Tank with Varying Concentration and Volume, Problem 2

A solution of 10% by weight caustic is being used for a caustic washing process. A 10,000 gallon
surge tank is being used to equalize concentrations. The discharge rate from the tank is a constant
1,500 gallons per hour. The tank initially contains 8,000 gallons at 10% caustic, when an upset occurs,
and the inlet concentration drops to 5% by weight at an inlet flow rate of 1,000 gallons per hour.
Assume constant density for the mixtures. The mixture is considered outside the specification below
9.2% by weight caustic. When does this occur?

1,500 gal/hr
Outline 1,000 gal/hr C(t)
5% Caustic Vt=0=8,000 gal
These problems have a typical solution outline Ct=0=0.10
C(t)
1) Perform material balance on tank
2) Get 1st-order Differential Equation in terms of mass
3) Get volume as a function of time (V decreases in this example)
4) Solve differential Equation

Material Balance Notation

Change in NaOH = NaOH in - NaOH Out [lb/hr] C -Concentration [lb/lb]

D - density [lb/gal]
dMc t - time
 Qi iCi QooCo V - Volume [gallons]
dt Q - Flow [gal/hr]
M - Mass [lbs]
Since, MC = DC(t)V(t) and Co = C(t)
subscripts
d (C V ) i - in
o  Qi  i Ci  Qo  o C o - out
dt c - caustic
Assuming constant density, D cancels out. Using the
product rule, we get:

dV(t ) dC(t ) Notice both V and C vary with time.

C V   Qi Ci  Qo C
dt dt
Get an V(t) from the overall material balance for the tank.

V(t) = 8000 - (1500-1000).t = 8000 - 500.t

V'(t) = -500 by differentiation

Substituting for the variables in the differential equation above

dC(t )
 500C (t )  (8000  500t )  (1000)(0.05)  1500  C (t )
dt
 dC (50  1000C )

dt (8000  500t )

The differential equation is solved by Runge-Kutta on the next page

Runge Kutta Method

Change Function click here to insert a different function

Activate Function Activates the change by using the function once

Initial Condition
at t= 0 , C(t) = 10.00%

h= 0.083333 increment t by these hours (5 minutes in this example)

n t C(t) dC(t)/dt k1 k2 k3 k4
(hours) (%)
0 0.000 10.00% -0.00625 -0.00052 -0.00052 -0.00052 -0.00052
1 0.083 9.95% -0.00622 -0.00052 -0.00052 -0.00052 -0.00052
2 0.167 9.90% -0.00618 -0.00052 -0.00051 -0.00051 -0.00051
3 0.250 9.84% -0.00615 -0.00051 -0.00051 -0.00051 -0.00051
4 0.333 9.79% -0.00612 -0.00051 -0.00051 -0.00051 -0.00051
5 0.417 9.74% -0.00609 -0.00051 -0.00051 -0.00051 -0.00050
6 0.500 9.69% -0.00605 -0.00050 -0.00050 -0.00050 -0.00050
7 0.583 9.64% -0.00602 -0.00050 -0.00050 -0.00050 -0.00050
8 0.667 9.59% -0.00599 -0.00050 -0.00050 -0.00050 -0.00050
9 0.750 9.54% -0.00596 -0.00050 -0.00050 -0.00050 -0.00049
10 0.833 9.49% -0.00592 -0.00049 -0.00049 -0.00049 -0.00049
11 0.917 9.44% -0.00589 -0.00049 -0.00049 -0.00049 -0.00049
12 1.000 9.39% -0.00586 -0.00049 -0.00049 -0.00049 -0.00049
13 1.083 9.35% -0.00583 -0.00049 -0.00048 -0.00048 -0.00048
14 1.167 9.30% -0.00579 -0.00048 -0.00048 -0.00048 -0.00048
15 1.250 9.25% -0.00576 -0.00048 -0.00048 -0.00048 -0.00048
16 1.333 9.20% -0.00573 -0.00048 -0.00048 -0.00048 -0.00047
17 1.417 9.15% -0.00570 -0.00047 -0.00047 -0.00047 -0.00047
18 1.500 9.11% -0.00566 -0.00047 -0.00047 -0.00047 -0.00047
19 1.583 9.06% -0.00563 -0.00047 -0.00047 -0.00047 -0.00047
20 1.667 9.01% -0.00560 -0.00047 -0.00047 -0.00047 -0.00046

Runge Kutta Results

10.20%
10.00%
Conc. by wt.

9.80%
9.60%
9.40%
9.20%
9.00%
8.80%
0.000 0.500 1.000 1.500 2.000
time (hours)
Solution: The concentration of 9.2% occurs at 1 hour and 20 minutes.