ChE 344 Spring 2008 Final Exam

Open Book/Notes, Closed Neighbors Answer ALL 6 questions for a total of 100 points 1. (15 points) An equimolar mixture of H2 and CO is obtained by the reaction of steam with coal. The product mixture is called water-gas. This water-gas is mixed with steam and passed over a catalyst at 550 o C and 1 bar to convert CO into CO2 by the reaction H2 O + CO H2 + CO2 Any unreacted H2 O is condensed and the CO2 is absorbed to give a product that s mostly H2 . That operation is called the water-gas shift reaction and is the basis for producing H2 industrially. Calculate the equilibrium compositions at 550 o C based on an equimolar feed of H2 , CO and H2 O. Data for 550 o C is given in the table: H2 O CO CO2 Gf (kJ/mol) Hf (kJ/mol) -202.25 -246.60 -184.47 -110.83 -395.56 -294.26

2. (15 points) Stoichiometric ratios of CO and H2 are fed to a reactor operating at 500 K and 1 bar CO(g) + H2 (g) CH3 OH The K value at the reactor temperature is 0.00581. Calculate the equilibrium conversion of CO. 3. (20 points) Five moles of H2 , two moles of CO and 1.5 moles of CH3 OH vapor are combined in a closed system methanol synthesis reactor at 500 K and 1 MPa. Develop expressions for the mole fractions of the species in terms of the reaction coordinate, . The components are known to react like this 2 H2 (g) + CO(g) CH3 OH Even though this reaction is written as if it will proceed from Left to Right, we do not know the actual direction. If the reverse reaction were to occur, your value of will be negative. So, what you really need to do is develop mole balances that can be used to determine values of (or a range of). Hint: Develop expressions for mole fractions for each species and remember that mole fractions are supposed to be positive numbers between zero and one. 1

4. (20 points) Consider a non-ideal binary system and the following equation GE = Bx1 x2 + cx1 x2 (x1 x2 ) RT Show that ln1 = x2 B C 4x2 3 2 ln2 = x2 B + C 4x1 3 1 5. (15 points) Consider a completely miscible binary system (we will simply call it with components 1 and 2) which has the following K values at 343 K and 1 bar K1 = 0.719 and K2 = 1.31. Calculate the equilibrium compositions of the liquid and the vapor phases and the fraction of the total system which is liquid for a total system composition of a) 40 mole % 1, 60 mole % 2 and b) 50 mole % 1 and 50 mole %2 6. (15 points) The next series of questions are based on the phase diagram. 1. Consider a mixture that has 90 % of the less volatile component. What is the dew point pressure? What is the bubble point pressure? 2. You have a mixture that is 50 % vapor, 50 % liquid. The mole fraction of the more volatile component is 0.2. What is the composition of the vapor? 3. At a total pressure of 145, there are two sets of Liquid and a Vapor phase in equilibrium with each other. What are they? Calculate the activity coecients of EACH component. and