UNIVERSITY OF MAURITIUS

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING

SECOND SEMESTER/YEARLY EXAMINATIONS MAY 2008 PROGRAMME MODULE NAME DATE TIME NO. OF QUESTIONS SET BEng (Hons) Chemical and Environmental Engineering - Level 3 Chemical Process Design 15 May 2008 09.30-12.30 MODULE CODE DURATION NO. OF QUESTIONS TO BE ATTEMPTED CHE 3202(5) 3 Hours

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES There are 2 Sections in this paper: Section A and Section B. Section A consists of 1 Question. Answer Question 1 COMPULSORY Section B consists of 3 Questions. Answer ANY TWO (2) Questions. Figure 1.0, Figure 3.0 are enclosed.

CHEMICAL PROCESS DESIGN CHE 3202(5)

SECTION A
Question ONE (1) from this Section is compulsory. Question 1
Instant coffee is produced via the flowsheet in Figure 1.0 (see appendix). Roasted ground coffee is charged with hot water to a large percolator in which water-soluble material is extracted. The extract is spray dried to produce the product, and the wet grounds are partially dewatered prior to disposal at landfill or by incineration. For simplicity, the coffee is assumed to consist of solubles, insolubles, and no water. The standard charge consists of 1.2 kg water per kg of coffee.

As a reasonable approximation, it may be assumed that the solubles to water ratio in the two streams leaving the percolator is the same. Similarly for the separator and the press, but not for the drier. (a) (i) Given the above information and the indicated compositions, is the problem specified? [10 marks] Formulate material balance equations to represent any special relations as described in the problem statement [6 marks]

(ii)

(iii) Suggest a solution strategy to the problem if you are to calculate F7 [4 marks] (b) Suppose we are not interested in streams 3,4 and 5 so that the percolator, separator, and mixer can be lumped into a single black box. Calculate the flow from the cyclone separator to the press ( F 7) [10 marks] Calculate the ratio of solubles recovered to solubles lost in the waste streams. [10 marks]

(c)

[40 marks]

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CHEMICAL PROCESS DESIGN CHE 3202(5)

SECTION B
Answer ANY TWO (2) Questions. Question 2
(a) In the distillation column, an equimolar mixture of ethanol, propanol, and butanol is separated into an overhead stream containing 66.67 % ethanol and no butanol and a bottom stream containing no ethanol. Calculate the overhead and bottoms streams and compositions for a feed rate of 1000 mol/h.

Overhead

E 2/3 P 1/3 B 0

Feed
E 1/3 P 1/3 B 1/3

Distillation column

Bottoms
Figure 2.0

E0 P B

[30 marks]

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CHEMICAL PROCESS DESIGN CHE 3202(5)

Question 3

In designing equipment for manned space missions, considerable attention must be devoted to the supply of air, water and food as well as disposal of respiratory and bodily waste. In such a closed-life support system , carbon dioxide and water from respiration and urine are reprocessed for reuse as shown in Figure 3.0 (see appendix). The food input represented as C2H2 is consumed via the reaction

C2H2 + 5/2 O2

2CO2 + H2O

The respiration products are separated by condensation of the H2O, and the remaining waste gas containing an N2-to-CO2 ratio of about 1:100 is reacted to produce water via the reaction

CO2 + 4H2

CH4 + 2H2O

The condensed H2O is routed to a cell in which O2 and H2 are produced by electrolysis: H2O H2 + O2

In order to maintain a normal cabin atmosphere, enough N2 is mixed with the O2 so as to obtain a cabin air feed containing 25% O2. Since some of the N2 is lost with the vent gas, N2 must be added to the system from a cache. Assume that the organism requires 7.5 mol O2 per 1 mol C2H2 for the metabolism and that 10% of the H2O produced by oxidation of food is recovered from urine. The system is based on 1mol/day of C2H2. (a) (b) (c) Perform a degree of freedom analysis over the problem State whether it is correctly specified. Suggest a complete solution strategy to the problem if you were to analyse all the flows and compositions. [30 marks]

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CHEMICAL PROCESS DESIGN CHE 3202(5)

Question 4 The ethylene oxide reactant used in glycol production is made by partial oxidation of ethylene with an excess of the air over a catalyst. The primary reaction is

2C2H4 + O2

2 C2H4O

Unfortunately, some of the ethylene also undergoes complete oxidation to CO2 and water via the reaction

C2H4 + 3O2

2CO + 2H2O

Suppose that with the feed containing 10% ethylene and an ethylene conversion of 25%, a yield of 80% oxide is obtained from this reactant. Calculate the flow rate of ethylene oxide at the reactor outlet stream. [30 marks]

END OF QUESTION PAPER

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