PROCESS CALCULATIONS

Units and Dimensions A measured quantity has a value and a unit. The measured quantity doesnt
make sense unless you mention the units. A dimension is a property that can be measured such as
length, time, temperature, mass or by multiplying other dimensions. (Refer to pg-8, Felder Elementary
Principles of Chemical Processes)

Conversion of units To convert a quantity expressed in one unit to its equivalent in another unit,
multiply the given quantity by conversion factor (pg-9, Felder Elementary Principles of Chemical
Processes ).

Dimensional Homogeneity Only quantities with same dimensions can be added or subtracted.

Process date representation and analysis The operation of any chemical process is ultimately based on
the measurement of process variables-temperature, pressure, flow rates, concentrations, and so on. It is
sometimes possible to measure these variables directly, but, as a rule, indirect techniques must be used.
(Refer to pg-22, Felder Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes)

Head of a particular fluid that is, as the height of a hypothetical column of this fluid that would exert
the given pressure at its base if the pressure at the top were zero.

The total pressure at a point is called absolute pressure. 0 absolute pressure corresponds to perfect
vacuum. Gauge pressure is the pressure relative to atmospheric pressure. 0 gauge pressure corresponds
to atmospheric pressure.

Pabsolute = Pguage + Patmospheric

(Refer to pg-56, Felder Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes)

Fluid pressure measurement (Refer to pg-57-60, Felder Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes)

Process classification- Chemical processes may be classified as batch, continuous or semibatchand as

either steady or transient. Before writing material balance we must into which of these categories the
process falls. (Refer to pg-84, Felder Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes)

A balance on a conserved quantity (total mass, mass of a particular component, energy, momentum) in
a system(a single process unit, a collection of units, or an entire process) may be written in the following
way :-

Input + Generation = Output + Consumption + Accumulation

Types of balance: - There are 2 types of balances. They may be written as:-
1.) Differential balance Balance that indicates what is happening in the system at a given instant
of time.
 2.) Integral balance Balance that indicates what happens between two instants of time. (Refer to
pg-86 , Felder Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes)

Balance for continuous steady state process Input + Generation = Output + Consumption

Balance for Batch process - Initial Input + Generation = Initial Output + Consumption

Material Balance Calculations- Here we outline a procedure for reducing a description of a set of
equations that can be solved for unknown process variables
1) Flowcharts It is essential to organize the information in a flowchart of the process which is
convenient for subsequent calculations.
2) Flowchart Scaling and Basis of Calculation The procedure of changing the values of all stream
amounts or flow rates by a proportional amount while leaving the stream compositions
unchanged is referred to as scaling the flowchart. A basis of calculations is an amount
or flow rate of one stream or stream component in a process
3) Balance a Process
4) Degree-of-Freedom Analysis -= number of unknown number of equations
(Refer to pg-90 , Felder Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes)
General Procedure for Single-Unit Process Material Balance Calculations-
1) Choose as a basis of calculation an amount or flow rate of one of the process streams
2) Draws a flowchart and fill in all known variable values, including the basis of calculation. Then
label unknown stream variables on the chart.
3) Express what the problem statement asks you to determine in terms of the labeled variable.
4) If you are given mixed mass and mole units for a stream, convert all quantities to basis.
5) Do the degree-of-freedom analysis
6) If the number of unknowns equals the number of equations relating them, write the equations
in an efficient order and circle the variables for which you will solve.
7) Solve the equalities
8) Calculate the quantities requested in the problem statement if they have not already been
calculated.
9) If a stream quantity was given in the problem statement and another value was either chosen as
a basis or calculated for this stream, scale the balanced process by taking the ratio to obtain the
final result.
(Refer to pg-102 , Felder Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes)

Balance on Multiple-Unit Process Draw the flowchart first. In multiple-unit processes, we have to
isolate and write balances on several on several subsystems of the process to obtain enough equations
to determine all unknown stream variables. When analyzing multiple-unit processes, carry out degree-
of-freedom analyses on the overall process and on each subsystem. (Refer to pg-104, Felder Elementary
Principles of Chemical Processes).

Extraction-Distillation Process - (Refer to pg-107 , Felder Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes)

Recycle stream is used for the following purposes
1) Recovery of catalyst
2) Dilution of process stream
3) Control of a process variable
4) Circulation of a working fluid

Balance on Reactive Process (Refer to pg-125 , Felder Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes)

Purging- To prevent the buildup of a portion of a recycle stream must be withdrawn as a purge stream
to rid the process of the substance in question. (Refer to pg-138 , Felder Elementary Principles of
Chemical Processes)

Volume fraction A quantity va /V is the volume fraction of A inn the mixture, and 100 times this
quantity is the percentage by volume (%v/V) of this component. (Refer to pg-198 , Felder Elementary
Principles of Chemical Processes)

Va=yaV
Equations of state for non-ideal gases-(Refer to pg-200 , Felder Elementary Principles of Chemical
Processes)
Law of Corresponding States and Compressibility charts-(Refer to pg-207 , Felder Elementary Principles
of Chemical Processes)

Phase Diagrams A phase diagram of a pure substance is a plot of one system variable against another
that shows the conditions at which the substance exists as a solid, a liquid and a gas. -(Refer to pg-242 ,
Felder Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes)

Claperyon equation -

(Refer to pg-243 , Felder Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes)

Antoine equation -
(Refer to pg-244 , Felder Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes)

Gibbs phase rule (Refer to pg-248, Felder Elementary Principles of Chemical

Processes)
Bubble point and Dew point (Refer to pg-262, Felder Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes)

Solubility - (Refer to pg-264, Felder Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes)

Adsorption on solid surfaces (Refer to pg-248, Felder Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes)

Energy Balance for closed systems - (Refer to pg-318, Felder Elementary

Principles of Chemical Processes)

Energy balance on open system at steady state - (Refer to pg-324, Felder

Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes)

State properties The values of these properties do not depend on the path by which the system
reaches that state. (Refer to pg-360, Felder Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes)