NOV/DEC 2007/PT 44 – Answer Key

PT 44 – PRINCIPLES OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

PART – A
1. Fourier’s law of heat conduction:
When there exist a temperature gradient within a body, heat energy will flow from the region of
high temperature to the region of low temperature. This phenomenon is known as conduction heat
transfer, and is described by Fourier's Law (named after the French physicist Joseph Fourier),

This equation determines the heat flux vector q for a given temperature profile T and thermal
conductivity k. The minus sign ensures that heat flows down the temperature gradient.
2. Natural convection:
Natural convection is caused by buoyancy forces due to density differences caused by temperature
variations in the fluid. At heating the density change in the boundary layer will cause the fluid to
rise and be replaced by cooler fluid that also will heat and rise. This continues a phenomenon is
called free or natural convection.
3. Counter flow in heat exchanger:
Both the shell side fluid and tube side fluid are flow in same direction.

4. Fick’s law of diffusion:

also,

Where:
• J is the flux
• D is the diffusivity constant of proportionality

• is the concentration gradient in the x-direction

• c is the concentration
• u1 is the velocity relative to a stationary plane
• u0 is the bulk fluid velocity

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5. Three types of impeller:

• Radial flow
• Mixed flow,
• Axial and peripheral flow.

6. Adsorption:
A component can be separated from a mixture if it selectively adsorbs onto a solid surface. This is the
basis of the adsorption unit process. Adsorbents are usually porous solids, and adsorption occurs
mainly on the pore walls "inside" particles.
7. Constant rate drying period:
• Drying rate is constant in time
• Removal of surface water
• Grain temperature is constant
• Energy used to evaporate water

8. Humidification:
• Humidification process may be carried out to control the humidity of a space or, more usually,
to cool and recover water by contacting it with low humidity air.
• The water that has lost heat to the atmosphere can then be reused in heat exchanger throughout
a plant. Alternatively, the water could be cooled in the surface heat exchanger.
• The choice is one of economics, with the designer balancing the loss of cooling water inherent
in the air- water contact cooler against the cost of supplying and handling the cooling source to
the surface cooler and the higher cost of surface units.

9. Dialysis:
A process for selectively removing low molecular weight solutes from a solution by allowing them
to diffuse in to region of lower concentration.

10.Laws used for crushing:

• Rittingers law
• Kicks law
• Bonds law

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PART B
11. (a) (i) Heat transfer by conduction: 8 Marks
• Conduction is the transfer of heat by direct contact of particles of matter.
• The transfer of energy could be primarily by elastic impact as in fluids or by free electron
diffusion as predominant in metals or phonon vibration as predominant in insulators.
• In other words, heat is transferred by conduction when adjacent atoms vibrate against one another,
or as electrons move from atom to atom.
• Conduction is greater in solids, where atoms are in constant contact. In liquids (except liquid
metals) and gases, the molecules are usually further apart, giving a lower chance of molecules
colliding and passing on thermal energy.
• Heat conduction is directly analogous to diffusion of particles into a fluid, in the situation where
there are no fluid currents.
• This type of heat diffusion differs from mass diffusion in behavior, only in as much as it can occur
in solids, whereas mass diffusion is mostly limited to fluids.
• Metals (eg. copper, platinum, gold, iron, etc.) are usually the best conductors of thermal energy.
This is due to the way that metals are chemically bonded: metallic bonds (as opposed to
covalent or ionic bonds) have free-moving electrons which are able to transfer thermal energy
rapidly through the metal.
• As density decreases so does conduction. Therefore, fluids (and especially gases) are less
conductive. This is due to the large distance between atoms in a gas: fewer collisions between
atoms means less conduction. Conductivity of gases increases with temperature.
• Conductivity increases with increasing pressure from vacuum up to a critical point that the density
of the gas is such that molecules of the gas may be expected to collide with each other before they
transfer heat from one surface to another.
• After this point in density, conductivity increases only slightly with increasing pressure and
density.
• To quantify the ease with which a particular medium conducts, engineers employ the thermal
conductivity, also known as the conductivity constant or conduction coefficient, k.
• In thermal conductivity k is defined as "the quantity of heat, Q, transmitted in time (t) through a
thickness (L), in a direction normal to a surface of area (A), due to a temperature difference (ΔT)
[...]." Thermal conductivity is a material property that is primarily dependent on the
medium's phase, temperature, density, and molecular bonding.

