Chemical Process Principles

(CLB 10904 / CLB 12004)

Chapter 1 (Part 2):
Basic Concepts
1.4 Process Variables

MARMY ROSHAIDAH MOHD SALLEH

 Processes
&
Process Variables
Evaluation of performance of process operation
requires the knowledge of the amounts,
composition, conditions of materials that enter
and leave each process units.

This chapter presents methods of

calculating variables that characterize the
operation of processes and individual
2
process units.
 Processes
Process Process
Input/Feed Unit Output/Product Unit Output/Product

 Process- any operation that cause a

physical or chemical change in a
substance. Can consist of several
process unit.
 Process streams connecting process
units and form the process flow sheet.
3
 Process Variables
• The quantities used to describe a process
and these must be measured and computed.

PROCESS ‘Products’
‘’Feed’
INPUT OUTPUT

• To design or analyze a process, we need to

know the amounts, compositions, and
conditions of materials entering, leaving
and within the process.
4
 Process Variables
Process Variables

Density and
Specific Gravity Chemical
Composition

Flow rate

Temperature
Pressure
5
 Density & Specific Volume
1. Density ()
 Mass per unit volume of a substance.
 Density of a substance can be used as
conversion factor to relate the mass and
the volume of the substances.
 Unit: g/cm3; kg/m3; lbm/ft3.

2. Specific Volume (v)

 Volume per unit mass of a substance.
 Inverse of density (1/ ).
6  Unit: cm3/g; m3/kg; ft3/lbm
 Example 1
 The density of CCl4 is 1.595 g/cm3; what is the
a) Mass of 20 cm3 of CCl4

1.595g
20cm ´
3
= 31.9g
cm3

b) Volume of 6.20 lbm of CCl4

453.593g cm3
6.20lbm ´ ´ = 1760cm3

1lbm 1.595g

7
 Specific Gravity (SG)
 Ratio of the density () of a substance to the density of a
reference (ref) substance at a specific condition:

r r = SG ´ r
SG =
r REF
ref

 Density of water at 4˚C is used as the reference density;

ref = H2O(l) (4˚C) = 1.000 g/cm3

= 1000 kg/m3
= 62.43 lbm/ft3
 SG is dimensionless. To get the density of a substance,
multiply the SG value with the reference density, ref.
8
 Check Your Understanding 2
A liquid has a SG of 0.50. Find;
a) Density in g/cm3
1g g
0.50 ´ 3 = 0.50 3
cm cm

62.43lbm lbm
a) Density in lbm/ft3 0.50 ´ = 31.215
ft 3 ft 3

1000kg kg
a) Density in kg/m3 0.50 ´ = 500 3
m 3
m
9
 Check Your Understanding 2
A liquid has a SG of 0.50. Find;
a) Mass for 3 m3 of the liquid volume

500kg
3m ´
3
=1500kg
m 3

b) Volume occupied by 18 lbm of this liquid

ft3
18lbm ´ = 0.577 ft 3

31.215lbm

10
 Flow Rate
 Continuous process involve movement of materials
from one point to another with certain rate.
 Flow rate: The amount of material that moves into or
out of a process unit per unit time.
 Flow rate can be expressed as :
 = Mass/Time (kg/s, g/min, lbm/hr)
◦ Mass flow rate, m
◦ Volumetric flow rate, Q = Volume/Time (m3/s, ft3/hr)
◦ Molar flow rate, = Moles/Time (mol/hr, lbmol/min)

11
 Flow Rate
• We can relate between Volumetric flow rate, Q
(Volume/Time) with Mass flow rate, (Mass/Time)
using Density,  (Mass/Volume)

• Example: Calculate the mass flow rate in kg/hr if

given a liquid with SG 20.0 and volumetric flow rate
of 12 m3/hr.
m æ 20.0 ´1000kg ö
3
12 ´ ç ÷ = 240,000kg / hr
1 hr è m3
ø
2
  Flow meter is a device mounted
in a process line that provides a
continuous reading of the flow
rate in the line.
 Two commonly used flow meter
are rotameter and orifice meter.

