KKEK 3152 Modelling of Chemical Processes

Tutorial 2
1. Surge drums are often used as intermediate storage capacity for gas streams that are
transferred between chemical process units. Consider a drum depicted in Figure 1,
where qi is the inlet molar flow rate and q is the outlet molar flow rate. Develop
a model that describes how the pressure in the tank varies with time. State your
assumption.

Figure 1: Gas surge drum

2. Consider a tank filled with perfectly mixed liquid with simultaneous chemical reactions take place inside the tank. The system is a CSTR as shown in Figure 2.
Component A reacts irreversibly and isothermally at a specific reaction rate of k1
and k2 to form products, component B and C respectively. Develop a dynamic model
that describes the system and perform the degree of freedom analysis. State your
assumptions.
k

B
A

2
A

Fi
CAi

CA
CB
CC

Fo
CA , CB , CC

Figure 2: Continuous stirred tank reactor

1

3. Figure 3 shows a perfectly mixed batch reactor (no inflow and outflow) where a
first-order isothermal reversible reaction takes place:
kf

A
B
kb

V
CA
CB
Figure 3: A batch reactor
where kf is the forward reaction rate constant and kb is the backward reaction rate
constant. Develop a model which describes the concentration of each component as
a function of time and perform the degree of freedom analysis to the system.
4. Consider two interacting tank system as shown in Figure 4.

Fi

h1

R1

F1

h2

F2
R2

Figure 4: Interacting system

Assume that the flow rate is proportional to the tank height. Find how the height of
each tank varies with time.
5. Consider the elevated cylindrical tank example discussed in the lecture. For the case
t
of time-varying ambient temperature Ta = 10 + 10 cos( 12
) where t is in hours, show
that the solution of the ODE is as given in the lecture notes:
T = 10 + 84.3e0.072t + 0.7032 cos(

t
t
) + 2.5568 sin( )
12
12

(1)