Zaman University

Department of Civil Engineering

No. 8, St. 315, 12151 Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Chapter 3

Material Balances and Separations

Dr. BUNRITH SENG

Department of Civil Engineering, Zaman University

Mobile : +81 (0) 80 3259 9952

No. 8, St. 315, 12151 Phnom Penh, Cambodia

E-mail: seng.bunrith@gmail.com; bseng@itc.edu.kh

Material Balances and Separations

1. Material balances with a single material

2. Material balances with multiple materials

3. Material balances with reactor

Material Balances with a Single Material

One Inflow and One Outflow
X0

Influent
Mass per unit
time of X

IN

X1

Effluent

Mass per unit

time of X

OUT

X0 X1
The balance can be expressed in mass and volume.
Mass balance for Solids
Volume balance for Liquids

Material Balances with a Single Material (Cont.)

One Inflow and Two Outflows

X0

0
2

Mass per unit

time of X

IN

X1

X2

Mass per unit

time of X

OUT

X0 X1 X 2

The material X can be separated into more than two fractions, so

the material balance can be:
n

X0 Xi
i 1

n : number of exit streams

of effluents
4

Material Balances with a Single Material (Cont.)

Example: A city generates 102 tons/day of refuse, all of which goes

to a transfer station. At the transfer station the refuse is split into

four flow streams headed for three incinerators and one landfill. If
the capacity of the incinerators is 20, 50, and 22 tons/day, how much
refuse must go to the landfill?

Solution:

Mass IN Mass OUT

102 20 50 22 M
M 10 tons/day

Material Balances with a Single Material (Cont.)

Several Inflows and One Outflow

X1

X2

1
2
0

Xm

Xe

X X
i 1

Material Balances with a Single Material (Cont.)

Example: A trunk sewer, shown in bellowed figure has a flow

capacity of 4.0 m3/s. If the flow to the sewer is exceeded, it will not
be able to transmit all the sewage through the pipe, and backups will
occur. Currently, three neighborhoods contribute to the sewer, and
their maximum (peak) flows are 1.0, 0.5, and 2.7 m3/s. A builder wants
to construct a development that will contribute a maximum flow of 0.7
m3/s to the trunk sewer. Would this cause the sewer to exceed its
capacity?

Solution:

Volume/tim e IN Volume/tim e OUT

1.0 0.5 2.7 0.7 X e

X e 4.9 m3 / s
7

Material Balances with a Single Material (Cont.)

Complex processes with a single material

X in

X out
Reaction

The flow is not constant

Reaction taken place
- Some material produced
- Some material consumed

Mass/time

Mass/time Mass/time Mass/time Mass/time

ACCUMULATESD

IN
OUT
PRODUCED
CONSUMED

Rate of A

Rate of A Rate A Rate of A Rate of A

ACCUMULATESD
OUT PRODUCED CONSUMED
IN

Material Balances with a Single Material (Cont.)

At steady state condition (Constant flow) with reaction

Rate of A Rate A Rate of A Rate of A

0

IN
OUT
PRODUCED
CONSUMED

At steady state condition (Constant flow) with no reaction

Rate of A Rate A
0

0 0

IN

OUT
Rate of A Rate A

IN
OUT

Material Balances with a Single Material (Cont.)

Example: A sewer carrying storm

water to Manhole 1 has a constant

flow of 2000 L/min (QA). At Manhole

1 it receives a constant lateral flow

of 100 L/min (QB). What is the flow
to Manhole 2 (QC)?

Solution:
Rate of A

Rate of A Rate A Rate of A Rate of A

ACCUMULATESD
OUT PRODUCED CONSUMED
IN

QA QB QC 0 0

QC (2000 100) 2100 L/min

10

Material Balances with a Single Material (Cont.)

Make the process into the black box

11

Material Balances with a Single Material (Cont.)

What is the black box
of material balance?

Qp = 82x108 L/yr

12

Material Balances with a Single Material (Cont.)

Example: Suppose the rainfall is 102 cm/yr, of which 50% percolates

into the ground. The farmer irrigates crops using well water. Of the
extracted well water, 80% is lost by evapotranspiration; the remainder
percolates back into the ground. How much groundwater could a farmer
on a 8 km2 farm extract from the ground per year without depleting
the groundwater reservoir volume?

Check Your Answer

at Home!

Chapter 4, page 118

13

Material Balances with a Single Material (Cont.)

