CHE 413 – Final Exam Practice Problems

(1.) The reversible elementary reaction, AB, is carried out in a batch reactor for 70.8%
conversion of species A. The rates of forward and backward reaction are 0.9 h-1 and 0.225 h-
1
, respectively. The reactor is charged with 1.5 lbmol/ft3 and 0.1 lbmol/ft3 of species A and B,
respectively. The time needed for reactor cleanup and charging is specified as:
tc = 0.5 + 2 x 10-3V, where V is the volume of reactants in the reactor. Determine V for an
average conversion of 100 lbmol/h of A.
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(2.) Design a system of staged rotating biological contactors to reduce the sBOD concentration in
a wastewater stream from 110 mg/L to not more than 8 mg/L. The stream flowrate is 3,000
m3/day. Report the number of trains and stages required as well as the final sBOD
concentration based on a standard sBOD loading of 15 g/(m2day) and 9,300 m2 of disk area
per shaft. How would 20% uncertainty in the inlet sBOD concentration of 100mg/L affect
the design? Support your answer with calculations.
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(3.) Determine the diameter of a spring-type vapor relief valve to vent a gas of compressibility
factor z = 1, ratio of specific heat capacities  = 1.3, and molecular weight 28 lb/lbmol. The
temperature of the gas is 100F. Under normal conditions, the gas flow rate is 50 lb/h.
However, the flow rate can fluctuate by 5%. The set pressure of the valve is 100 psia and
the back-pressure correction factor is unity. The discharge coefficient is 0.975.
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(4.) A horizontal, cylindrical tank with hemispherical ends is used to store liquid chlorine at 10
bar. The vessel has 4 m internal diameter and 20 m length excluding the hemispherical ends.
The design pressure and the maximum allowable stress for the material are, respectively, 12
bar and 110 MN/m2. Estimate the minimum wall thickness for the cylindrical section and the
ends of the vessel for a welded joint efficiency of unity.
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(5.) A heat duty of 1.5286 x 105 Btu/h is required to reboil a hydrocarbon mixture from the
bottom of a distillation column. For this purpose, a vertical thermosiphon reboiler is
proposed with a recirculation ratio of 73 lb liquid/lb vapor and an overall heat transfer
coefficient of 56 Btu/(hft2F). Assume a constant temperature difference of 60F between
the shell side and the tube side. The shell side heat transfer coefficient is 1500 Btu/(hft2F).
Both inside and outside dirt coefficients are 1000 Btu/(hft2F).

The properties of the hydrocarbon mixture are as follows:

Molecular Weight 63.4 lb/lbmol

Vapor Density 0.023 lb/ft3
Liquid Density 54.5 lb/ft3
Average Viscosity 3.24 lb/(fth)
Latent heat of Vaporization 285 Btu/lb
Liquid Thermal Conductivity 0.084 Btu/(hftF)
Average Specific Heat Capacity 0.435 Btu/(lbft)

The reboiler tubes have the following specifications:

Thermal Conductivity 30 Btu/(hftF) Outside Diameter 1.25 in

Wall Thickness 0.109 in Length 8 ft

Figure 1 on the next page provides the friction factor chart. The thickness of each tube sheet
is 1.5 in. The details of the inlet and outlet pipes of the reboiler are:

Inlet Pipe Outlet Pipe

Inside Diameter, in 6 10
Length, ft 6 8
Number of Elbows 1 2
Number of Gate Valves 1 1

The number equivalent pipe diameters for the elbow and the gate valve are 23 and 7.5,
respectively. The entry and exit pressure losses are negligible. Take 62.4 ln/ft3 as the density
of water.

Based on the above information, calculate (a) the driving pressure and the total pressure drop
in the tube side of the reboiler, and (b) the required and available heat transfer areas. (c)
Determine whether the reboiler can do the job. Justify your answer with calculations.
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