MASS BALANCE

MATERIAL
BALANCE
Figure 1 represents a petroleum refinery which separates crude oil into
useful components. The raw crude, which enters at the point labeled
"CRUDE FEED" passes through a combination of pumps, heat exchangers,
heaters and distillation columns and finally exits having been transformed
into the desired products. The "CRUDE TOWER" is an example of one of
the many operating units within the refinery. It is a distillation column
which separates the crude oil feedstock into output streams of various
fuels as labeled on the diagram.
Chemical engineers are involved in designing
plants which convert raw materials into useful
products.
Plants commonly consist of several operating
units, such as reactors, pumps, columns, and
mixers, connected together by piping.
The simplified flow of material from one unit to
another in commonly shown in a process flow
diagram, or PFD, such as the one shown in Figure
1 for the processing of crude oil to produce
kerosene.
Process stream refers to the flow of a
particular material between operating
units.

Each unit will have input or feed streams

as well as output or product streams.
Properties of the process stream, such as flow
rate, temperature, pressure, composition,
density, etc., are called stream variables which
are necessary in designing a PFD.
A convention that we will use here, though it is
not universally used, is to place the stream
flow rate above the stream and to put the
compositions of the stream below the
line. Other properties of the stream are given
in brackets below the line.
This convention will help us keep straight
which variables should be scaled when we
want to change something.
For example, If the feed rate s doubled,
then all of extensive properties (properties
that depend upon the amount in the
stream) double. These are the ones above
the streams.
Doubling the feed rate does not affect
intensive variables (those that don't
depend upon the amount) change.

Temperature is an intensive variable

because the temperature is the same
whether there is 4 kg or 10 kg of the
material.
Mole fractions and mole percents are also
intensive variables because they don't change
even if the system is doubled.
So, we will put intensive variables below the
lines and extensive variables above the
lines.
Knowing how to perform a balance around a
process unit is an important basic skill of
chemical engineering.
The balance concept is simple.
100 kg of the feed stream will enter the process
unit in 1 hour of operation, and because mass is
conserved 100 kg must leave the process unit per
hour. So, the sum of the two outlet streams must
add to 100 kg/hr. Likewise, 40 kg/hr of ethanol
enters the unit and 40 kg/hr of ethanol must
leave the unit.
Chemical process engineers use balances
every day to design and size new
equipment, as well as optimize and control
chemical processes already in operation
PROCESSES DEFINITIONS

BATCH PROCESS

Feed is charged into a system. The system

works on the feed until processing is
complete. Products are then removed
System is closed, with no material transfer
across system boundaries except during
charging and product removal.
Batch Process
Examples: Cooking. Brewing.
Today there are many new processes that
are being developed to supply commodity
chemicals, small niche materials,
biochemical products, and materials
produced to consumers' specifications that
use batch processes.

In particular, the concept of on-demand

processing, or supplying exactly what is
wanted when it is needed, uses batch-type
processing.
 CONTINUOUS PROCESS
Feed and products flow
continuously through
process. System is open, and
usually modeled as steady
flow.
Examples: Petroleum refining
(except coking, blending)

Continuous Process
 SEMIBATCH PROCESS
Hybrid of batch and continuous. In
one form ("fedbatch") the feed is
added continuously, but the
product is removed all at once. In
other cases (i.e. batch distillation),
the feed is charged into the vessel
in one step, but the products are
removed continuously during the
run. A uniform state open system
Semi-Batch Process model is one approach to these
problems.
 PROCESS MODELLING

50 kg/hr water 50 kg/hr water 50 kg/hr water

M
o
d
e
ll
50 kg/hr water

.
50 kg/hr water 50 kg/hr water
i
STEADY STATE MODELS
n
(Also called "stationary" or "static" models.) Models do not change
with time. This occurs when a dynamic model achieves balance and all g
disturbances have attenuated, or at some theoretical "long time" that
represents the "normal" behavior of the system. These can usually be
modeled with algebraic equations.
 M
50 kg/hr water 50 kg/hr water 50 kg/hr water o
d
e
ll
60 kg/hr water 60 kg/hr water 60 kg/hr water
i
n
t=0 t = 1 hr t = 2 hr

UNSTEADY STATE/ TRANSIENT MODELS

g
(Also called "dynamic" or "unsteady state".) Models are
functions of time, so the system can track fluctuations
and changes in behavior. These usually require differential
equations.
 General Material Balance Equations

BASIC CONCEPT:

TOTAL MASS IS NEITHER CREATED NOR

DESTROYED
 General Balance Equation

Input Output
Accumulation Generation Consumption
through through
within the = the system - the system + within the - within the
system boundaries boundaries system system
 General Balance Equation Th
e
Accumulation
Input
through
Output
through
Generation Consumption G
within the within the
within the
system
= the system
boundaries
- the system
boundaries
+
system
-
system
en
er
al
Without chemical reation Ba
Accumulation
Input
through
Output
through
la
within the
system
= the system - the system nc
boundaries boundaries
e
Eq
For Steady State system ua
Input Output
ti
through through on
the system = the system
boundaries boundaries
It is important to have a systematic
approach to solving problems so that you
don't just go around in circles randomly, but
that you have a plan of attack that will get
you to the desired solution.

CHE111P is a problem solving course and

learning to attack a problem in an organized
fashion is an important step in an
engineer's education
General Problem Solving
Approach
Define
 Draw a sketch of the problem
 Label the sketch with flows and compositions for
each stream
 Put all known values of compositions and flows
on the sketch
 Select a basis of calculation
 List the unknown stream quantities with
symbols
 Identify exactly what you are being asked to
calculate
Explore
 Select the system boundaries.
 Determine degrees of freedom and # of equations to be solved
 Obtain the necessary data and physical properties
 Identify possible attacks
o Use equations with fewest unknowns first
o Use tie-components if appropriate
o The overall balance should generally be used
o Relocate the basis if necessary
 Start with the unit that has the lowest degree of freedom
 Write independent balance equations for chosen attack
Solve
 Solve simultaneous equations
 Scale-up from the chosen basis
CHECK
 Check answers by direct substitution.
 Check that solution is reasonable
and answers question
 Check your answer to ensure that it
properly accounts for:
o Appropriate safety considerations
o Appropriate budget constraints
o Satisfies legal and environmental
concerns
o Is ethically sound
Degree of Freedom Analysis

When solving mass balance problems, a

useful part of the "EXPLORE" or analysis
part of the problem is to find out if we
have all the information necessary to solve
the problem

Do we have sufficient equations for the

remaining unknowns?.
Degree of Freedom Analysis

A structured way to do this is through a

degree of freedom analysis.

Basically, we count the total number of

variables, subtract from that the number of
independent equations relating the variables
and the number of independent known
values.
 DEGREES OF FREEDOM
D
The "degrees of freedom" of a problem are a way to measure whether a eg
system is properly specified. It uses the equation: re
f = V – E – S -R es
where: of
f = is the number of degrees of freedom. It will equal zero when a problem Fr
is properly specified ee
V = is the number of independent stream variables do
E = is the number of independent equations m
S = is the number of specifications imposed on the variables A
R = is the number of subsidiary relationships na
ly
 If the degree of freedom is positive then the problem is under-specified, if it is sis
negative then the problem is over-specified, and if the degree of freedom is
zero then the problem is correctly specified and a unique solution can be found.

 The independence requirement is important. Equations are

independent if no equation can be obtained by linear combination of
others in the set.
 Example 2:
Example 1:
x + 2y +z = 1
x + 2y +z = 1 2x +4z = 10
2x + y – z = 2 y + 2z = 5
y + 2z = 5

Example 3: Example 4:

x + 2y +z = 1 x + 2y +z = 1
2x + y – z = 2 2x + y – z = 2
3x + 3y = 3 y + 2z = 5
x+z=3
Rules of Thumb for Getting V, E, and S

V: The total number of independent

stream variables

This is found by adding up the number of

components in each of the streams that
cross the system boundary.
E: The total number of independent mass
balance equations.

In general, the number of independent

mass balances that can be written for a
system is equal to the number of
different components that cross the
system boundaries.
S: The number of independent specified stream
variables ; i..e., variables for which you have numbers.

These are the "knowns." These are stream values

prescribed by the problem, such as 10 mol% benzene,
30 moles/sec, etc. Be sure to include the basis as s-
value whenever appropriate.
R The number of independent subsidiary relationships.

Subsidiary relationships are additional equations that

relate properties in two streams. Often subsidiary
relations are given in a problem such as a percent
conversion, a ratio of flow rates, a yield, etc.
The degree-of-freedom analysis for a problem becomes
more and more important as the complexity of the
problem increases.

Degrees of freedom tell you where to start in solving a

problem (anything with a zero degree of freedom can
be solved immediately), and what to use to solve it (n
mass balance equations and s subsidiary relations).
At first it may seem like extra effort because the
problems will be simple. Learn how to do it correctly
with these simple examples because it will become
indispensable for very complex problems.