Step by Step Material Balance Procedure
1. Draw the system as a diagram, including all flows (inputs and outputs) as
arrows.
2. Add the available information, such as flow rates and concentrations. Assign
symbols to unknown variables.
3. Draw a continuous dashed line around the component or components that are
to be balanced. This could be a unit operation, a junction, or a combination of
these. Everything inside this dashed line becomes the black box.
4. Decide what material is to be balanced. This could be a volumetric or mass
flow rate.
5. Write the material balance equation by starting with the basic equation:
M ass or

M ass or M ass or M ass or M ass or

Volume Volume Volume Volume

Volume

Rate Rate

Rate
Rate
Rate

ACCUM ULATED
IN OUT PRODUCED CONSUM ED

6. If only one variable is unknown, solve for that variable.

7. If more than one variable is unknown, repeat the procedure, using a
different black box or a different material for the same black box.
14

Material balances with Multiple Materials

Mixing multiple material flow streams
Mass or

Mass or Mass or Mass or Mass or

Volume Volume Volume Volume

Volume

Rate Rate

Rate
Rate
Rate

ACCUMULATED
IN OUT PRODUCED CONSUMED

Example 1: The Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers meet at

Pittsburgh to form the mighty Ohio. The Allegheny, flowing south

through forests and small towns, runs at an average flow of 10 m3/s
and has a low silt load, 250 mg/L. The Monongahela, on the other hand,
flows north at a flow of 13 m3/s through old steel towns and poor farm
country, carrying a silt load of 1500 mg/L.
a. What is the average flow in the Ohio River?
b. What is the silt concentration in the Ohio?

15

Material balances with Multiple Materials (Cont.)

Step 1. Draw the system. The figure shows
the confluence of the rivers with the
flows identified.
Step 2. All the available information
is added to the sketch,
including the known and
unknown variables.

Ohio River

CA = 250 mg/L

PITTSBURGH

QO = ?
CO = ?

Step 3. The confluence of the rivers

is the black box, as shown by
the dashed line.
Step 4. Water flow is to be balanced
first.

Allegheny River
QA = 10 m3/s

Monongahela River
QM = 13 m3/s
CM = 1,500 mg/L

Allegheny River

Ohio River

QO = ?
CO = ?

QA = 10 m3/s
CA = 250 mg/s

Monongahela River
QM = 13 m3/s
CM = 1,500 mg/s

16

Material balances with Multiple Materials (Cont.)

Step 5. Write the balance equation:
Rate of water
Rate of water Rate of water Rate of water Rate of water

ACCUMULATED

PRODUCED CONSUMED
IN
OUT

Water Water
0
OUT 0 0
IN

0 10 13 QO 0 0

Step 6. Solve for the unknown

QO 23 m3 / s
Step 6. Repeat the procedure for the Mass Balance of silt

CO 969 mg / L

17

Material balances with Multiple Materials (Cont.)

Example 2: Suppose the sewers shown in figure below have QB = 0
and QA and QC are unknowns. By sampling the flow at the first manhole,

it is found that the concentration of dissolved solids in the flow coming

into Manhole 1 is 50 mg/L. An additional flow, QB = 100 L/min, is added

to Manhole 1, and this flow contains 20% dissolved solids. (Recall that 1%
= 10,000 mg/L.) The flow through Manhole 2 is sampled and found to contain
1000 mg/L dissolved solids. What is the flow rate of wastewater in the sewer

(QA)?

18

Material balances with Multiple Materials (Cont.)

Solution:
Step 1. Draw the diagram.
Step 2. Add all information, including
concentrations.
Step 3. Manhole 1 is the black box.
Step 4. What is to be balanced? If the flows
are balanced, there are two unknowns.
Can something else be balanced?
Suppose a balance is run in terms of the
solids?
Step 5. Write the material balance for solids.
Solids
Solids

Solids Solids Solids

ACCUMULATED
IN OUT PRODUCED CONSUMED

0 QAC A QBCB QCCC 0 0

19

Material balances with Multiple Materials (Cont.)

mg
L
mg
mg

0 QA (50
) (100
)(200,000
) QC (1000
)
L
min
L
L

(a)

Step 6. Solve for unknown. (Skip)

Step 7. Balance of the Volume Flow Rate
Volume

Volume Volume Volume Volume

ACCUMULATED
IN OUT PRODUCED CONSUMED

0 QA QB QC 0 0
0 QA 100 QC

(b)

(a) & (b) QC = 21.05 L/min and QA = 20.95 L/min

20

Material Balances with Multiple Materials (Cont.)

Example 3: Estimate the concentration of SO2 in the urban air
above the city of St. Louis if the mixing height above the city is 1210
m, the width of the box perpendicular to the wind is 105 m, the average
annual wind speed is 15,400 m/hr, and the amount of sulfur dioxide
discharged is 6242 108 g/yr.

