UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

CPS 410 Process Synthesis 410
th
5 June 2014 EXAM TIME : 120 minutes

TOTAL: {60}
Answer all the questions
Open book, but no worked-out examples allowed
Programmable calculators may not be used.

QUESTION 1

You are required to develop an initial plant design for the production of biofuels using the 5 step process-design
heuristics presented in your lectures. Biomass with an approximate composition of CH2O is fermented using an
anaerobic (Clostridium) fermentation at 37°C:

11.4 CH2O  C4H10O + 0.638 C3H6O + 0.402 C2H6O + x CO2 + y H2

Biomass Butanol Acetone Ethanol

a) As step 1 of the 5-step process creation method, determine the value of x and y in the above reaction.
Assume that no water is involved in the reaction, but that sufficient water is used for the fermentation to
produce a fermenter product containing 1 mol butanol per 40 mol water. Based on a production rate of 200
kg/h of butanol, give the mass flow rates of incoming and outgoing streams on a block flow diagram. (8)

b) Match sources and sinks as step 2 of the process creation method and determine the molar flow rate of any
recycle streams. (2)

c) As step 3 of the 5-step process creation method, determine the order of separation of the liquid components
(acetone, ethanol, butanol and water), assuming that CO2 and H2 are removed as gas from the fermenter.
0.1% of the total CO2 remains dissolved in the water, and can be removed in a partial condenser on the first
distillation column. This CO2 is discarded. The liquid components should be considered to act as an ideal
mixture. Give the heuristics you used to determine the separation sequence. (A table of vapour pressures is
given below.) (8)

d) Assume that the CO2 can be separated from hydrogen in an amine-based absorption column operating at
30°C, and the CO2 is desorbed in a separate column by heating the amine solution to 60°C. The CO2 is then
compressed and stored as a liquid at 70 bar pressure and 40°C, and the hydrogen is compressed and
stored in cylinders at 200 bar pressure at 40°C. Assume that hydrogen is virtually insoluble in the liquids.
Draw a flow diagram of this process, showing the gas compression of each gas as a simple block. As step 4
of the 5-step process creation method, show the steps required to eliminate differences in temperature,
pressure and phase involved in the compression of the two gases. Calculate the compression ratio needed
per compression stage. Hydrogen has a heat capacity ratio similar to air (1.4) but the heat capacity ratio for
CO2 is just 1.3. (12)

e) Integrate tasks and draw a process flow diagram of the process. Show process conditions for distillation
columns and exit streams. (10)
Physical properties data:

Species Molecular mass

Vapour pressures, Bar
Biomass 30
Temperature, °C
Acetone 58
50 56 78 100 117.5
Ethanol 46
Acetone 0.81 1.00 2.03 3.74 5.77
Butanol 74
Ethanol 0.29 0.39 1.00 2.27 4.04

Water 18
Butanol 0.05 0.07 0.20 0.52 1.00

Carbon dioxide 44
Water 0.12 0.17 0.43 1.01 1.83

Hydrogen 2

[40]

QUESTION 2

a) The residue curve map and liquid-liquid equilibrium for a ternary mixture of water, propanol and hexane
is attached. For a feed with the following composition, shade the possible bottoms and distillates on the
provided ternary diagram:

Water (W) Propanol (P) Hexane (H)

9% 27% 61%

b) Create a process flow diagram to separate the following feed F into its pure components:

Water (W) Propanol (P) Hexane (H)

8% 56% 36%

The flow diagram should have no more than two distillation columns and one decanter. Label the bottoms
stream of first distillation column B1 and the distillate stream D1 and use a similar notation for the second
distillation column (B2, D2). Label the decanter outlets Org and Aq. Show any recycles you may use on the flow
diagram.

Show the tie lines you used for the three unit operations on the attached residue curve diagram, matching the
labels that you used on the flow diagram, but do not show the tie line for the mixing of the recycle stream; only
show tie lines as if there were no recycle. [20]

TOTAL: {60}
Name ____________________________________________________ Student number: ______________