CH-102: Tutorial-5: Equation of State

1. Two moles of nitrogen is placed in a 3 L tank at -150.8 o C. Estimate the tank pressure using
ideal gas equation and Virial euqtaion of state truncated after second term. Calculate the
percentage error assuming the value estimated from Virial equation to be true value.

2. A stream of propane at T = 423 K and pressure P atm flows at a rate of 100 kmol/h. Use
SRK equation to estimate the volumetric flow rate of stream at P = 0.7 atm, 7 atm and
70 atm. (Tc = 369.9 K, Pc = 42.0 atm, ω = 0.152)

3. Spray drying is a process in which a liquid containing dissolved or suspended solids is

injected into a chamber through a spray nozzle (or centrifugal disk atomizer). The resulting
mist is contacted with hot air, which evaporates most or all of the liquid, leaving the dried
solids to fall to a conveyor belt at the bottom of the chamber. Powdered milk is produced
in a spray dryer 6 m in diameter by 6 m high. Air enters at 167 o C and -40 cm H2 O (gauge).
The milk fed to the atomizer contains 70% water by mass, all of which evaporates. The
outlet gas contains 12 mole % water and leaves the chamber at 83o C and 1 atm (absolute)
at a rate of 311 m3 /min.

a. Calculate the production rate of dried milk and the volumetric flow rate of the inlet
air. Estimate the upward velocity of air (m/s) at the bottom of the dryer.
b. What problem would you guess would occur if the velocity is too high?

4. A tank in a room at 19 o C is initially open to the atmosphere on a day when the barometric
pressure is 102 kPa. A block of dry ice (solid CO2 ) with a mass of 15.7 kg is dropped
into the tank, which is then sealed. The reading on the tank pressure gauge initially rises
very quickly, then much more slowly, eventually reaching a value of 3.27 MPa. Assume
Tfinal = 19o C.

a. How many moles of air were in the tank initially? Neglect the volume occupied by
CO2 in the solid state, and assume that a negligible amount of CO2 escapes prior to
the sealing of the tank.
b. What is the final density (g/liter) of the gas in the tank?

5. A fuel gas containing 86% methane, 8% ethane, and 6% propane by volume flows to a
furnace at a rate of 1450 m3 /h at 15 o C and 150 kPa (gauge), where it is burned with 8%
excess air. Calculate the required flow rate of air in SCMH (standard cubic meters per
hour).
6. In chemical vapor deposition (CVD), a semiconducting or insulating solid material is
formed in a reaction between a gaseous species adsorbed on the surface of silicon wafers
(discs about 10 cm in diameter and 1 mm thick). The coated wafers are subjected to
further processing to produce the microelectronic chips in computers and most other elec-
tronic devices in use today. In one such process, silicon dioxide (MW=60.06, SG=2.67) is
formed in the reaction between gaseous dichlorosilane (DCS) and adsorbed nitrous oxide:
SiH2 Cl2 (g) + 2N2 O (ads) → SiO2 (s) + 2N2 (g) + 2HCl(g). A mixture of DCS and N2 O
flows through a ”boat reactor”- a horizontal pipe in which 50-100 silicon wafers about 12
cm in diameter and 1 mm thick are set upright along the reactor length, with about 20
mm separation between each wafer. A side view of the reactor is shown in the figure. The
feed gas enters the reactor at a rate of 3.74 SCMM (standard cubic meters per minute)
and contains 22.0 mole% DCS and the balance N2 O. In the reactor, the gas flows around
the wafers, DCS and N2 2O diffuse into the spaces between the wafers, N2 O is adsorbed on
the wafer surfaces, and the adsorbed N2 O reacts with gaseous DCS. The silicon dioxide
formed remains on the surface, and the nitrogen and hydrogen chloride go into the gas
phase and eventually leave the reactor with the unconsumed reactants. The temperature
and absolute pressure in the reactor are constant at 900 o C and 604 millitorr.
a. The percentage conversion of DCS at a certain axial position (distance along the
length of the reactor) is 60%. Calculate the volumetric flow rate (m3 /min) of gas at
this axial position.
b. The rate of deposition of silicon dioxide per unit area of wafer surface is given by
the formula: r(mol SiO2 /m2 s) = 3.16 × 10−8 pdcs pN
0.65 . where p
2O dcs and pN2 O are the
partial pressures of DCS and N2 O in millitorr. What is r at the axial position in the
reactor where the DCS conversion is 60% ?
c. Consider a wafer located at the axial position determined in part (b). How thick is
the silicon dioxide layer on that wafer after two hours of reactor operation, assuming
that gas diffusion is rapid enough at the low reactor pressure for the composition of
the gas (and hence the component partial pressures) to be uniform over the wafer
surface ? Express your answer in angstroms, where 1Ȧ = 1.0 × 10−10 m.

7. Terephtalic acid (TPA), a raw material in the manufacture of polyester fiber, films, and soft
drink bottles, is synthesized from p-Xylene (PX): C8 H10 +3O2 → C8 H6 O4 +2H2 O. A fresh
feed of pure liquid PX combines with a recycle stream containing PX and a solution (S) of
a catalyst (a cobalt salt) in a solvent (methanol). The combined stream, which contains
S and PX in a 3:1 mass ratio, is fed to reactor in which 90% of the PX is converted to
TPA. A stream of air at 25o C and 6.0 atm absolute is also fed to the reactor. The air
bubbles through the liquid and the reaction takes place under the influence of the catalyst.
 A liquid stream containing un reacted PX, dissolved TPA, and all the S that entered the
reactor goes to a separator in which solid TPA crystals are formed and filtered out of the
solution. The filtrate, which contains all the S and PX leaving the reactor, is the recycle
stream. A gas stream containing un reacted oxygen, nitrogen and the water formed in
the reaction leaves the reactor at 105o C and 5.5 atm absolute goes through a condenser in
which essentially all the water is condensed. The uncondensed gas contains 4.0 mol% O2 .

a. Taking 100 kmol TPA produced/h as a basis of calculation, draw and label a flow
chart for the process.
b. What is the required fresh feed rate (kmol PX/h)?
c. What are the volumetric flow rates(m3 /h) of the air fed to the reactor, gas leaving
the reactor and the liquid water leaving the condenser. Assume ideal behavior for
the two gas streams.
d. What is the mass flow rate(kg/h) of the recycle stream?

8. Methanol is to be delivered to a process unit at a rate of 15.0 kmol/h by a stream that

is 30.0 mole % methanol and 70.0 mole % propane. Estimate the volumetric flow rate of
this stream at 10.0 atm and 100o C using the truncated viral equation and the following
P P
mixing rule: Bmix = i j yi yj Bij , where the viral coefficients for the pure species, Bii
and Bjj , are determined from equation 5.3-5 and Bij = 0.5(Bii + Bjj ).

9. A feed for a reactor has to be prepared comprised of 50% ethylene and 50% nitrogen. One
source of gas is a cylinder containing a large amount of gas with composition 20% ethylene
and 80% nitrogen. Another cylinder that contains pure ethylene at 1450 psig and 70 o F
has an internal volume of 2640 cubic inches. If all the ethylene in the latter cylinder is
used up in making the mixture, how much reactor feed was prepared and how much of the
20% ethylene mixture was used? Will ideal gas law be valid for the conditions specified
for the second cylinder containing only ethylene?