TECHNICAL CALCULATIONS 2

Bypass Operation

A bypass stream is one where a portion

of the inlet to a process unit is split
from the feed and instead of entering
the process is combined with the outlet
from that process.
Bypass Operation
Bypass Operation
Bypassing a stream is useful in
attaining precise control of
concentration.

This practice is far less common than

recycle, but may be used if your
ultimate goal is a material with
properties "in-between" the untreated
reactant and the process outlet product
Bypass Operation
Bypass Stream

Feed Net Feed Process equipment

40% salt Product
70% salt 65% salt

In general, it is easier to make a large change in

concentration or property in a small mass rather
than make a small change in a large mass.
Ex. (Introductory Concepts in Chemical Engineering, W.
Jose, pg 5-8)

We desire to lower the n-hexane content of a nitrogen-

hexane mixture at 45°C (the partial pressure of n – hexane =
310 mm Hg) and a total pressure of 757 mm Hg to a mixture
containing 15% mole n-hexane. This could be achieved by
chilling the mixture to 10°C to condense our some of the n-
hexane. The gas leaves saturated at 10°C (the partial pressure
of n-hexane = 64 mm Hg) and at a pressure of 750 mm Hg.
The bypass gas then mixes with the gas from the chiller to
form the 15% mixture. 300m3/min of the original gas
mixture is to be treated.
a. How much n-hexane is condensed in the chiller?
b. What is the volume of the gas that bypasses the
chiller? Assume ideal gas behavior.
SW (Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes,
Felder/Rousseau, 4.32 pg 166)

Fresh orange juice contains 12% wt. solids and the

balance water, and concentrated orange juice contains 42%
wt solids. Initially a single evaporation process was used for
the concentration, but volatile constituents of the juice
escaped with the water, leaving the concentrate with a flat
taste. The current process overcomes this problem by
bypassing the evaporator with a fraction of the fresh juice.
The juice that enters the evaporator is concentrated to 58% wt
solids, and the evaporator product stream is mixed with the
bypassed fresh juice to achieve the desired final
concentration.
a. Draw and label a flowchart of this process,
neglecting the vaporization of everything in the juice but
water.
b. Calculate the amount of product (42% concentrate) produced
per 100 kg fresh fruit juice fed to the process and the fraction
of the feed that bypasses the evaporator.
c. Most of the volatile ingredients that provide the taste of the
concentrate are contained in the fresh juice that bypasses the
evaporator. You could get more of these ingredients in the
final product by evaporating to (say) 90% solids instead of
58%; you could then bypass a greater fraction of the fresh juice
and thereby obtain an even better tasting product. Suggest
possible drawbacks to this proposal.
Purge Operation
A purge stream is one where a portion
of a recycle stream is removed from
the system in order to avoid
accumulation of undesired material
in a recycled system
Purge Operation
This is common with multi-phase systems
where only 1 phase is either removed or
recycled (i.e., if one recycles catalyst pellets,
but adds "make-up" fresh catalyst a purge
will be needed to discard some "spent"
catalyst).