Chapter 3:

Introduction to Material Balances

Learning Objectives
Upon completing this Chapter, you should be
able to
understand what process flow sheet (PFS) or
process flow diagram (PFD) is
know a standard symbol for each of some
important process equipments
draw a simple process flow diagram (or a
block flow diagram or a flow chart) for the
given problem
make a necessary assumption/necessary
assumptions pertaining the given problem
set up an appropriate basis of calculation
(basis) of the given problem

 understand what steady-state process is

and how it affects the establishment/
set-up of material-balance equations
understand what overall and species
balances are
establish overall- and species-balance
equations for the given problem
solve simple material-balance problems

One of the main responsibilities of

chemical engineers is to create/construct/
analyse chemical processes (or, at least,
to understand the existing processes)
The layout of a chemical process is
called process flow sheet (PFS) or
process flow diagram (PFD)
PFS or PFD can be for just a single
process unit of for the whole process,
either simple or complicated process

Examples of PFS or PFD

PFD for an atmospheric

distillation of crude oil
(from Stoichiometry, 4th ed; by Bhatt & Vora, 2004)

PFD for a water-softening

by ion-exchange process
(from Stoichiometry, 4th ed; by Bhatt & Vora, 2004)

PFD for Ammonia Synthesis Plant

(from Introduction to Chemical Processes by Murphy, 2007)

Normally, a PFS or a PFD comprises

all major process equipments/units
lines entering or leaving the
process/unit and/or lines connecting
two or more process
equipments/units (these lines are
called streams)
flow rate of each stream
composition of each stream
operating conditions of each stream
and/or unit/equipment (e.g., T, P)
energy/heat needed to be added to
and/or removed from any particular
part of the process or the entire
process

Some important symbols of process

equipments are illustrated as follows

Mixer

Distillation
Column

Pump

Packed-bed
Reactor

Batch Reactor

Flash Drum

Blower

Heat Exchanger

Mixer-Settler

Turbine

Furnace

(from Introduction to Chemical Processes by Murphy, 2007)

8

In order to be able to create or to

understand PFS or PFD, the knowledge
concerning MATERIAL & ENERGY
BALANCES is required
As a chemical engineer, you need to be
able to perform material and energy
balances for any particular process or for
the entire process efficiently/competently
We start our learning by doing MATERIAL
BALANCES, using an underlying knowledge
of law of conservation of mass

Before starting learning material

balance, lets consider the following bank
account:
Date

Description

2/1/51

Beginning balance

8/1/51

Deposit from Mom

15/1/51 Deposit from Dad

Deposit

Withdrawal

Balance
15,000

10,000
20,000

19/1/51 ATM withdrawal

7,000

22/1/51 ATM withdrawal

18,000

22/1/51 Service charge

50

31/1/51 Closing balance

19,950

The data we obtain from the above

bank account are
The sum of deposits

= 30,000

The sum of withdrawals = 25,050

The initial balance

= 15,000

The final balance

= 19,950

10

From the information in the previous

Page (Page 10), we can write the following
relationship:
The final balance The initial balance =
The sums of deposits The sums of withdrawals
(19,950) (15,000) =
(30,000) (25,050)

If we consider
the initial balance as the initial
mass of the process
the final balance as the final mass of
the process
the sums of deposits as the sums of
mass entering the process
the sums of withdrawals as the sums
of mass leaving the process

11

Additionally, if we consider the

difference between the final balance and
the initial balance, which is the amount
of money accumulated in the bank
account as the amount of mass
accumulated in the process, we can
establish the principle of material/mass
balance as follows:

12

Principles of MATERIAL BALANCE

In the case that there is NO Chemical
Rxn.
Total mass entering a process/unit
Total mass leaving a process/unit
= Mass accumulation in a process/unit

However, the material balance

problem will be more complicated (but
not too difficult believe me!) when there
is/are a Rxn./Rxns. in the process/unit,
as follows:
Total mass entering a process/unit
Total mass leaving a process/unit
+ Mass generating from a Rxn/Rxns
= Mass accumulation in a process/unit

13

From the principles above, the following

equations can be written:
In the case that there is NO Rxn.

m m = m
in

sys

out

= msys f msysi
(3.1)

where
msysi = initial mass of a system
msys f = final mass of a system
In the case that there is/are a
Rxn./Rxns.

m m + m = m
in

out

Rxn .

14

sys

(3.2)

Normally, chemical processes are

continuous, the change in mass should,
therefore, be written in the rate form (i.e.
it changes with time)
Eqs. 3.1 & 3.2 can, then, be re-written,
as follows

dm
dm dmsys

dt
in dt
out dt

(3.3)

dm
dm
dm dmsys

+
=

dt
in dt
out dt
Rxn . dt
(3.4)

15

We can perform material balances either

for all species (called overall balance) or
for a specific/selected species (called
species balance)
In this level, we will carry out material
balances for steady-state processes (do

you know what steady-state processes

are?)