(ii) Steady and unsteady state in heat transfer: 4 Marks

Heat can be conducted between two bodies which are in contact with each other; heat "flows"
from one to the other.
• Materials which conduct heat well are called conductors of heat. Electrical
conductors (such as metals) are good conductors of heat.
• Materials which do not conduct heat well are called insulators. Electrical insulators
(for example, wood or glass) are usually good insulators of heat. Materials with low
density, such as air or foamed plastic, are normally also good insulators unless they happen
to be electrical conductors. To prevent heat from moving from one place to another, we
usually place an insulator between.

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(iii) Requirements of insulated bodies: 4 Marks

• The term thermal insulation can refer to materials used to reduce the rate of heat transfer,
or the methods and processes used to reduce heat transfer.
• Heat energy can be transferred by conduction, convection, radiation or by actual
movement of material from one location to another.
• Thermal insulation is the method of preventing heat from escaping a container or from
entering the container.
• In other words, thermal insulation can keep an enclosed area such as a building warm, or
it can keep the inside of a container cold.
• Heat is transferred by from one material to another by conduction, convection and/or
radiation. Insulators are used to minimize that transfer of heat energy.

(b) (i) Natural and Forced convection: 6 Marks

FILM CONCEPT

• Heat energy transferred between a surface and a moving fluid at different temperatures is known
as convection.
• In reality this is a combination of diffusion and bulk motion of molecules. Near the surface the
fluid velocity is low, and diffusion dominates.
• Away from the surface, bulk motion increases the influence and dominates.
Convective heat transfer may take the form of either
• forced or assisted convection
• natural or free convection

Forced or Assisted Convection

Forced convection occurs when a fluid flow is induced by an external force, such as a pump, fan or
a mixer.

Natural or Free Convection

Natural convection is caused by buoyancy forces due to density differences caused by temperature
variations in the fluid. At heating the density change in the boundary layer will cause the fluid to rise and
be replaced by cooler fluid that also will heat and rise. This continues phenomena are called free or
natural convection.
Boiling or condensing processes are also referred as a convective heat transfer processes.
• The heat transfer per unit surface through convection was first described by Newton and the
relation is known as the Newton’s Law of Cooling.
The equation for convection can be expressed as:

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q = k A dT
where
q = heat transferred per unit time (W)
A = heat transfer area of the surface (mo)
k = convective heat transfer coefficient of the process (W/m2K or W/m2oC)
dT = temperature difference between the surface and the bulk fluid (K or oC)

CONVECTIVE HEAT TRANSFER

Convective heat transfer is a mechanism of heat transfer occurring because of bulk motion (observable
movement) of fluids). This can be contrasted with conductive heat transfer, which is the transfer of energy
by vibrations at a molecular level through a solid or fluid, and radiative heat transfer, the transfer of
energy through electromagnetic waves.
As convection is dependent on the bulk movement of a fluid it can only occur in liquids, gases and
multiphase mixtures.

Natural convection

Natural convective heat transfer

• Papers lifted on rising convective air current from warm radiator

• When heat is transferred by the circulation of fluids due to buoyancy from the density changes
induced by heating itself, then the process is known as natural convection or free convection.
• Familiar examples are the upward flow of air due to a fire or hot object and the circulation of
water in a pot that is heated from below.
• For a visual experience of natural convection, a glass that is full of hot water filled with red food
dye may be placed inside a fish tank with cold, clear water.
• The convection currents of the red liquid will be seen to rise and also fall, then eventually settle,
illustrating the process as heat gradients are dissipated.

Onset of natural convection

• Natural convection occurs when a system becomes unstable and therefore begins to mix by the
movement of mass.
• A common observation of convection is of thermal convection in a pot of boiling water, in which
the hot and less-dense water on the bottom layer moves upwards in plumes, and the cool and more
dense water near the top of the pot likewise sinks.
The onset of natural convection is determined by the Rayleigh number (Ra). This dimensionless
number is given by

where
Δρ is the difference in density between the two parcels of material that are mixing
g is the local gravitational acceleration
L is the characteristic length-scale of convection: the depth of the boiling pot, for example

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D is the diffusivity of the characteristic that is causing the convection, and

μ is the dynamic viscosity.

