27.03.

2023

ENVE 322
2022-2023
RECITATION 2

1. A graduate student breaks a bottle of 5 L filled with pure benzene with a concentration
of 0.88 g/cm3 in the laboratory. The spillage area is approximately 2m x1.5 m.
Evaporation rate of the benzene has been reported as 1500 kg/h on average within the
first 12 hours of the spillage. After the spillage, the student immediately opens the
emergency exit door through which 0.2 m3/s air circulates. It is known that once the
benzene is emitted from the spillage area, it is also being adsorbed on the surfaces of
the laboratory and they act as a sink for the benzene. The rate of benzene loss through
sinks is proportional to the benzene concentration in air, in the form of K sink*C. Here,
Ksink is the property of the surfaces in the laboratory and was found to be 0.03 m3/s. The
laboratory dimensions are as follows: 10 m* 12 m * 3 m. You may assume complete
mixing in the laboratory and benzene is emitted only in the horizontal direction due to
strong ventilation.

a) Draw a conceptual model for the spillage in the laboratory, showing the system
boundary, inflows, outflows, and the processes taking place in the room.

b) Develop the mass balance equation for benzene using Systems Approach

c) Develop the mass balance equation for benzene using Differential Element Approach

d) Calculate benzene concentration in the room at 20 min after the spillage.

Hint: The solution will involve a 1st order non-homogenous differential equation. To
solve a 1st order non-homogenous differential equation, you should use the integrating
factor approach.The integrating factor appropriate for this case is given in the Equation
1.

𝑄+𝐾sink 𝑄+𝐾sink
)𝑑𝑡 𝑡
𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 = 𝑒 ∫( 𝑉 =𝑒 𝑉 (1)

Where; Q is air flow rate, Ksink is the proportionality constant for benzene sinks (given in the
question) and V is the volume of the room.
27.03.2023

2. A sketch of a water supply pipe is given above. For this system, due to environmental
conditions, arsenic concentration changes according to Equation 1. Using the given
sketch,
a) Write the general mass balance equation for arsenic in this pipe using the control
volume approach.
b) Solve the arsenic mass accumulation term,

Pipe length can be taken as L and the pipe radius can be taken as r (use the control
volume approach).
𝑥 2 𝑡
𝐶(𝑥, 𝑡) = 𝐶0 (1 − ) 𝑐𝑜𝑠 (1)
𝐿 𝑡0