Covenant University

KM. 10 Idiroko Road, Canaan Land, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria

Department of Chemical Engineering

CHE 320: Chemical Engineering Process II

Part B: Energy Balances on Reactive Processes
Part C: Fuels & Combustion

DR. (MRS) T.E OLADIMEJI

 Part B: Energy Balances on Reactive Processes

(i) General Procedures - Heat of Reaction /Formation

Method

(ii) Processes with Unknown Outlet Conditions: Adiabatic

Reactors

(iii) Thermochemistry of Solutions

 General Procedures
• Energy balance calculations on a reactive system is
similar to nonreactive systems. The steps are as
follows;
(a) draw and label a flowchart;
(b) use material balances and phase equilibrium
relationships such as Raoult’s law to determine as many
stream component amounts or flow rates as possible;
(c) choose reference states for specific enthalpy (or
internal energy) calculations and prepare and fill in an
inlet–outlet enthalpy (or internal energy) table;
•(d)  calculate or , substitute the calculated value in
the appropriate form of the energy balance equation,
and complete the required calculation.
• Two methods are commonly used to choose
reference states for enthalpy calculations and to
calculate specific enthalpies and We outline the
two approaches below, using a propane
combustion process to illustrate them.
• For simplicity, the material balance calculations
for the illustrative process have been performed
and the results incorporated into the flowchart.
Example 1
Example
Example
Example
Example
Example
 Example

• Thus, 19,700kW of heat must be transferred

from the reactor to maintain the product
temperature at 300oC. If less heat were
transferred, more of the heat of reaction
would go into the reaction mixture and the
outlet temperature would increase.
 Processes with Unknown Outlet Conditions:
Adiabatic Reactors

In the reactive systems we have looked at so far, the inlet and

outlet conditions were specified and the required heat input
could be determined from an energy balance.

In another important class of problems, the input conditions,

heat input, and product composition are specified, and the outlet
temperature is to be calculated. To solve such problems you must
evaluate the enthalpies of the products relative to the chosen
reference states in terms of the unknown final temperature, and
then substitute the resulting expressions into the energy balance
( Q = ΔΗ, or ΔΗ = 0 for an adiabatic reactor) to calculate Tout.
Class Problem
 Simultaneous Material and Energy Balances

Another class of problems involves processes for which the

heat input and outlet temperature are specified but the
extent of reaction and product composition are not.
Solving such problems requires the simultaneous solution
of material and energy balance equations, as the next
example illustrates.
 Example

The ethanol dehydrogenation reaction of the last example is carried out with the feed
entering at 300oC. The feed contains 90.0 mole% ethanol and the balance acetaldehyde
and enters the reactor at a rate of 150 mol/s. To keep the temperature from dropping
too much and thereby decreasing the reaction rate to an unacceptably low level, heat is
transferred to the reactor. When the heat addition rate is 2440 kW, the outlet
temperature is 253oC. Calculate the fractional conversion of ethanol achieved in the
reactor.
 Part C:Fuels and Combustion

(i) Fuels and their Properties/ Heating Values

(ii) Adiabatic Flame Temperature
(iii) Flammability and Ignition
(iv) Flames and Detonations
 FUELS & COMBUSTION
• The use of heat generated by a combustion reaction to
produce steam, which drives turbines to produce
electricity, may be the single most important commercial
application of chemical reactions.

• The analysis of fuels and combustion reactions and

reactors has always been an important activity for
chemical engineers. In this section, we review the
properties of the fuels most often used for power
generation and outline techniques for energy balances on
combustion reactors.
 FUELS & COMBUSTION
• The use of heat generated by a combustion reaction to
produce steam, which drives turbines to produce
electricity, may be the single most important commercial
application of chemical reactions.

• The analysis of fuels and combustion reactions and

reactors has always been an important activity for
chemical engineers. In this section, we review the
properties of the fuels most often used for power
generation and outline techniques for energy balances on
combustion reactors.
 Fuels and Their Properties
Fuels burned in power-plant furnaces may be solids, liquids, or gases. Some of the more common
fuels are:
Solid Fuels: Principally coal (a mixture of carbon, water, noncombustible ash, hydrocarbons, and
sulfur), coke (primarily carbon—the solid residue left after coal or petroleum is heated, driving off
volatile substances and decomposing hydrocarbons), and to a small extent wood and solid waste
(garbage).

Liquid Fuels: Principally hydrocarbons obtained by distilling crude oil (petroleum); also coal tars and
shale oil. There is also a strong worldwide interest in the use of alcohols obtained by fermenting
grains.

Gaseous Fuels: Principally natural gas (80% to 95% methane, the balance ethane, propane, and small
quantities of other gases); also light hydrocarbons obtained from petroleum or coal treatment,
acetylene, and hydrogen (the latter two are relatively expensive to produce).
 Heating values
• Higher Heating Values
• Lower Heating Values
 Example
• The analytical chemist at Alade & Makanjuola
Gas Company finds the composition (in % by
volume) of a fuel gas to be 9.2% CO2, 0.4%
C2H4, 20.9% CO, 15.6% H2, 1.9% CH4, and
52.0% N2. What should the chemist report as
the higher heating value in kJ/g?
Adiabatic Flame Temperature
Assignment