ENVE 206 - Fundamentals of Environmental Engineering Processes

Homework 3

1. (20 pts) A reactor is to be designed in which the oxidation of cyanide (CN-) to cyanate
(CNO-) is to occur by the following reaction
0.5 O2 + CN- ⇌ CNO-
The reactor is to be a tank that is vigorously stirred so that its contents are completely mixed,
and into and out of which there is a constant flow of waste and treated effluent, respectively.
The feed stream flow rate is 1 MGD, and contains 15,000 mg/L CN-. The desired reactor
effluent concentration is 10 mg/L CN-. Assume that oxygen is in excess and that the reaction
is directly proportional to the cyanide concentration, with a rate constant of k = 0.5 sec -1.
Determine the volume of reactor required to achieve the desired treatment objective, if the
reactor behaves as
a) an ideal PFR,
b) an ideal CSTR, or
c) a system consisting of 2 equal size ideal CSTRs connected in-series.

2. (20 pts) A liquid-phase reaction takes place in two CSTR reactors operating at steady state
in parallel and at the same temperature. One reactor is twice the size of the other. The total
feed stream is split proportional to their volumes between the two reactors to achieve a
desired removal efficiency. The smaller reactor needs to be taken out of service for repair. If
the total feed rate stays the same, how much does the removal efficiency change (in
percentage)? Assume that the reaction is first order and take the reaction rate as the reciprocal
of the residence time of the smaller reactor.

3. (20 pts) A plant manager has a decision to make. She needs to reduce the concentration of
salt in the 8000-gal tank from 30,000 mg/L to 1500 mg/L. She can do it in one of two ways:
(1) she can start flushing it out by keeping the tank well mixed while running in a hose with
clean water (zero salt) at a flow rate of 60 gpm (with an effluent of 60 gpm, obviously) or (2)
she can empty out some of the saline water and fill it up again with enough clean water to get
1500 mg/L. The maximum rate at which the tank will empty is 60 gpm, and the maximum
flow of clean water is 60 gpm. If she intends to do this job in the shortest time possible, which
alternative will she choose?

4. (20 pts) A hold tank is installed in an aqueous effluent-treatment process to smooth out
fluctuations in concentration in the effluent stream. The effluent feed to the tank normally
contains no more than 100 ppm of acetone. The maximum allowable concentration of acetone
in the effluent discharge is set at 150 ppm. The surge tank working capacity is 500 m3 and it
can be considered to be perfectly mixed. The effluent flow is 750 L/min. If the acetone
concentration in the feed suddenly rises to 1000 ppm, due to a spill in the process plant, and
stays at that level for half an hour, will the limit of 150 ppm in the effluent discharge be
exceeded?

5. (20 pts) Water flows into and out of a well-mixed, 1.6×105 L tank at a rate of 1000 L/min.
The dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration in the influent is 1.0 mg/L. In the tank, bacteria use
the oxygen for metabolism in proportion to the amount of oxygen present; that is, they use it
at a rate k = 2×10-3 min-1. Oxygen is dissolving into the water at a rate proportional to the
degree of under saturation; that is, at a rate given by kLa = 4×10-3 min-1. If the saturation
concentration of DO is 10 mg/L, find the steady-state concentration of DO.