13
 Flow Meter

Orifice meter
(based on pressure drop)

Rotameter
14 (vertical tube containing a float)
 Pressure
 A pressure is the ratio of a force to the area
on which the force acts (P= F/A).
 Pressure units: N/m2, dynes/cm2, lbf /in2, psi,
and Pa.
Absolute
Pressure,
Pabsolute
Atmospheric Gauge
Pressure, Pressure,
Patmospheric Pgauge

Pressure
15
 Atmospheric, Absolute
& Gauge Pressure
 The Atmospheric Pressure, Patmospheric can
be thought of as the pressure at the base of
a column of fluid (air) located at the point of
measurement (e.g. at sea level).
 A typical value of the atmospheric pressure
at sea level, 760.0 mm Hg, has been
designated as a standard pressure of 1
atmosphere.

16
 Atmospheric, Absolute
& Gauge Pressure
• Absolute Pressure, Pabsolute is gauge pressure plus
atmospheric Pressure.
• Gauge Pressure, Pgauge is the pressure relative to the
atmospheric pressure at measurement point.
• Relationship between absolute pressure and gauge
pressure is:

Pabsolute  Pgauge  Patmopheric

• The abbreviation psia and psig are commonly used to
represent absolute and gauge pressure in lbf / in2
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 Fluid Pressure Measurement
Common pressure measurement devices: Bourdon gauge and
manometer.
 Manometer: U-shaped tube partially filled with fluid of known
density.
 Bourdon gauge: Hollow tube closed at one end and bent into
a C configuration.

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 Temperature
 Temperature of a substance in a particular state of
aggregation (solid, liquid, or gas) is a measure of
the average kinetic energy possessed by the
substance molecules.
 Example of temperature measuring devices:
Resistance thermometer(based on the
resistance of a conductor),
thermocouple (voltage at the junction of 2
dissimilar metals)
pyrometer (spectra of emitted radiation) and
thermometer (volume of a fixed mass of fluid).
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 Temperature and
Temperature Interval (ΔT)
1. The following relationship may be used to convert a temperature
expressed in one defined scale unit to its equivalent in another
unit
T ( K ) = T ( C) + 273.15
o

T ( o R) = T ( o F) + 459.67
T ( o R) = 1.8T (K )
T ( o F) = 1.8T ( oC) + 32
2. We can use these conversion factor for temperature intervals, ΔT.
These conversion actor refer to temperature intervals, ΔT, NOT
temperature, T.
o o o o
1.8 F 1.8 R 1 F 1 C
o
; o ; o ; o
20 1C 1 K 1 R 1 K
 …
Example 3
1. Convert the interval between 50 oF and 100 oF in oC

1oC
DT ( C) = (100 - 50) F ´ o = 27.78 oC
o o

1.8 F
1. Convert 50 oF to oC,

From : T ( o F ) = 1.8T ( oC) + 32

50 = 1.8T ( oC) + 32
Therefore,T ( C) = 10 C
o o

2
1
 Chemical Composition
Chemical
Composition

Moles and
Molecular Weight
Concentration

Mass and
Mole Fractions
Parts per Million (ppm)
& Part per Billion (ppb)

Average
Molecular Weight

22
 Moles & Molecular Weight
 Atomic weight - mass of an atom based on
carbon isotope 12C.
 Molecular weight (MW) - Sum of the atomic
weights of atoms that represent a molecule of
the compound.
 Atomic Oxygen (O) has an atomic weight of
16.0 but a molecular oxygen gas (O2) has a
molecular weight of 16.0+16.0 = 32.0

23
 Moles & Molecular Weight
1. A gram-mol (gmol, or mol in SI units), n is the amount of a
species (atom or molecule) whose mass in grams is
numerically equivalent to its molecular weight.
2. In addition, we have other types of moles: kg-mole (kmol),
and lb-mole (lbmol).
3. If the molecular weight (MW) of a substance is M, then we
can define it as M kg/kmol or M g/mol or M lbm/lbmol of this
substance.
4. MW can be used as a conversion factor that relates the
mass, m and the no. of moles, n of a quantity of the
substance.

mæ g kg lbm ö
MW = ç or or ÷
24 n è mol kmol lbmol ø
 Example 4
1. 34 kg of NH3 is equivalent to how many kmole?
Given MW NH3 = 17.0
kmol
nNH 3 = 34kg ´ = 2.0kmol
17.0kg