(ii) Cross flow in heat exchanger: 4 Marks

• Cross flow, exists when one fluid flows perpendicular to the second fluid; that is, one fluid flows
through tubes and the second fluid passes around the tubes at 90° angle.
• Cross flow heat exchangers are usually found in applications where one of the fluids changes state
(2-phase flow).
• An example is a steam system's condenser, in which the steam exiting the turbine enters the
condenser shell side, and the cool water flowing in the tubes absorbs the heat from the steam,
condensing it into water.
• Large volumes of vapor may be condensed using this type of heat exchanger flow.

(iii) LMTD for heat exchanger: 6 Marks

Derivation

Assume heat transfer is occurring in a heat exchanger along an axis z, from generic coordinate A to B,
between two fluids, identified as 1 and 2, whose temperatures along z are T1(z) and T2(z).

The temperature differences are ΔT(A) at point A and ΔT(B) at point B, having defined ΔT(z)=T2(z)-T1(z).

Note that the direction of fluid flow does not need to be considered; it is also unimportant which stream is
the hot and which is the cold one, as a change of role will be represented by negative numbers. Since
LMTD is the average temperature difference of the two streams between A and B, it is defined by the
following formula:

Assumption
The rate of change of the temperature of the two fluids is proportional to the temperature difference
between them:

This gives:

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Where K=ka+kb.

We can now express dz as a function of ΔT:

Substituting this expression back into our formula for LMTD, we can remove dz from it:

K is constant and can be simplified. Integration is at this point trivial, and finally gives:

12. (a) Condenser: 16 marks

• Condenser is a device or unit used to condense a substance from its gaseous to its liquid state,
typically by cooling it. In so doing, the latent heat is given up by the substance, and will transfer
to the condenser coolant.
• Condensers are typically heat exchangers which have various designs and come in many sizes
ranging from rather small (hand-held) to very large industrial-scale units used in plant processes.
• For example, a refrigerator uses a condenser to get rid of heat extracted from the interior of the
unit to the outside air.
• Condensers are used in air conditioning, industrial chemical processes such as distillation,
steam power plants and other heat-exchange systems.
• Use of cooling water or surrounding air as the coolant is common in many condensers.
Example types of condensers
• A surface condenser is an example of such a heat-exchange system.
• It is a shell and tube heat exchanger installed at the outlet of every steam turbine in thermal power
stations.
• Commonly, the cooling water flows through the tube side and the steam enters the shell side
where the condensation occurs on the outside of the heat transfer tubes.
• The condensate drips down and collects at the bottom, often in a built-in pan called a hotwell. The
shell side often operates at a vacuum or partial vacuum, often produced by attached air ejectors.

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• In chemistry, a condenser is the apparatus which cools hot vapors, causing them to condense into
a liquid..
• Larger condensers are also used in industrial-scale distillation processes to cool distilled vapor into
liquid distillate. Commonly, the coolant flows through the tube side and distilled vapor through the
shell side with distillate collecting at or flowing out the bottom.
• A condenser unit used in central air conditioning systems typically has a heat exchanger section
to cool down and condense incoming refrigerant vapor into liquid, a compressor to raise the
pressure of the refrigerant and move it along, and a fan for blowing outside air through the heat
exchanger section to cool the refrigerant inside.
• A typical configuration of such a condenser unit is as follows: The heat exchanger section wraps
around the sides of the unit with the compressor inside.
• In this heat exchanger section, the refrigerant goes through multiple tube passes, which are
surrounded by heat transfer fins through which cooling air can move from outside to inside the
unit.
• There is a motorized fan inside the condenser unit near the top, which is covered by some grating
to keep any objects from accidentally falling inside on the fan.
• The fan is used to blow the outside cooling air in through the heat exchange section at the sides
and out the top through the grating.
• These condenser units are located on the outside of the building they are trying to cool, with tubing
between the unit and building, one for vapor refrigerant entering and another for liquid refrigerant
leaving the unit. Of course, an electric power supply is needed for the compressor and fan inside
the unit.
(b) Theories to find Mass transfer coefficient: 16 Marks
• Gas absorption operation involves mass transfer from the gas phase to the liquid phase.
• That means the gas molecules must diffuse from the main body of the gas phase to the gas-
liquid interface, then cross this interface into the liquid side, and finally diffuses from the
interface into the main body of the liquid.
• In the gas phase, 3 flow regimes can be visualized :
o Fully developed turbulent region where most of the mass transfer takes place by eddy
diffusion

