Monday, 14 October 2013

1. Process classification
Chemical processes can be classified as batch, continuous, or semibatch and as steady-state or transient. It is important to know which of these categories your process falls, before you can write any material balances.

1. Batch Process:
In this process, the feed is fed into a vessel at the beginning of the process and removed at a later stadium out of the vessel, where no mass crosses the system boundaries between the time the feed is fed and the product is removed.
Example: Add reactants to a tank when the system has come to equilibrium remove the product and unconsumed reactants.

2. Continuous Process:
The input and the output of the process flow continuously throughout the duration of the process.
Example: A mixture of liquids is pumped at a constant rate into a distillation column, and streams are withdrawn at the top and the bottom of the column.

3. Semibatch Process:
This process is neither batch nor continuous process.
Example: A balloon is filled with air at a steady rate.
A process is operating at a steady state if the values of all the variables in the process do not change with time, except for small fluctuations about a constant mean values. A transient or unsteady-state exists when the process variables change with time. Furthermore, batch and semibatch processes are transient operations, and continuous process can be steady-state or transient.
A continuous process is used more often where large production rates is present, whereas a batch process is commonly used when small quantities of a product are to be produced on any single occasion. Most continuous processes are run as close to steady-state processes as possible because transient conditions exist at the beginning of the process and further changes will occur.

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