Chemical Engineering Mathematics

1. A tank holds 100 gal of a water-salt solution in which 4.0 lb of salt are dissolved. Water runs
into the tank at the rate of 5 gal/min and salt solution overflows at the same rate. If the
mixing in the tank is adequate to keep the concentration of salt in the tank uniform at all
times, how much salt is in the tank at the end of 50 min? Assume that the density of the salt
solution is essentially the same as that of water.

2. An equilibrium still is purifying benzene and toluene from a small amount of essentially non-
volatile impurity and is initially charged with 20 lbmoles of feed stock of composition xF =
0.32 mole fraction benzene. Feed is supplied at the rate of 10 lbmoles/hr, and the heat input is
adjusted so that the total moles of liquid in the still remain constant at 20. Estimate the time
required for the composition of overhead product yD to fall to 0.40 mole fraction benzene. No
liquid stock is removed from the still during this period.

3. A tank contains 2 m3 of water. A stream of brine containing 20 kg/m3 of salt is fed into the
tank at a rate of 0.02 m3/s. Liquid flows from the tank at a rate of 0.01 m3/s. If the tank is
well agitated, what is the salt concentration in the tank when the tank contains 4 m3 of brine?

4. Suppose that you have two tanks in series, as shown below. The volume of liquid in each
tank remains constant because of the design of the overflow lines. Assume that each tank is
filled with a solution containing 10 lb of A, and that each tank contains 100 gal of aqueous
solution of A. If freshwater enters at the rate of 10 gal/hr, what is the concentration of A in
each tank at the end of 3 hr? Assume complete mixing in each tank and ignore any change of
volume with concentration.

5. A sewage disposal plant has a big concrete holding tank of 100,000 gal capacity. It is three-
fourths full of liquid to start with and contains 60,000 lb of organic material in suspension.
Water runs into the holding tank at the rate of 20,000 gal/hr and the solution leaves at the rate
of 15,000 gal/hr. How much organic material is in the tank at the end of 3 hr?
6. A small still is separating propane and butane at 135°C and initially contains 10 kg mol of a
mixture whose composition is x = 0.30 (x = mole fraction butane). Additional mixture (xF =
0.30) is fed at the rate of 5 kg mol/hr. If the total volume of the liquid in the still is constant,
and the concentration of the vapor from the still (xD) is related to xS as follows:

how long will it take for the value of xS to change from 0.3 to 0.4? What is the steady-state
(“equilibrium”) value of xS in the still (i.e., when xS becomes constant)?

7. Consider the continuous extraction of benzoic acid from a mixture of benzoic acid and
toluene, using water as the extracting solvent. Both streams (acidic mixture and water) are
fed into a tank where they are stirred efficiently and the mixture is then pumped into a second
tank where it is allowed to settle into two layers. The upper organic phase and the lower
aqueous phase are removed separately. Derive the expression to determine what proportion
of the acid has passed into the solvent phase.

8. Water containing 0.5 kg of salt per liter (L) is poured into a tank at a rate of 2L/min, and the
well-stirred mixture leaves at the same rate. After 10min, the process is stopped and fresh
water is poured into the tank at a rate of 2L/min, with the new mixture leaving at 2L/min.
Determine the amount (kg) of salt in the tank at the end of 20 min if there were 100L of pure
water initially in the tank.

9. A 300-gallon container is 2/3 full of water containing 50 pounds of salt. At time t = 0

minutes, valves are turned on so pure water is added to the container at the rate of 3 gallons
per minute. If the well-stirred mixture is drained from the container at the rate of 2 gallons
per minute, how many pounds of salt are in the container when it is full?

10. Initially the tank contains 200-gallon of pure water. At time t = 0, a brine solution of 3
pounds of salt per gallon of water is added to the container at the rate of 4 gallons per minute,
and the well-stirred mixture is drained from the container at the same rate. Find the number
of pounds of salt in the container as a function of time.

