Basic Chemical Engineering

Lecture - 3

Process & Process Variables

Process:
A process is any operation or series of operations by which a particular objective is accomplished. They can be of two types:
Chemical
Example : Chemical Dissolving, pH Balance, Softening of Hard Water

Physical
Example : Drying, Separation, Grinding, Crushing, Mixing

Input or Feed

Process Flow Diagram

Output or Product

Process Unit

Process Stream

Difference between Design & Operation

Design:
Design includes formulation of process flow sheet (layout) as well as specification of individual process units (such as reactors, separation equipment & heat exchangers) and associated process variables.

Operation:
Operation involves the day to day running of the process. The process and all the equipment must produce product at designated rate and with specified characteristics.

 Troubleshooting

Debottlenecking

Turn-down.

Quick Review
Density:

Specific Volume:

Quick Review
Specific Gravity:

Do it Yourself (DIY):
Example 3.1 1 Example 3.1 2

Process Variables
Flow Rate:

(DIY) Question 1 & 2, Pg. 47.

Process Variables
Composition of Mixtures:
Moles:
A gram mole of a specie is the amount of that specie whose mass in gram is numerically equal to its molecular weight. 34 kg NH3 = how much number of moles?

(DIY) Example 3.3 - 1

Process Variables
Molar Flow Rate Mass & Mole Fraction
Mass Fraction Mole Fraction

(DIY) Example 3.3 2 (DIY) Example 3.3 3

Process Variables
Concentration:
Mass Concentration: Mass of the component per unit volume of the mixture (g/cm3 , lbm/ft3) Mole Concentration: Moles of the component per unit volume of the mixture (kmol/m3 , lb-moles/ft3) Molarity Molar concentration of the solute expressed per liter of solution.

Process Variables
Pressure:
Pressure is force per unit area P = F/A = N/m2 = Pascal

Hydrostatic Pressure

Process Variables
Atmospheric Pressure Guage Pressure Absolute Pressure

Process Variables
Temperature:
Temperature of a substance is the measure of average kinetic energy possesed by the substance molecules.

It is measured in Celsius, Fahrenheit, Kelvin & Rankine

Process Variables
The following co-relations are used to interconvert temperature scales.

Process Variables
Example 3.5-2

(DIY) Convert the answers of above to Kelvin & Rankine.

Course Outline for BSc. Chemical Engineering

CHE116 Basic Chemical Engineering Introduction to chemical engineering: Introduction to Engineering Profession. Responsibilities and ethics for engineers. Role of chemical engineer. History of profession and future directions. Career opportunities in Chemical Engineering. Basic concepts of Chemical Engineering: Units and dimensions, conversion of units. Process variables; pressure, temperature, concentrations and Composition of mixtures. Material balances: Fundamentals of material balances; Program of analysis of material balance problems, material balance calculations, Balances on non reactive systems, balance on reactive systems and Processes, Recycle, By-pass and purge calculations, Case studies on balances for important industrial processes. Ideal gases, equations of state for real gases. The compressibility factor equation of state. Energy Balance: Concepts and units, Forms of energy: The first law of thermodynamics. Calculation of enthalpy changes. Applications of the general energy balance without reactions occurring. Ethics: Professional ethics: The ethics challenge and ethical case studies. Credit hours/ Contact Hours - 2