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o A transition zone with some turbulence

o A laminar film with molecular diffusion
Such phenomena are difficult to analyze. Instead, we will use a simplified TWO-FILM THEORY as a
basis for analysis as well as development of various correlations of mass transfer phenomena.
Assumptions of two-film theory:
• Steady-state: concentrations at any position in the tower do not change with time.
• Interface between the gas phase and the liquid phase is a sharp boundary.
• Laminar film exist at the interface on both sides of the interface
• Equilibrium exists at the interface, thus there is negligible resistance to mass transfer across the
interface: (xi, yi) is the equilibrium concentration.
• No chemical reaction: rate of diffusion across the gas-phase film must equal the rate of diffusion
across the liquid-phase film.
13. (a) (i) Absorption tower: 10 Marks
ABSORPTION

• The separation of solute gases from gaseous mixtures of noncondensables by transfer into a
liquid solvent.
• This recovery is achieved by contacting the gas stream with a liquid that offers specific or
selective solubility for the solute gas or gases to be recovered.
• The operation of absorption is applied in industry to purify process streams or recover valuable
components of the stream.
• It is used extensively to remove toxic or noxious components (pollutants) from effluent gas
streams. See also Absorption.

The absorption process requires the following steps:

• Diffusion of the solute gas molecules through the host gas to the liquid boundary layer based on
a concentration gradient
• Salvation of the solute gas in the host liquid based on gas-liquid solubility
• Diffusion of the solute gas based on concentration gradient, thus depleting the liquid boundary
layer and permitting further salvation.
• The removal of the solute gas from the boundary layer is often accomplished by adding
neutralizing agents to the host liquid to change the molecular form of the solute gas.
• This process is called absorption.

PACKED BED

• A packed bed is a hollow tube, pipe, or other vessel that is filled with a packing material.

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• The packing can be randomly filled with small objects like Raschig rings or else it can be a
specifically designed structured packing.
• The purpose of a packed bed is typically to improve contact between two phases in a chemical or
similar process. Packed beds can be used in a chemical reactor, a distillation process, or
a scrubber, but packed beds have also been used to store heat in chemical plants.
• In this case, hot gases are allowed to escape through a vessel that is packed with a refractory
material until the packing is hot.
• Air or other cool gas is then fed back to the plant through the hot bed, thereby pre-heating the air
or gas feed.

TRAY TOWERS

• In the gas cooling/condensing/absorption operation, a vertical tower containing a number of

trays is often used to contact the hot gas with cooling liquid.
• Water is the most commonly used liquid for cooling/condensing application.
• The trays provide the intimate contact between the gas and the liquid where the interphase
energy and mass transfer take place.
• A certain type of tray, such as sieve, impingement or valve tray is selected to meet your
performance requirements.
• The hot gas is cooled by the liquid and, usually, with the simultaneous condensation of its
condensable component into the liquid.
• The liquid enters the tower at the top and flows downward by gravity. On the way, it flows
across each tray and through a downcomer to the tray below.
• The gas enters the tower near the bottom and is directed upwards through the openings of one
sort or another in the tray.
• It bubbles through the liquid to form froth (an intimate contacting zone), separates from the
liquid, and moves onto the next tray above.
• Overall, this is a multiple-staged countercurrent contact of gas and liquid, although it is a cross-
flow contact of the two on each tray.
• The cooled gas passes through a mist eliminator (typically a mesh pad or chevron type) to
remove most of its entrained liquid droplets and exits the tower at the top.
• The cooling liquid, now becoming hot liquid, flows to the sump of the tower or an external tank.
It can be discharged out of the system, or recycled back to the tower after it is cooled by a heat
exchanger.
• For a condenser operating in a recycling mode, a slip stream is normally bled off the liquid loop
to get rid of the condensate.