11. At time t = 0, a 480 gallon tank is half full of a brine solution containing 2 pounds of
dissolved salt per gallon of water. A brine solution of 1 pound of salt per gallon of water is
pumped into the tank at the rate of 4 gallons per minute. The contents of the tank are kept
uniform by stirring, and the resulting mixture is pumped out of the tank at 2 gallons per
minute. How many pounds of dissolved salt are in the tank when the tank becomes full?

12. A 120-gallon tank initially contains 90 lb of salt dissolved in 90 gal of water. Brine
containing 2 lb/gal of salt flows into the tank at the rate of 4 gal/min and the well-stirred
 mixture flows out of the tank at the rate of 3 gal/min. How much salt does the tank contain
when it is full?

13. At time t = 0, the tank contains 50 gallons of brine with a concentration of 5 lbs. of salt per
gallon. Pure water is added at the rate of 10 gallons per minute while the well-mixed solution
is drained out, also at 10 gallons per minute. When does the tank contain exactly 100 lbs. of
salt?

14. Consider a tank with a 500 L capacity that initially contains 200 L of water with 100 kg of
salt in solution. Water containing 1 kg of salt/L is entering at a rate of 3 L/min, and the
mixture is allowed to flow out of the tank at a rate of 2 L/min. Determine the amount (kg) of
salt in the tank at any time prior to the instant when the solution begins to overflow.
Determine the concentration (kg/L) of salt in the tank when it is at the point of overflowing.

15. Oil initially at 60 °F is being heated in a stirred (perfectly mixed) tank by saturated steam
which is condensing in the steam coils at 40 psia. The rate of heat transfer is given by
Newton’s heating law. How long does it take for the discharge from the tank to rise from 60
°F to 90 °F?
Motor horsepower = 1 hp; efficiency is 0.75
Initial amount of oil in tank = 5000 lb
Entering oil flow rate = 1018 lb/hr at a temperature of 60 °F
Discharge oil flow rate = 1018 lb/hr at a temperature of T
h = 291 Btu/(hr)(°F)
Cpoil = 0.5 Btu/(lb)(°F)

16. A closed kettle of total surface area A m2 is heated through this surface by condensing steam
at temperature Ts 0C. The kettle is charged with M kg of liquid of specific heat C J/kg 0C at a
temperature of T0 0C. If the process is controlled by a heat transfer coefficient h W/m2 0C,
how does the temperature of the liquid vary with time?

17. A cylindrical tank 5 ft in diameter and 5 ft high is full of water at 70 °F. The water is to be
heated by means of a steam jacket around the sides only. The steam temperature is 230°F,
and the overall coefficient of heat transfer is constant at 40 Btu/(hr)(ft2)(°F). Use Newton’s
law of cooling (heating) to estimate the heat transfer. Neglecting the heat losses from the top
and the bottom, calculate the time necessary to raise the temperature of the tank contents to
170°F.
18. Repeat Problem 17, taking the heat losses from the top and the bottom into account. The air
temperature around the tank is 70°F, and the overall coefficient of heat transfer for both the
top and the bottom is constant at 10 Btu/(hr)(ft2)(°F).

19. Consider an engine that generates heat at a rate of 8530 Btu/min. Suppose this engine is
cooled with air, and the air in the engine housing is circulated rapidly enough so that the air
temperature can be assumed uniform and is the same as that of the outlet air. The air is fed to
the housing at 6.0 lb-mol/min and 65 0F. Also, an average of 0.20 lb-mol of air is contained
within the engine housing and its temperature variation can be neglected. If heat is lost from
the housing to its surroundings at a rate of Ql (Btu/min) = 33.0(T - 65 0F) and the engine is
started with the inside air temperature equal to 65 0F:

a. Derive a differential equation for the variation of the outlet temperature with time.

b. Calculate the steady state air temperature if the engine runs continuously for an
indefinite period of time, using Cv = 5.00 Btu/lb mol0F.

20. Water containing 2 oz of pollutant/gal flows through a treatment tank at a rate of 500
gal/min. In the tank, the treatment removes 2% of the pollutant per min and the water is
thoroughly stirred. The tank holds 10,000 gal of water. On the day the treatment plant opens,
the tank is filled with pure water. Determine the concentration profile of the tank effluent.