The Balance Equation and The

Mass Balance
Chapter 3
General balance equation, Average velocity, Velocity
), Steady-state,
y
,
distribution,, The mass balance),
Unsteady-state balances, Mass balances for mixtures.

The General Balance Equation

q

A balance is a method of accounting for something (here mass or

material).

General Balance:
IN - OUT + GENERATION - CONSUMPTION = ACCUMULATION

Input

Process unit

Output

EXAMPLE
EXAMPLE:
26 students signed up [IN]
3 added [GENERATION]
1 dropped [CONSUMPTION]
no incompletes [ACCUMULATION]
What is the number that finishes the course [OUT]?
[
]

Mass and Volume Flow Rates

Mass flow rate: The amount of mass flowing through a cross section per unit time
Denoted by
y

A fluid flows into or out of a control volume, usually through pipes or ducts

Consider a differential surface dAc; a differential

mass flow rate of fluid flowing across a small area
element dAc, in a cross section of the pipe is
proportional to dAc itself,
itself the density ,
and the
component of the flow velocity normal to dAc,
which is denoted as Vn. This is expressed as:

m = Vn dA
.

The mass flow rate through the entire crosssectional area of a pipe or duct:

m = m = Vn dAc
.

Velocity Distribution and Average velocity

In general compressible flow, both and Vn vary across the pipe; however,
in many application is constant over the pipe cross section. Thu, we can take
outside the integral.
g

Velocity, however, is never uniform over a

cross section of a pipe; i.e. no slip condition

The velocity varies from zero at the wall to

some maximum value at or near the
centerline of the pipe.
pipe

Average velocity is defined as:

Vavg

1
= Vn dAc
AA

where Ac is the area of the cross section normal

to the flow direction

if speed were Vavg all through the cross section, the mass flow rate would
be identical to that obtained by integration of the velocity profile

Thus, for incompressible flow or even for

compressible flow where is uniform across Ac:

m = Vavg Ac
.

(kg/s)

Volume flow rate: The volume of the fluid fowing through a cross section per unit
time, denoted as Q, and is given by:

Q = Vn dAc = Vavg Ac = VAc

(m3/s)

The mass and volume flow rates are related by:

m = Q

Example
p
A typical self-service gasoline pump puts 15 gal of fuel into our tank in 2
min The inside diameter of the nozzle is 1.0
min.
1 0 in.
in What are the volumetric
flow rate, mass flow rate, and average velocity?

The Mass Balance

The conservation of mass principle for a
control volume can be expressed as:

The net mass transfer to or from a

control volume during a time interval
t is equal to the net change (increase
or decrease) of the total mass within
the control volume during t. That is,
Total mass entering Total mass leaving Net change of mass

the CV during t the CV during t within the CV during t

min mout = mCV

.
dmCV
.
This can also expressed in rate form as: min m out =
dt
.
dmCV
.
m mout =
For more than one inlet or outles:

dt
in
out
O
Or,

Mass
Balance

The Steady-State Balance

During a steady-flow process, the total amount of
mass contained within a control volume does not
change with time (mCV = constant)
Total mass entering = total mass leaving

Example: Steady flow of water through garden hose nozzle

dmCV

=0
dt
The conservation of mass principle for a general steady-flow system with
multiple
p inlets and outlets is expressed
p
in rate as:

m = m
.

in

out

out

The Steady-State Flow, One Dimensional Mass Balance

Many engineering devices such as nozzles, diffusers, turbines, compressors,
and pump involve single stream (only one inlet and one outlet.
For such cases, the inlet state denoted by the subscript 1 and the outlet state
by the subscript 2, and the summation is dropped in this case
I other
In
h words,
d the
h single
i l stream steady-flow
d fl mass balance
b l
i
is:
.

m1 = m 2

1V1 A1 = 2V2 A2

Special case: Incompressible Flow

In this case 1 = 2

V1 A1 = V2 A2

Example
In a natural-gas pipe line at station 1 the pipe diameter is 2 ft and the
flow conditions are 800 psia, 60oF, and 50 ft/s. At station 2 the pipe
di
diameter
t is
i 3 ft andd the
th flow
fl conditions
diti
are 500 psia,
i 60oF,
F what
h t is
i
the velocity at station 2? What is the mass flow rate?

Example
Water is
i flowing
fl i in
i a pipe.
i At point
i 1 the
h iinside
id diameter
di
is
i 0.25 m
and the velocity is 2 m/s. What are the mass flow rate and the
volumetric flow rate? What is the velocity at point 2 where the
inside diameter is 0.125?

Unsteady-State Mass Balance

Characteristics of steady and unsteady-state processes are compared below:

Examples
Power p
plant operation
p
Start up and shutdown
Unsteady-state
Unstead state mass balances do not introduce
introd ce ant new
ne ideas beyond
be ond those
seen so far; but generally lead to more complicated mathematics

Example
A 4-ft high, 3-ft-diameter cylindrical water tank whose top is open to the
atmosphere is initially filled with water. Now the discharge plug near the
bottom of the tank is p
pulled out, and a water jjet whose diameter is 0.5 in
stream. The average velocity of the jet is approximated as V = (2gh)1/2,
where h is the height of water in the tank measured from the center of the
hole (a variable) and g is the gravitational acceleration. Determine how long
it takes for the water to drop to 2 ft from the bottom

Example
The microchip diffusion furnace shown in the drawing contains air, which may
be considered an ideal gas. The vacuum pump is pumping air out prior to
beginning
g
g the thermal diffusion set up.
p Duringg the p
pumpp out p
process the
heating coils in the tank hold the temperature in the tank constant at 68oF.
The volumetric flow rate at the inlet of the pump, independent of the
pressure, is 1.0 ft3/min. How long does it take the pressure to fall from 1 atm
to 0.0001 atm

Example
In the previous example, we considered a vacuum system with zero leak. No
real vacuum systems are totally leak-free; engineers work very hard to keep
the leakage
g rate as low as p
possible. If the tank in the p
previous example
p has a
leak of 0.0001 lbm/min of air, what will be the pressure-time look like, and
what will be the final pressure?

Mass Balances for Mixtures

In this case, more than one streams are involved in the flowing process,
where the summation in the mass balance equation is considered.

Example
A pa
paint sshop
op uses a spec
special
a pa
paint that
a co
contains
a s be
benzene
e e as a so
solvent.
ve . In thee cou
course
se
of an 8-h day the paint evaporates 5 kg (22 lb) of benzene (q = 5 kg/hr). The
shop dimensions are 10 m 4 m 4m. To protect the health of workers, the
concentration of benzene in the shop air is limited to less than or equal to the
industrial hygiene standard for benzene, which is 1.3 mg/m3. If it is required to
keep the concentration c of benzene in the shop at or below this permitted
concentration how large a flow of ventilating air must be supplied?
concentration,

JUST
Department of Chemical Engineering

Fluid Mechanics ChE 343

1-14

Problem Solving
g