(ii) Packing’s used in absorption tower: 6 Marks

Ceramic Random tower packing
• Ceramic Intaloks Saddle Ring,
• Ceramic Super Intaloks Saddle Ring,
• Super Cascade Ring,

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• Ceramic Cascade Ring,

• Ceramic Pall Ring,
• Ceramic Cross-partition Ring,
• Ceramic Y Form Ring,
• Ceramic Conjugate Ring,
• Ceramic Raschig Ring,

(b) (i) Agitated Vessel: 8 Marks

• Agitated vessels are engineered and custom built with best-quality.

• It consists of a cylindrical shell with welded distend end at top and bottom either a flanged or
bolted distend end depending on process/customers requirements.
• An agitator of unique design is provided inside the vessels as per process/application.
• The vessels with heating and cooling arrangement totally enclosed with suitable agitator
provided which works at different temperatures and pressures.
• These agitated vessels are also designed for holding air, gases, and liquid under pressures in
various capacities ranging from 10 Liters to 5000 Liters.
• These agitated vessels are manufactured to suit the products.
• Material of construction for agitated vessel is in carbon steel, stainless steel of rubber lined.

(ii) Adsorption Tower: 8 Marks

A component can be separated from a mixture if it selectively adsorbs onto a solid surface. This is the
basis of the adsorption unit process. Adsorbents are usually porous solids, and adsorption occurs mainly
on the pore walls "inside" particles. Examples of adsorbents include:
• activated carbon (adsorbs organics)
• silica gel (adsorbs moisture)
• activated alumina (adsorbs moisture)
• zeolites and molecular sieves
• synthetic resins
Ideally, one would be able to construct a continuous countercurrent system, but moving solids is tricky.
Instead, most commercial applications use small particles of adsorbent in a fixed bed. Fluid passes down
through the bed (down instead of up to avoid fluidization) and components adsorb onto the solid. The
steps can be summarized:
1. solute diffuses through the fluid to an area near the solid particle surface
2. solute diffuses into the pores of the particle
3. solute diffuses to the pore wall
4. solute adsorbs to the pore wall surface
Ion exchange is a similar process; however, in this case ions create complexes with the solid instead of
adsorbing.
When a bed nears saturation, the flow is stopped and the bed is regenerated to cause desorption. The
adsorbate can thus be recovered and the adsorbent reused. Regeneration can be accomplished in several
ways, and these lead to the "cycle type":
• Temperature swing
• Pressure swing

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• Inert/Purge stripping
• Displacement Purge
Temperature swing is usually the slowest of these (since the bed has to heat/cool before reuse).

ADSORBENTS

CHARACTERISTICS AND GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

• Activated carbon is used as an adsorbent

• Adsorbents are used usually in the form of spherical pellets, rods, moldings, or monoliths with
hydrodynamic diameters between 0.5 and 10 mm.
• They must have high abrasion resistance, high thermal stability and small pore diameters, which
results in higher exposed surface area and hence high surface capacity for adsorption.
• The adsorbents must also have a distinct pore structure which enables fast transport of the gaseous
vapors.
Most industrial adsorbents fall into one of three classes:
• Oxygen-containing compounds – Are typically hydrophilic and polar, including materials such
as silica gel and zeolites.
• Carbon-based compounds – Are typically hydrophobic and non-polar, including materials such as
activated carbon and graphite.
• Polymer-based compounds - Are polar or non-polar functional groups in a porous polymer matrix.

14. (a) Fluid Bed Dryer 8 Marks

• Versatile Drying method (Batch or continuous type) used for drying of various types of solids
efficiently.
• It can also reduce the energy requirement of a spray drying plant when used as a second stage
dryer for production of instant quality powders.
• Fluid Bed Dryer comprises of a top fluidising chamber & a bottom air distribution chamber
separated by a specially designed perforated plate.
• The feed of wet materials is dried by intimate contact with hot air when the material is in a
fluidised state.
• A vibrating mechanism can be attached to give a forward motion cum agitation to the product at a
controlled rate.
• APPLICATIONS Mile Powder Detergents Lactose Cheese Powder Fruit Pellets Salt
Agglomerated Powders

Rotary Dryer 8 Marks

• In direct heat Rotary Dryers a continuous feed of wet paniculate material is dried by contact with
heated air, while being transported along the interior of a rotating cylinder, with the rotating shell
acting as the conveying device and stirrer.