Answer
C = 38 g/m3

6242 x 108 g/yr

21

Material Balances with Multiple Materials (Cont.)

Separating multiple-material flow streams

22

Material Balances with Multiple Materials (Cont.)

Binary Separator

Recovery

Efficiency
EWS

x1 y2

x0 y0

1/ 2

100

x1 y1
ER 100
x0 y0
EWS: Worrell-Stessel efficiency
ER : Rietema efficiency

Rx1

x1
100
x0

Ry1

y1
100
y0

Purity
Px1

x1
100
x1 y1

Py2

y2
100
x2 y2

23

Material Balances with Multiple Materials (Cont.)

Example: Assume that an aluminum can separator in a local recycling

plant processes 400 cans/min. The two product streams consist of the
following:
Total in Feed

Product Stream 1

Product Stream 2

Aluminum cans/min

300

270

30

Steel cans/min

100

100

Calculate the recovery of aluminum cans and the purity of the product.

Solution:

0 IN OUT 300 (270 30)

0 0

OK

R Al cans1

270
100 90%
300

High recovery

PAl cans1

270
100 100%
270 0

Perfect purity
24

Material Balances with Multiple Materials (Cont.)

Example: Suppose a thickener in a metal plating plant receives a feed

of 40 m3/hr of precipitated metal plating waste with a suspended

solids concentration of 5000 mg/L. If the thickener is operated in a
steady state mode so that 30 m3/hr of flow exits as the overflow, and
this overflow has a solids concentration of 25 mg/L, what is the
underflow solids concentration, and what is the recovery of the solids
in the underflow?

Solution:

25

Material balances with Multiple Materials (Cont.)

Volume balance
Volume

Volume Volume Volume Volume

ACCUMULATED
IN OUT PRODUCED CONSUMED

0 40 (30 Qu ) 0 0

Qu 10 m3 / hr
Mass balance (Solids)

0 CiQi Cu Qu (COQO ) 0 0

0 5000 mg / L(40 m3 / hr ) Cu .10 m3 / hr (25 mg/L)(30 m3 / hr )

Cu 19,900 mg/L
26

Material Balances with Multiple Materials (Cont.)

Recovery of solids

C u Qu
Ru
100
Ci Qi

19,900mg / L 10m3 / hr 100

Ru
99.5%
3
5,000mg/L 40m / hr

99.5% of solids are drained through the underflow

27

Material Balances with Multiple Materials (Cont.)

Example: Calculate the efficiencies for the following data, using the
Worrell-Stessel and Rietema formulas.

Feed
Product Stream 1
Product Stream 2
(tons/day)
(tons/day)
(tons/day)
Organics/Inorganics Organics/Inorganics Organics/Inorganics
Air Classifier 1

80/20

72/6

8/14

Air Classifier 2

80/20

76/8

4/12

Solution:
Air classifier 1
1/ 2

72 14
EWS 100 79%
80 20
72 6
ER 100 60%
80 20

Air classifier 1
1/ 2

76 12
EWS 100 75%
80 20
76 8
ER 100 55%
80 20

28

Material Balances with Multiple Materials (Cont.)

Polynary Separator
Recovery
x11
Rx1 1
100
x10
Purity
Px1 1

x11
100
x11 x21 xn1

Efficiency
1/ n
x11 x22 x33
xnn
EWS

100
xn 0
x10 x20 x30

ER1

x1n
x11 x12 x13

100
x10 x20 x30
xn 0

29

Material balances with Multiple Materials (Cont.)

Complex processes with multiple materials

Q0=4 L/min

30

Material Balances with Reactors

Example: An activated sludge system has an influent (feed) of

440L/s at a suspended solids concentration of 50 mg/L. The waste

activated sludge flow rate is 9 L/s at a solids concentration of 1.2%.
The effluent (discharge) has a solids concentration of 20 mg/L. What
is the yield of waste activated sludge in kg per day, or in other words,
what is the rate of solids production in the system? Assume steady
state.

Q1=440 L/min

31

Material Balances with Reactors (Cont.)

Solution:
1st Balance: Volume

0 440 9 QE 0 0

Q1=440 L/s

QE 431 L/s

QW=9 L/s

2st Balance: Suspended solids

Solids
Solids

Solids Solids Solids

ACCUMULATED
IN OUT PRODUCED CONSUMED

0 Q1C1 QECE QW CW X 0

0 440 50 431 20 9 12,000 X

X 94620 mg/s 8,200 kg/d

X: Rate of solids
produced in the
reactor
32