NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
FACULTY OF INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY
BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING (HONS) DEGREE
ECE 1101 Process Engineering Fundamentals Tutorial 4
Material Balances with recycle and purge
1. Suppose that an ideal gas at 300 K and 200 kPa is enclosed in a cylinder by a
frictionless (ideal) piston, and the gas slowly forces the piston so that the volume of
gas expands from 0.1 to 0.2 m3 as shown in Figure 1. Calculate the work done by
the gas on the piston (the only part of the system boundary that moves) if two
different paths are used to go from the initial state to the final state.
Path A: The expansion occurs at constant pressure (isobaric) (p = 200 kPa).
Path B: The expansion occurs at constant temperature (isothermal) (T = 300 K).
2. Toluene reacts with H2 to form benzene (B), but a side reaction occurs in which
a byproduct, diphenyl (D), is formed:
The process is shown in Figure 2.1. Hydrogen is added to the gas recycle stream to
make the ratio of H2 to CH4 1 to 1 before the gas enters the mixer. The ratio of H2 to
toluene entering the reactor at G is 4H2 to 1 toluene. The conversion of toluene to
benzene on one pass through the reactor is 80%, and the conversion of toluene to the
by-product diphenyl is 8% on the same pass.
1
Figure 2.1
Calculate the moles of RG and moles of RL per hour.
3. Explain what bypassing means in words and also with a diagram.
4. Indicate whether the following statements are true or false:
a. Purge is used to maintain a concentration of a minor component of a process
stream below some set point so that it does not accumulate in the process.
b. Bypassing means that a process stream enters the process in advance of the feed
to the process.
c. A trace component in a stream or produced in a reactor will have negligible effect
on the overall material balance when recycle occurs.
4. Is the waste stream the same as a purge stream in a process?