MALAWI UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
MASS & ENERGY BALANCES (MEBA-210)
INTRODUCTION TO MATERIAL BALANCES
RECALL: PROCESS CLASSIFICATION
Batch process:
• Raw materials are fed into a process unit at the beginning of the process and
products are collected when the process is completed
Continuous process:
• Raw materials continuously enter and product continuously leaves the process
Steady-state operation
• Process variables e.g. T, P, V, mass and flow rates do not change with time
Unsteady-state operation
• Process variables change with time
INTRODUCTION TO MATERIAL BALANCES
• Material (mass) balances involve the accounting of all mass in a
chemical process
• Material balances are an application of the law of conservation of mass:
“mass can neither be created nor destroyed”
• Material balance can be written in terms of the following conserved
quantities:
• Total mass/moles (Total/ overall material balance)
• Mass/moles of a chemical compound (component material balance)
• Mass/moles of an atomic species (component material balance)
• Number of moles are only conserved when there is NO chemical
reaction taking place
APPLICATION OF MATERIAL BALANCES
• Chemical processing constitutes transformation of raw materials
into high value products and unwanted byproducts requiring
disposal
• Many of these chemical compounds may be hazardous
• The material balance is used as a tool for keeping track of what
is entering and leaving the process, & what goes on internally
• Without accurate material balances, it is impossible to design or
operate a chemical plant safely and economically
THE GENERAL MATERIAL BALANCE EQUATION
• The general material balance for any conserved quantity can be
written as:
𝐴𝑐𝑐𝑢𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = 𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 − 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 + (𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 − 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛)
Where:
Accumulation - change in quantity of material inside the system
Input - material that enters the system by crossing system boundary
Output - material that exits the system by crossing system boundary
Generation - material produced by chemical reaction within the system
Consumption - material used up by chemical reaction within the system
SIMPLIFICATION OF MATERIAL BALANCE EQN
• The following rules may be used to simplify the material balance
equation:
𝐴𝑐𝑐𝑢𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = 𝐼𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 − 𝑂𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 + (𝐺𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 − 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛)
1. If the system is at steady state, set accumulation = 0 (no change with
time)
𝐼𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 − 𝑂𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 + 𝐺𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 − 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = 0
SIMPLIFICATION OF MATERIAL BALANCE EQN
2. If the balanced quantity is total mass, set generation = 0 and
consumption = 0 (law of conservation of mass)
𝐴𝑐𝑐𝑢𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = 𝐼𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 − 𝑂𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡
• If the balanced substance is a nonreactive species, (neither a
reactant nor a product) or for non-reacting systems in general, set
generation = 0 and consumption = 0
𝐴𝑐𝑐𝑢𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = 𝐼𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 − 𝑂𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡
NOTATION
m = mass • A flow rate is the rate at which a material
ṁ = mass flowrate is transported through a process line
n = moles • The flow rate of a process stream or a
material may be expressed as a mass flow
ṅ = molar flow rate rate, molar flow rate or a volumetric flow
V = volume rate:
𝑉ሶ = volume/volumetric 𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑚ሶ = 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠Τ𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 (kg/s,
flow rate g/min etc.)
𝑥𝑖 = component fractions 𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑚ሶ = 𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒Τ𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 (mol/s,
(mass or mole) in liquid kmol/min etc.)
streams ሶ = 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒Τ𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒(𝑉)
𝑦𝑖 = component fractions in (𝑐𝑚3 /s, L/hr etc.)
gas streams
References
• Felder, R.M & Rousseau, R.W. (2000). Elementary principles of
chemical processes, 3rd edn, John Wiley.
• Himmelblau, D & Riggs, J. (2012). Basic Principles and Calculations in
Chemical Engineering. (8th Ed.), Prentice-Hall.