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• SSP offers Rotary Dryers in co-current and counter current operation. In the former the wet
material is exposed to the hottest air which enables heat sensitive or sticky materials to be dried
successfully.
• In counter current operation dried material is exposed to the hotest air helping to achieve very low
moisture content.
• The hot gases may enter at the temperature of 16500 C.
• APPLICATIONS Ammonium Sulphate China clay Sodium sulphate Citric acid Mineral sand
Effluents etc

(b) Cooling Tower: 16 Marks

• Cooling towers are generally used for humidification operations.

• Cooling towers fall into two main sub-divisions: natural draft and mechanical draft.
• Natural draft designs use very large concrete chimneys to introduce air through the media.
• Due to the tremendous size of these towers (500 ft high and 400 ft in diameter at the base) they are
generally used for water flow rates above 200,000 gal/min.
• Usually these types of towers are only used by utility power stations.
• Mechanical draft cooling towers are much more widely used. These towers utilize large fans to
force air through circulated water.
• The water falls downward over fill surfaces that help increase the contact time between the water
and the air. This helps maximize heat transfer between the two.

15.(a) Rotary filter: 8 Marks

• Rotary vacuum filter drum consists of a drum rotating in a tub of liquid to be filtered.

• The technique is well suited to high solids liquids that would blind or block other forms of filter.
The drum is pre-coated with a filter aid, typically of diatomaceous earth (DE) or Perlite.

• After pre-coat has been applied, the liquid to be filtered is sent to the tub below the drum.

• The drum rotates through the liquid and the vacuum sucks liquid and solids onto the drum pre-
coat surface, the liquid portion is "sucked" by the vacuum through the filter media to the internal
portion of the drum, and the filtrate pumped away.

• The solids adhere to the outside of the drum, which then passes a knife, cutting off the solids and a
small portion of the filter media to reveal a fresh media surface that will enter the liquid as the
drum rotates. The knife advances automatically as the surface is removed.
Filter Press: 8 Marks

• A filter press is a liquid-solid separation device used to reduce the volume and weight of a slurry
waste or process stream by separating liquid filtrate and solid filter cake.
• This process is often referred to as dewatering.

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• The operation of a filter press is therefore a batch process. Depending on the particular application,
the filter press may be used to recover the solid particulate, the liquid stream, or both.
• The filter press accomplishes dewatering within a series of chambers into which process slurry is
pumped.
• Filtered liquid (filtrate) passes through filter cloths and exits the press leaving behind filtered
solids (filter cake).
• The filter press is then opened and the filter cake is discharged by gravity as each plate is shifted.

(b) Extraction: 16 Marks

• Liquid-liquid extraction, also known as solvent extraction and partitioning, is a method to

separate compounds based on their relative solubility’s in two different immiscible liquids,
usually water and an organic solvent.

• It is an extraction of a substance from one liquid phase into another liquid phase. Liquid-liquid
extraction is a basic technique in chemical laboratories, where it is performed using a separatory
funnel.

• This type of process is commonly performed after a chemical reaction as part of the work-up.

• In other words, this is the separation of a substance from a mixture by preferentially dissolving
that substance in a suitable solvent.

• By this process a soluble compound is usually separated from an insoluble compound. Solvent
extraction is used in nuclear reprocessing, ore processing, the production of fine organic
compounds, the processing of perfumes and other industries.

• Liquid-liquid extraction is possible in non-aqueous systems: in a system consisting of a molten

metal in contact with molten salt, metals can be extracted from one phase to the other.

• This is related to a mercury electrode where a metal can be reduced, the metal will often then
dissolve in the mercury to form an amalgam which modifies its electrochemistry greatly.

• For example it is possible for sodium cations to be reduced at a mercury cathode to form sodium
amalgam, while at an inert electrode (such as platinum) the sodium cations are not reduced.

• Instead water is reduced to hydrogen. A detergent or fine solid can be used to stabilize
an emulsion, or third phase.

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