16

Example One thousand (1,000) kilograms

of a mixture of benzene (B) and toluene (T),
containing 40% by mass of B is to be
separated into two streams in a distillation
column. The top output stream of the
column contains 375 kg of B and the
bottom output stream contains 515 kg
of T.
(a) Perform the mass balance for B & T
(b) Determine the composition of the
top and bottom streams

17

Standard Procedure:
1) Make any necessary assumption(s)
For instance, in this case, we make an
assumption that the process is steadystate
2) Draw a flow chart of the process/unit
Top output stream
375 kg B
x kg T

Input stream
1,000 kg mixture
40 wt% B

Distillation
column
Bottom output stream
y kg B
515 kg T

18

3) Set a basis of calculations

In this case, we should set a basis as
1,000 kg of mixture
4) Determine the numbers of unknowns
In this case, there are 3 unknowns:
x=?
y=?
% of T of an input stream
5) Establish material balance equations
In order to be able to solve for
unknowns, it is necessary that the # of
Eqs. must be equal to the # of unknowns

19

In this Example, since the input

stream consists of only 2 components, we
obtain the following equation:
wt% of B + wt% of T = 100

Accordingly,

% T = 100 % B
= 100 40
% T = 60%
Note that one unknown is eliminated
(the # of unknowns are now only 2)
From the basis of calculation we have set
(in Step 3) and from the percentages of
benzene and toluene (the percentage of
toluene (%T) has been solved in Step 5), we
obtain the information that the input
stream comprises:
20

 40
Benzene (B) =
(1,000 kg ) = 400 kg
100
60
Toluene (T) =
(1,000 kg ) = 600 kg
100
In a general form, let
mF

= mass of the input stream (feed)

mB

= mass of benzene in the input

stream

mT

= mass of toluene in the input

stream

yB

= mass fraction of benzene in the

input stream

yT

= mass fraction of toluene in the

input stream

21

We can, then, write the following

equations
mB = yB mF
mT = yT mF

For the output streams, let

m top

= mass of the top stream

m bottom = mass of the bottom stream

Since the process is steady-state (as we

made an assumption in Step 1) and has no
Rxn., the mass balance equation can be

written as follows

m m = m
in

out

sys

m = m
in

out

22

=0

From the process flow chart (on Page

18), we obtain the facts that

m = m

in

and that

m = m

top

+ m bottom

out

Thus,
mF = m top + m bottom

(3.5)

Eq. 3.5 is an example of an overall

mass balance equation

Substituting corresponding numerical

values into Eq. 3.5 yields
1,000 = m top + m bottom

23

(3.6)

In order to solve for 2 unknowns in Eq.

3.6 (i.e. m top & m bottom ), only 1 equation is
NOT enough

We need to have 2 equations; since we

have already got one, we, therefore, need
another equation

To obtain another equation, we need to

do a species balance
In this Example, we shall perform a
benzene balance, as follows

m
m
=


in benzene out benzene

24

Let
mBtop

= mass of benzene in the top

output stream

mBbottom = mass of benzene in the

bottom output stream

we can, then, write the following equation:

or

mB = mBtop + mBbottom

(3.7)

yB mF = mBtop + mBbottom

(3.8)

Eqs. 3.7 & 3.8 are the examples of

species balance equations (in this case, it

is called benzene balance equations)

25

Substituting numerical values into Eq.

3.8 gives

( 0.4 )(1,000 ) = 400 = mB + mB

top

bottom

(3.9)
It is given that
mBtop = 375 kg
Hence, from Eq. 3.9, we obtain
400 = 375 + mBbottom
mBbottom = 400 375
y = 25 kg

26

We can also perform a toluene balance,

as follows
mT = mTtop + mTbottom

(3.10)

xT mF = mTtop + mTbottom

(3.11)

It is given that
mTbottom = 515 kg
Thus, from Eq. 3.10, we obtain
600 = mTtop + 515
mTtop = 600 515
x = 85 kg

27

We can summarise our calculations as

illustrated in the following Table
Species

Output [kg]

Input
[kg]

Top

Bottom

Benzene

400

375

25

Toluene

600

85

515

1,000

460

540

TOTAL

28

Mole Balance

Performing mole balance is similar to

that of the mass balance, but overall
mole balances are applicable ()
only for the processes that have no Rxns

Thus, in the case that there is NO Rxn.:

Overall balance

n n = n
in

sys

out

= n sys f n sysi
(3.12)

Species balance

n n
j

in

out

= n j sys = n j sys n j sys

f

(3.13)

29

where
n sysi = initial total # of moles of
all species in the system
n sys f = final total # of moles of
all species in the system
n j sys = # of moles of species j in the
i

system at the initial state

n j sys = # of moles of species j in the
f

system at the final state

Eqs. 3.12 & 3.13 can also be written in
the rate form (i.e. with respect to time),
as follows
Overall balance
dn
dn dn sys

dt
in dt
out dt
30

(3.14)

Species balance

dn j

in

dt

dn j
dt

out

dn j sys

(3.15)

dt

In the case that there is a Rxn/are

Rxns, mole balance is still applicable,

but only for species balances (NOT for

an overall balance), as follows

n n
j

in

out

Rxn .

