DBD / November 2009

09CGA011 MATHEMATICAL METHODS IN CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

Maple Coursework Assignment

Answer ALL of the questions given below Deadline: 12 noon, Friday, 15 January 2010

The following problems are to be answered using Maple. Start with the blank worksheet
available from the Learn Server and solve the following problems, carrying out all the
calculations using Maple commands. Credit will be given for clearly explained solutions,
using text lines in your Maple worksheet. When you have finished your solutions, print out
your completed worksheet and submit it to the General Office.

1. A petrol tanker is 15 m long and has an elliptical cross-section as shown in Fig Q1. The
liquid level inside the tanker is measured by inserting a dip pipe which indicates the
distance h above the base. The tank is 2.75 m high and 3.50 m across. The equation
of an ellipse centred at ( )
0 0
, y x is given by
( ) ( )
1
b
y y
a
x x
2
2
0
2
2
0
=

(a) Plot the cross-section using the coordinate system of
Fig Q1, showing the axes scaled to the correct
proportions.
(b) Using integration, find a general expression for the
volume of fuel in the tank, when the liquid level is at
h y = .
Hint: think about ( )

h
0
dy y x
(c) Plot a graph of the volume (m
3
) contained in the tank against liquid level (m).
(d) Initially the liquid level h is 1.95 m. A volume of 21 m
3
is discharged from the tank.
Using a numerical solution find the liquid level after discharge.

2. The following equation relates the boiling point, T (K) and the total pressure, P (Pa) of
an ideal multi-component mixture of n-pentane (1), n-hexane (2), n-heptane (3) and
n-octane (4).

*
4 4
*
3 3
*
2 2
*
1 1
p x p x p x p x P + + + =
where, for component i, the mole fraction is x
i
and the vapour pressure is
*
i
p , given by

i
i
i
*
i
C 85 . 0 T
B
A p ln
+
=
Here
*
i
p is in mm Hg (1 mm Hg = 133.32 Pa), T is the absolute temperature (K) and
the constants A
i
, B
i
and C
i
are given in the table below.
(a) For the liquid compositions, x
i
given in the table below, plot a graph of the total
pressure, P (Pa) against temperature T (K) over the range 275 to 525 K
(b) Using the Newton-Raphson method, solve the equations to find the boiling points at
total pressures of 1, 2, 5 and 10 bara. Show the sequence of iterations and perform
sufficient calculations for convergence to three significant figures. Display these
solutions on the graph of the total pressure, P (Pa) against temperature T (K).

continued


2b
y
x
+a a
h
Fig. Q1
0
DBD / November 2009

i component x
i
A
i
B
i
C
i
1 n-pentane 0.05 15.8333 2477.07 -39.94
2 n-hexane 0.15 15.8366 2697.55 -48.78
3 n-heptane 0.50 15.8737 2911.32 -56.51
4 n-octane 0.30 15.9426 3210.29 -63.63


3. As is illustrated in Fig. Q3, the radius of
curvature of a curve with coordinates
given parametrically by ( ) ( ) ( ) t y t x , is given
by
( )
( )
y x x y
y x
t r

+
=
2 / 3
2 2
where

2
2
2
2
, , ,
dt
y d
y
dt
dy
y
dt
x d
x
dt
dx
x = = = =
The centre of curvature ( ) ( ) ( ) t y t x
0 0
, is
given by
( )
( )
y x x y
y x y
x t x

+
+ =
2 2
0
and ( )
( )
x y y x
y x x
y t y

+
+ =
2 2
0


Fig Q3 shows that a circle with this radius r is tangential to, and has the same
curvature as, the function ( ) x f y = at a given point ( ) ( ) ( ) t y t x , .
A loop-the-loop feature on a roller coaster is defined parametrically by the functions
( ) ( )ds s t x
t
2 / cos 15
0
2

= and ( ) ( )ds s t y
t
2 / sin 15
0
2

=
where the units are in m and s is a dummy integration variable.
(a) Plot the parametric curve ( ) x f y = in the range 0 = t to . Show that = = 2
1
t t at
the top of the curve, where the gradient 0 / = dx dy .
From now on we shall define the right hand side of the loop as being the curve in the
range 0 = t to t
1
.
(b) Show that the point (19, 16.6) lies on the curve and find the radius of curvature at this
point. Plot the circle of curvature on the same graph as the parametric curve
( ) x f y = , in the style of Fig. Q3.
(c) The acceleration experienced by a passenger on the roller coaster is given by
r v a /
2
= . For a frictionless system, the velocity of the roller coaster car is
( ) y h g v =
0
2 , where ( ) t y y = is given above , m 25
0
= h and /s m 81 . 9
2
= g . Plot
the velocity and the acceleration over the range 0 = t to t
1
.
(d) Find the position ( ) y x, where the acceleration is a maximum. Calculate the
maximum acceleration.

y
( ) x f y =
circle of
curvature
r(t)
( ) ( ) ( ) t y t x
0 0
,
Fig. Q3
( ) ( ) ( ) t y t x ,
x