APPLICATION OF LINEAR ALGEBRIC

EQUATION IN CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

Prepared By:
Lakhlani Nishith
Linear Algebraic Equation
The definition of a linear equation is an
algebraic equation in which each term has an
exponent of one.

The graphing of the equation results in a

straight line.

One or more variables in the equation.

Application In Chemical Engineering

One of the most important organizing

principles in chemical engineering is the
Conservation of Mass.

The principle of mass conservation, states

that for any closed system the mass of the
system must remain constant over time.
Cont..
independent of any chemical and physical
changes taking place within the system.

For stable condition(i.e., steady-state) it can

be represented as:

Input = output
Example-1
Suppose we are performing a mass balance
for a conservative substance (i.e., one that
doesnt increase or decrease due to chemical
transformation) in a reactor, we would have to
quantify the rate mass flows into the reactor
through the two inflow pipes and out of the
reactor through outflow pipe.
Cont..
For pipe 1,product flow rate Q1=2 m3/min ,
Q2= 1.5 m3/min and concentrate C1=25 mg/m3
C2= 10 mg/m3 ; therefore, the rate at which
mass flows into reactor through pipe 1 and
pipe 2 accordingly.
Cont..
Because of Steady state of Reactor

Input = Output ,
according to that

Q1C1 + Q2C2 = Q3C3

50 + 15 = 3.5 C3

C3 =18.6 mg/m3
Example-2

Problem

By examination we can see that the following

equation is not balanced.

CH4 + O2 CO2+H2O
Cont..
Solution

First assign variables to each of the

unknown coefficients in the equation which
gives us:

wCH4 + xO2 yCO2 + zH2O

Cont..
CARBON w=y There is 1 carbon atom in
the w term and 1 in the y
term.

There are 4 Hydrogen atoms

HYDROGEN
4w = 2z in the w term and 2 in the z
term.

There are 2 oxygen atoms in

OXYGEN
2x = 2y + z the x term, 2 in the y term,
and 1 in the z term.
Cont..
Rewrite the linear equations in standard form
to get a homogeneous system of equations
with 4 variables:

w-y = 0
4w-2z = 0
2x-2y-z = 0

Create a matrix for the above systems of

equations augmented with zeros (left) and
perform the Gauss-Jordan elimination method
to reduce the matrix(right).
Cont..
This gives us the following values for our
variables.

w = 1/2z
x = 1z
y = 1/2z
above equations we calculate the values
of our 4 variables to be:
w x y z
1 2 1 3
Cont..
Replace these values as the coefficients to
our original equation.

CH4 + 2O2 CO2 + 2H2O