= n j sys

(3.16)

or, in the rate form

in

dn j
dt

out

dn j
dt

Rxn .

dn j
dt

dn j sys
dt
(3.17)

31

Example An experiment on the growth rate of

organisms requires an environment of humid
air enriched in oxygen
Three input streams are fed into an
evaporation chamber:

liquid water, fed at the volumetric flow

rate of 20 cm3/min
air (21.0 vol% O2 & 79 vol% N2)
pure O2, with the molar flow rate of
one-fifth (1/5) of the stream of air
to produce an output stream with the desired
composition
The output gas is analysed and is found to
contain 1.5 mol% of water
Calculate all unknowns
(Data: Density of water is 1.0 g/cm3; and
MW of water = 18.02, of O2 = 32.00, & of
N2 = 28.02)
32

Assumption: Steady-state process

Flow chart:

2
1

Pure O2

Output stream
1.5 mol% H2O
x % N2
Evaporation y % O2
4
chamber

Air
21 vol% O2
79 % N2

H2O (l)
20 cm3/min
3

Since the process is steady-state, (as we

made an assumption),

dn sys
dt

=0

Eq. 3.14:

dn
dn dn sys

dt
in dt
out dt
33

(3.14)

is then reduced to
dn
dn

=0

in dt
out dt
dn
dn
=

in dt
out dt

or

(3.18)

From the flow chart (see Page 33), we

can write an overall mole balance equation,
as follows
dn1 dn 2 dn 3 dn 4
dt + dt + dt = dt

(3.19)

dn i
= n i
Let
dt
Thus, Eq. 3.19 can be re-written as
follows

[n1 + n 2 + n 3 ] = n 4
34

(3.20)

It is given that

n 2 =

1
n1 = 0.2n1
5

(3.21)

Combining Eq. 3.21 with Eq. 3.20 gives

[n1 + ( 0.2n1 ) + n 3 ] = n 4
and
1.2n1 + n 3 = n 4

(3.22)

It is also given that the volumetric flow

rate of stream 3 = 20 cm3/min
Thus, the mass flow rate of stream 3 can
be calculated as follows

cm3
g
g
20 min 1.0 cm3 = 20 min

35

which can be converted to the molar flow

rate as follows
20 g

1 g-mol

min 18.02 g

= 1.11 g-mol/min

Thus,
n 3 = 1.11 g-mol/min
Performing species balances:
H2O balance:
n 3 = ( x H2O ) n 4
4

where

(x )

H2O 4

= mole fraction of H2O in

stream 4

36

(3.23)

Substituting corresponding numerical

values into Eq. 3.23:
n 3 = ( x H2O ) n 4
4

(3.23)

results in
1.5 
1.11 =
n4
100
n 4 = 74.0 g-mol/min

Substituting n 3 & n 4 into Eq. 3.22:

1.2n1 + n 3 = n 4
gives
1.2n1 + n 3 = n 4
1.2n1 + 1.11 = 74.0
n1 = 60.7 g-mol/min

37

(3.22)

Thus, the flow rate of stream 2 can be

computed, using Eq. 3.21, as follows
1
n 2 = n1
5
1
= ( 60.7 )
5

n 2 = 12.1 g-mol/min
N2 balance:

( x ) n = ( x )
N2 1

N2 4

n 4

79 60.7 g-mol/min = x 74.0 g-mol/min

)
)

(
(
100
100

x = 64.8 mol%

(note that, for gases, vol% = mol%)

In other words, mol% of N2 in the output
stream (stream 4) is 64.8%

38

Thus, mol% of O2 in the output stream

(stream 4) or the value of y can be
computed as follows
mol% O2 = 100 mol% H2O mol% N2
y = 100 1.5 64.8
= 33.7 %mol

39

Finally, we can summarise our

calculations in the following Table:
INPUT

OUTPUT

Stream 1*

Stream 2*

Stream 3*

Stream 4*

n1 = 60.7

n 2 = 12.1

n 3 = 1.11

n 4 = 74.0

Composition Composition Composition Composition

(mol% or

(mol% or

(mol% or

(mol% or

vol%)

vol%)

vol%)

vol%)

O2

21

N2

79

O2

100

H2O

100

H2O

1.5

O2

33.7

N2

64.8

* Flow rate of each stream is in the

unit of g-mol/min

40