This is the same kind of analysis that is done in process

design software to direct its solving efforts.
 I aI O  aO

F P F P
MIXER SEPARATOR
 aF  aP  aF  aP

Material Balance Equations Material Balance Equations

Overall Material Balance (OMB): Overall Material Balance (OMB):

FI P F O P

Component A balance: Component A balance:

aF F  aI I  aP P aF F  aOO  aP P

Component B balance: Component B balance:

bF F  bI I  bP P bF F  bOO  bP P
(1  aF ) F  (1  aI ) I  (1  aP ) P (1  aF ) F  (1  aO )O  (1  aP ) P
for binary systems for binary systems
 D
y aD

W HW O  1

DISTILLER
2
F

F P
xaF
DRYER
HF O
2
HP O 2
B

xaB
Material Balance Equations Material Balance Equations

Overall Material Balance (OMB): Overall Material Balance (OMB):

F W  P F  DB

Water balance: Component A balance:

HF O F  W  HP O P
2 2
xaF F  yaD D  xaB B

Solid balance: Component B balance:

(1  HF2O ) F  (1  HP2O ) P xbF F  ybD D  xbB B
tie-component balance (1  xaF ) F  (1  yaD ) D  (1  xaB ) B
for binary systems
 S  aS W  aW  0

F R F L
EXTRACTOR CRYSTALLIZER
 aF  aR  aF  aL

E  aE C

Material Balance Equations Material Balance Equations

Overall Material Balance (OMB): Overall Material Balance (OMB):

F S  ER F W C  L

Component A balance: Solute A balance:

aF F  aI E  aE E  aR R aF F  aC C  aL L
MWanhydrous state
Component i balance: where:  aC 
MWhydrated state
iF F  iI E  iE E  iR R
 aL is the solubility/concentration
of saturated solution
A mixture containing 10% EtOH and 90% H2O by weight is fed to a distillation
column at the rate of 1000 kg/h. The distillate contains 60% EtOH and is
produced at a rate 1/10th that of the feed. What is the composition and flow
rate of the bottoms?
(Drying) A wet paper pulp contains 71% water. After drying, it is
found that 60% of the original water has been removed. What is
the composition of the dried pulp and how much water was
removed?
Three hundred pounds of 30% NaCl solution
(brine) is to be produced by mixing appropriate
amounts of 40% NaCl solution and 25% NaCl
solution. Calculate the lbs of the brine solutions
necessary to produce the 300 lbs mixture.
Dilute sulfuric acid has to be added to dry charged batteries at service
stations in order to activate the battery. You are asked to prepare a new
batch of acid as follows: A tank of old weak battery acid (H2SO4) solution
contains 12.43 mass percent H2SO4 (the remainder is water). If 200 kg of
77.7% acid are added to the tank, and the final solution is 18.63% H2SO4,
how many kilograms of battery acid have been made?
A slurry of CaCO3 (s) in NaOH and H2O is washed with an equal mass of
dilute 5 wt% NaOH in water. The washed and settled slurry contains 2 lbm
of solution per lbm of solid CaCO3. The solution may be considered the
same composition as the clear solution withdrawn from the unit. If the
feed slurry contained equal mass fractions of all components, calculate
the concentration of the clear solution.
 A manufacturer mixes three alloys to yield 10,000 lbm/h
of a desired alloy. The alloy compositions in wt% are:

components feed alloy compositions (mass %) product

1 2 3
A 60 20 20 25
B 20 60 0 25
C 20 0 60 25
D 0 20 20 25

Calculate the rate at which the three feed alloys

should be supplied.
Consider a feedstock to the distillation column shown
below. The feed is available at a rate of 1000 mol/hr and
consists of the following:
· Propane: 20 mol%
· Isobutane: 30 mol%
· Isopentane: 20 mol%
· n-Pentane: 30 mol%
The distillate is to contain all of the propane fed to the unit
and 80% of the isopentane fed to the unit and is to consist
of 40% isobutane. The bottoms stream is to contain all the
normal pentane fed to the unit.
One ton of 30% w solution of Na2CO3 in water is
cooled slowly to 20oC. The carbonate precipitating out
forms crystals of Na2CO3∙10H2O. If the solubility of the
anhydrous Na2CO3 at 20oC is 21.5 lb/100 lb H2O, what
weight of Na2CO3∙10H2O crystallizes out? If during
cooling, 10% of the water originally present in the
solution is evaporated, what would by the weight of
the crystals formed?