Heriot-Watt University, School of Engineering and Physical Sciences- Examination Questions

Subject: Separation Processes B Question Number: 1

Examination Diet: Spring 2010

Diagram Required: Cross-Check Humidity chart JASG Richardson and Zaki coefficients Drag coefficient graph Detail Other Data Required / Special Stationery Requirements: This Question Common With Paper: Graph papers

Lecturer/Author: RO Co-ordinator:

Modular/Class Code

Instructions: Answer 1 question from each section and any other Section A 1. 1000 kg of dry mass of a non-porous solid is dried under constant drying conditions in an air stream flowing at 0.75 m/s. Assume that the area of the surface drying is 55 m2 and the initial rate of drying is 0.3 g/m2s. The critical moisture content of the material may be taken as 0.125 kg water/kg dry solid. a. Sketch how the rate of drying depends on the moisture content [3] b. Calculate the time that it will take to dry the material from 0.15 to 0.025 kg water/kg dry solid. [12] Suppose that the air velocity were increased to 4.0 m/s c. What would be the anticipated saving in time?

[10]

It is assumed that the process is surface-evaporation controlled and that the rate of evaporation is proportional to the air velocity raise to the power of 0.8.

2. 0.126 kg/s of a solid product containing 4% water is produced in a dryer from a wet feed containing 42% water on a wet basis. Ambient air at 294 K and of 40% relative humidity is heated to 366 K in a preheater before entering the dryer from which it leaves at 60% relative humidity. Assuming that the dryer operates adiabatically a. What must be the flowrate of air to the preheater? [21] b. How much heat must be added to the preheater? [4] 3 The specific volume of air at 294 K is 0.84 m /kg, and the humid heat of the air at the conditions at the inlet of the preheater is 1.02 kJ/kg K Section B 3. A forward-feed double-effect standard vertical evaporator with equal heating areas in each effect is fed with 5 kg/s of a liquor of specific heat capacity of 4.18 kJ/kg K, and with no boiling point rise, so that 50% of the feed liquor is

evaporated. The overall heat transfer coefficient in the second effect is 75% of that of the first effect. Steam is fed at 395 K and the boiling point in the second effect is 373 K. The feed is heated to its boiling prior to entering the first effect. What is the steam consumption? For the purpose of the calculation, the latent heat of the vapours and of the live steam is taken as 2230 kJ/kg. [25] 4. A liquid with no appreciable elevation point is concentrated in a triple-effect evaporator. The temperature of the steam supplied in the first effect is 395 K and vacuum is applied to the third effect so that the boiling point is 325 K. Calculate the approximate boiling points in the three effects, stating clearly the assumptions you made. The overall transfer coefficients are 3.1, 2.3 and 1.1 kW/m2K in the three effects respectively. [25]

Section C 5. Rain drops are observed to fall vertically at a constant velocity of 2.5 m/s. a. Calculate the droplet diameter assuming that it might be treated as a solid spherical particle. [12] Suppose now that the droplet cannot be treated as a solid. b. What are the additional physical properties that determine the motion of the particle? [2] c. How many dimensionless numbers intervene in the determination of the droplet characteristics? [8] d. How would you expect the dimensionless groups to change for a droplet of air rising in water (rather the water falling in air)? [3] -5 The viscosity and the density of the air are 1.72 x 10 kg/ms and 1.29 kg/m3, respectively. 6. Spherical particles of density 1740 kg/m3 and diameter 1 mm are setting in a liquid such that the particle volume fraction is 0.15. The liquid density is 923 kg/m3 and its viscosity is 3x10-3 Pa s. a. Determine the settling velocity of an isolated particle b. Determine the apparent velocity of the suspension [12] [6]

Suppose now that another experiment is run with particles of the same density and they are observed to fall with a terminal velocity of 0.002 m/s in the same liquid. c. Determine the diameter of the single particles [7]