝑘𝑔)
0.500 kg B/kg 𝑚̇ 𝑚̇
𝑚̇
1 − 𝑥1 3 (𝑘𝑔 𝐵/𝑘𝑔)
1 − 𝑥1 1 (𝑘𝑔 𝐵/𝑘𝑔) 1 − 𝑥1 2 (𝑘𝑔 𝐵/𝑘𝑔)

F2 = 30.0 kg/h
B 0.300 kg A/kg
0.700 kg B/kg
Basis: 100 kg/h of feed

Material balance (M.B.) on sub-system B:

Input = Output

F1 = P1 + 𝑚̇1
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Principles of Chemical Engineering | Dr. Alnaseri, Hayder Part IV

100 = 40 +𝑚̇1

𝑚̇1 = 60 kg/h

Component material balance on A:

𝐹 𝑃 𝑚̇1
𝐹1 𝑥11 = 𝑃1 𝑥1 1 + 𝑚̇1 𝑥1

𝑚̇
100 × 0.5 = (40 × 0.9) + (60 × 𝑥1 1 )

𝑚̇1
𝑥1 = 0.233 kg A/kg

𝑚̇1
𝑥2 = 0.767 kg B/kg

Material balance (M.B.) on sub-system C:

Input = Output

𝑚̇1 + F2 = 𝑚̇2

60 + 30 = 𝑚̇2

𝑚̇2 = 90 kg/h

Component material balance on A:

𝑚̇ 𝐹 𝑚̇2
𝑚̇1 𝑥1 1 + 𝐹2 𝑥12 = 𝑚̇2 𝑥1

(60 × 0.233) + (30 × 0.3) = 90 × 𝑥1𝑚̇2

𝑚̇2
𝑥1 = 0.2553 kg A/kg

𝑚̇1
𝑥2 = 0.745 kg B/kg

Material balance (M.B.) on sub-system D:

Input = Output

𝑚̇2 = P2 + 𝑚̇3

90 = 30 + 𝑚̇3

𝑚̇3 = 60 kg/h

Component material balance on A:

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Principles of Chemical Engineering | Dr. Alnaseri, Hayder Part IV

𝑚̇2 𝑃 𝑚̇3
𝑚̇2 𝑥1 = 𝑃2 𝑥1 2 + 𝑚̇3 𝑥1

(90 × 0.2553) = (30 × 0.6) + 60 × 𝑥1𝑚̇3

𝑚̇3
𝑥1 = 0.083 kg A/kg

𝑚̇3
𝑥2 = 0.917 kg B/kg

Recycle and Bypass

It is rare that a chemical reaction 𝑨 → 𝑩 proceeds to completion in a reactor. No matter how little 𝑨

is present in the feed or how long the reaction mixture remains in the reactor, some 𝑨 is normally
found in the product.

Unfortunately, you have to pay for all the reactant fed to a process, not just the fraction that reacts,
and any A that leaves with the product therefore represents wasted resources. Suppose, however,
you could find a way to separate most or all of the unconsumed reactant from the product stream.
You could then sell the resulting relatively pure product and recycle the unconsumed reactant back
to the reactor. You would, of course, have to pay for the separation and recycle equipment, but you
would compensate for this cost by having to purchase less fresh reactant and being able to sell the
purified product at a higher price. A labeled flowchart of a chemical process involving reaction,
product separation, and recycle is shown in Figure 4.5-1. Note the distinction between the fresh feed
to the process and the feed to the reactor, which is the sum of the fresh feed and recycle stream.

P1 10 kg A/min
100 kg B/min

𝐴 ሱۛۛۛሮ 𝐵
Mix point

F1 = 110 kg A/min F2 / 200 kg A/min F3/ 100 kg A/min Separator

Reactor
Fresh feed 30 kg B/min 130 kg B/min

Recycle (R)

90 kg A/min
30 kg B/min

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Principles of Chemical Engineering | Dr. Alnaseri, Hayder Part IV

Ex;

Fresh air containing 4.00 mole% water vapor is to be cooled and dehumidified to a water content of
1.70 mole % 𝐻2 𝑂. A stream of fresh air is combined with a recycle stream of previously dehumidified
air and passed through the cooler. The blended stream entering the unit contains 2.30 mole % 𝐻2 𝑂.
In the air conditioner, some of the water in the feed stream is condensed and removed as liquid. A
fraction of the dehumidified air leaving the cooler is recycled and the remainder is delivered to a
room. Taking 100 mol of dehumidified air delivered to the room as a basis of calculation, calculate
the moles of fresh feed, moles of water condensed, and moles of dehumidified air recycled.

Steps 1-5

2 3 4
𝑛6

Basis: 100 mol of dehumidified air

System No. unknowns No. equations df

1. 1 2 -3 -1
2. 2 3 -3 0
3. 3 3 -3 0
4. 4 2 -3 -1

The better chose is the system (1) overall system boundary

M.B. of system 1:

𝑛1 = 𝑛3 + 𝑛6

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Principles of Chemical Engineering | Dr. Alnaseri, Hayder Part IV

𝑛1 = 𝑛3 + 100 (1)

Component M.B. on air:

𝑛1 × 𝐴𝑛1 = (𝑛3 × 𝐴𝑛3 ) + (𝑛6 × 𝐴𝑛6 )

𝑛1 0.96 = 0.0 + 98.3

𝑛1 = 102.4 moles of fresh feed

Sub. 𝑛1 in eq. (1)

𝑛3 = 2.4 moles of liquid water

M.B. on system 2:

𝑛1 + 𝑛5 = 𝑛2

102.4 + 𝑛5 = 𝑛2 (2)

Component M.B. on water:

𝑛 𝑛 𝑛
(𝑛1 × 𝑊𝑣 1 ) + (𝑛5 × 𝑊𝑣 5 ) = (𝑛2 × 𝑊𝑣 2 )

4.1 + 0.017𝑛5 = 0.023𝑛2 (3)

Component M.B. on air:

𝑛 𝑛 𝑛
(𝑛1 × 𝐴 1 ) + (𝑛5 × 𝐴 5 ) = (𝑛2 × 𝐴 2 )

0.977 𝑛2 −98.3
98.3 + 0.983 𝑛5 = 0.977 𝑛2 ⇒ 𝑛5 = (4)
0.983

Sub. Eq. (4) in eq. (3)

𝑛2 = 392.5 moles of blended stream

𝑛5 = 290 moles of recycled stream

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