1. How many Ibmol in 72 lbm of NH4NO3.

Given MW: N=14.0, H=1.0, O=16.0
lbm lbm
MWNH 4 NO3 = 14 + (1´ 4) +14 + (16 ´ 3) = 80
lbmol lbmol
lbmol
nNH 4 NO3 = 72lbm ´ = 0.9bmol
25
80lbm
 Mass and Mole Fraction
 Process input or output streams can contain mixtures of
liquids or gases, solutions of one or more solutes in a
solvent.
 Need mass fraction and mole fraction to define the
compositions. Remember that mass fraction is NOT
EQUAL to mole fraction
 Mass fraction, xA
mass of A æ kg A gA lbm A ö
xA = ççUnits : or or ÷÷
total mass è kg total g total lbm total ø
 Mole fraction, yA
moles of A æ kmol A mol A lbmol A ö
yA = çUnits : or or ÷
total moles è kmol total mol total lbmol total ø
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 Example 5
A mixture of gases has the following composition:
16 wt% O2, 4 wt% CO,17 wt% CO2 and N2.
What is the mass fraction of this mixture in kg/kg total?
Subsequently calculate the mass of O2 if given the total mass of
the mixture as 1500 kg.
Solution:
0.16kgO2 0.04kgCO 0.17kgCO2
xO 2 = ; xCO = ; xCO 2 =
kgtotal kgtotal kgtotal
0.63kgO2
x N 2 = (1- 0.16 - 0.04 - 0.17) =
kgtotal
0.16kgO2
mO 2 = ´1500kgtotal = 240kgO2
kgtotal
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 Example 6
A mixture of gases has the following composition:
30 mol% O2, 44 mol% CO,7 mol% CO2 and N2.
What is the mole fraction of this mixture in kmol/kmol total.
Subsequently calculate the total moles of the mixture in kmol if
given the no of moles of CO2 = 12 kmol
Solution:
0.30kmolO2 0.44kmolCO 0.07kmolCO2
yO 2 = ; yCO = ; yCO 2 =
kmoltotal kmoltotal kmoltotal
0.19kmolO2
y N 2 = (1- 0.30 - 0.44 - 0.07) =
kmoltotal
kmoltotal
nTotal = 12kmolCO2 ´ = 171.43kmoltotal
0.07kmolCO2
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 Mass and Mole Fraction
4 steps to convert from mass fraction, x to mole fractions, y:
• Determine the total mass of the mixture. If its not given then assume the
total mass of the mixture as the basis of calculation (e.g. 100 kg or 100
lbm).

• Use the known mass fractions to calculate the mass of each component
in the basis quantity.

• Convert these masses to moles using respective molecular weight, MW.

• Calculate the ratio of the moles of each component to the total number
of moles in the mixture.

29
 Example 7

A mixture of gases has the following

mass composition:
O2 16 wt% (MW 32)
CO 4 wt% (MW 28)
CO2 17 wt% (MW 44)
N2 63 wt% (MW 28)
What is the molar composition if given the total
mass of the mixture 1500 g?

30
 Solution
From question: The mass composition is O2 (16 wt%), CO (4
wt%), CO2 (17 wt%) and N2 (63 wt%). Total mass of the mixture
1500 g.
Solution:
1. Determine the weight of each of the compounds.
Comp. Mass Fraction, xi Mass (g)
O2 16 wt% = 0.16 0.16 x 1500 = 240
CO 4 wt% = 0.04 0.04 x 1500 = 60
CO2 17 wt% = 0.17 0.17 x 1500 = 255
N2 63 wt% = 0.63 0.63 x 1500 = 945
Total 1.00 1500g
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 Solution
2 Determine the no. of moles of each compound using MW
and subsequently the total no. of moles of the mixture.
3 Determine the mole fraction for each compound
molO2 7.5molO2 molO2
mO 2 = 240gO2 ´ = 7.5molO2 yO 2 = = 0.15
32gO2 49.2moltotal moltotal
molCO = 15mol%
mCO = 60gCO ´ = 2.1molCO
28gCO 2.1molCO molCO
yCO = = 0.04
molCO2 49.2moltotal moltotal
mCO 2 = 255gCO2 ´ = 5.8molCO2
44gCO = 4mol%
molCO 5.8molO2 molCO2
mN 2 = 945gN 2 ´ = 33.8molN 2 yCO 2 = = 0.12
28gCO 49.2moltotal moltotal
Total no. of moles = 12mol%
= (7.5 + 2.1+ 5.8 + 33.8) = 49.2moltotal 33.8molN 2 molN 2
yN 2 = = 0.69
49.2moltotal moltotal
= 69mol%
32
 Mass and Mole Fraction
4 steps to convert from mole fraction, y to mass fractions, x:
• Determine the total moles of the mixture. If its not given then assume the
total mole of the mixture as the basis of calculation (e.g. 100 kmol or 100
mol).

• Use the known mole fractions to calculate the moles of each component
in the basis quantity.

• Convert these moles to masses using respective molecular weight, MW.

• Calculate the ratio of the mass of each component to the total number of
mass in the mixture.

33
 Example 8
A mixture of gases has the following
composition:
O2 40 mol% (MW: 32)
CO 44 mol% (MW: 28)
CO2 7 mol% (MW 44)
N2 9 mol% (MW 28)
What is the mass composition if given the total
moles of the mixture 200 kmol?
(Ans: 42 wt% O2, 40 wt% CO, 10 wt% CO2 and 8 wt% N2)
34
 Average Molecular Weight M
 Mean molecular weight of a mixture (g/mol, kg/kmol,
lbm/lbmole).
 If yi is the mole fraction of the component i of the
mixture and Mi is the molecular weight of this
component:
M = y1M 1 + y2 M 2 +..... = å yi M i
all component

 If xi is the mass fraction of the component i of the

mixture and Mi is the molecular weight:
x1 x2 xi
+..... = å
1
= +
35 M M1 M 2 all component M i
 Example 9
Example: Determine the average molecular weight of refinery waste gas
component. The analysis is given as: CH4 (78.0 mol%), C2H6 (10.0 mol%),
C3H8 (8.0 mol%), and C4H10 (4.0 mol%).

Use the known Sum all the

Determine total no. of moles of Convert these
mole fractions and masses and
the mixture. If it its not given, moles to mass
molecular weights to divided by the
assume basis of calculation using the
calculate the mass of total moles of
for the mixture (e.g. 100 mol) molecular weight.
each component. mixture.

Lets assume basis of 100 kmol total mixture and MW unit in kg and kmol
mol. MW
Comp. Moles (kmol) Weight (kg) Therefore,
% (kg/kmol)
CH4 78.0 78.0% x 100 = 78.0 16.0 78.0 kmol x 16.0 kg/kmol = 1248 kg 2133kg
C2H6 10.0 10.0% x 100 = 10.0 30.1 10.0 kmol x 30.1 kg/kmol = 301 kg M=
C3H8 8.0 8.0% x 100 = 8.0 44.1 8.0 kmol x 44.1 kg/kmol = 352 kg
100kmol
C4H10 4.0 4.0% x 100 = 4.0 58.1 4.0 kmol x 58.1 kg/kmol = 232 kg = 21.33kg / kmol
TOTAL 100.0 100.0 kmol 2133 kg
3
366
 Example 10
Example: Determine the average molecular weight of refinery waste gas
component. The analysis is given as: CH4 (78.0 wt%), C2H6 (10.0 wt%), C3H8
(8.0 wt%), and C4H10 (4.0 wt%). Given total mass of the mixture 200 g

Use the known Sum all the

Determine total mass of the Convert these
mass fractions and moles and
mixture. If it its not given, mass to moles
molecular weights to divided by the
assume basis of calculation using the
calculate the moles of total mass of
for the mixture (e.g. 100 g) molecular weight.
each component. the mixture

Given total mass of the mixture 200g and MW unit in g and mol
MW
Comp. wt.% Mass (g) Moles (mol)
(g/mol) Therefore,
CH4 78.0 78.0% x 200 = 156.0 16.0 156.0 g x (mol/16.0g) = 9.75 mol 200g
C2H6 10.0 10.0% x 200 = 20.0 30.1 20.0 g x (mol/30.1g) = 0.66 mol M=
C3H8 8.0 8.0% x 200 = 16.0 44.1 16.0 g x (mol/44.1g) = 0.36 mol 10.91mol
C4H10 4.0 4.0% x 200 = 8.0 58.1 8.0 g x (mol/58.1g) = 0.14 mol = 18.33g / mol
TOTAL 100.0 200.0 g 10.91 mol
3
377
 Concentrations
= • Moles of component per unit volume of
Molar solution. moles of A
concentration • Unit : mol/m , Ibmol/ft
3 3 C A =
Volume of mixture

• Mass of component per unit volume of

Mass solution. mass of A
• Unit : g/cm , Ibm/ft , kg/in A
3 3 3 c 
concentration Volume of mixture

• Molar concentration in units mol/liter

• Symbol "M”. E.g. 10.5 M solution of LiBr in
Molarity water. moles of A
•=
Molarity 
Volume of mixture in Liter
3
838
 Concentrations
= REMEMBER:
We can convert between mass flow rate (e.g.
kg/hr, g/min, lbm/s) to molar flow rate (e.g.
mol/hr, kmol/min, lbmol/s) to volumetric flow rate
(e.g. m3/min, ft3/hr) by using specific gravity, SG
and molecular weight, MW.

3
939
 = Example 11
Example: Given liquid acetone flows into a process unit at a
rate of 1.25 m3/min. Given SG 0.791 and MW 58.08. Calculate
1. Mass flow rate of acetone in kg/s
Solution:
1.25m3 æ 0.791´1000kg ö 1min kg
mH 2SO4 = ´ç ÷´ = 16.48
min è m 3
ø 60s s

2. Molar flow rate of acetone in lbmol/min

1.25m3 æ 0.791´ 62.43lbm ö 1 ft 3 lbmol lbmol

nH 2SO 4 = ´ç ÷ ´ ´ = 37.53
min è ft 3 ø 0.028317m 58.08lbm
3
min

4
040
 Parts per Million (ppm)&
Parts per Billion (ppb)
 To express the concentrations of trace species in
mixtures of gases or liquids.
 May refer to mass ratios (usual for liquids) or mole
ratios (usual for gases).
 How many parts (in gram or moles) of the species are
present per million or billion parts of the mixture.
ppmi= yi x 106
ppbi = yi x 109
Example: Suppose air in the vicinity of a power plant is said to contain
15 ppm SO2 (15 parts per million sulfur dioxide). This statement means
that every million moles of air contains 15 moles of SO2.
41
 Homework!
Attempt Tutorial 1:
Processes And Process
Variables (Part 2)
42
 QUESTION 1
A man and his dog are walking on a glacier. The man is wearing
snowshoes, the dog is not. The glacier can support a pressure of
at most a pound per square inch before the snow will collapse.
The man weighs 80 kg, each snowshoes has a surface area of
150 in2, the dog weighs 640 ounces and each of his paws has a
surface area of 40 cm2. Will the dog and or the man fall through
the glacier?
QUESTION 2
You are trying to decide which of two automobiles to buy. The first
is American made, costs $8000 and has a rated gasoline mileage
of 13 miles/gal. The second car is of European manufacture,
costs $23,000 and has a rated gasoline mileage of 60 miles/gal. If
the costs of gasoline is $1.25/gal and if the cars actually deliver
their rated mileage, how many miles you would have to drive to
recover the cost difference between the two cars.
43
 QUESTION 3
A gaseous mixture of CO, CO2, CH4 and N2 is analyzed with a gas chromatograph. The
output appears on a strip-chart recorder as shown here (Figure 1).

FIGURE 1

For each of the three species, the area under the peak is approximately proportional
to the number of moles of the indicated substance in the sample. From other
information, it is known that the molar ratio of methane (CH4) to nitrogen is 0.200.

i. Calculate the mole fractions of the four species in the gas.

ii. Calculate the average molecular weight of the gas

44
 QUESTION 4

At 25oC, an aqueous solution containing 35.0 wt% H2SO4 has a specific gravity
of 1.2563. A quantity of the 35% solution is needed that contains 195.5kg of
H2SO4.

i. Calculate the required volume (L) of the solution using the given specific
gravity.

ii. Estimate the percentage of error that would have resulted if pure-
component specific gravities of H2SO4 = 1.8255 and water had been used
for the calculation instead of the given specific gravity of the mixture.

45
46
Dr. Kelly YTL (Sep 2014)
47
Dr. Kelly YTL (Sep 2014)