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ChE 143/ Problem set2

Choose a partner among your classmates. Submit on/before 01 Dec 2018 by 8:30 am only. Write your
solutions in short, white bond paper. Box all final answers.

1. Pure methane is liquefied in a Claude process shown in Figure 1. Compression is to 60 bar and
precooling is to 300K. The expander and throttle exhaust to a pressure of 1 bar. Recycle
methane at this pressure leaves the exchanger system (point 15) at 295 K. Assume no heat leaks
into the system from the surroundings, and expander (turbine) efficiency of 75%, and an
expander exhaust of saturated vapor. The draw-off to the expander is 25% of the methane
entering the exchanger system. Determine:
a. the fraction of the methane is liquefied (ANSWER: 0.1130), and
b. the temperature of the high-pressure stream entering the throttle valve (ANSWER:
207oC).

Figure 1

2. An industrial process discharges 2 x 105 ft3/min of gaseous combustion products at 400oF, 1 atm.
As shown in Fig 2, a proposed system for utilizing the combustion products combines a heat-
recovery steam generator with a turbine. At steady state, combustion products exit the steam
generator at 260oF, 1 atm and a separate stream of water enters at 40 lbf/in.2, 102oF with a mass
flow rate of 275 lb/min. At the exit of the turbine, the pressure is 1 lbf/in. 2 and the quality is
93%. Heat transfer from the outer surfaces of the steam generator and turbine can be ignored,
as can the changes in kinetic and potential energies of the flowing streams. There is no
significant pressure drop for the water flowing through the steam generator. The combustion
products can be modeled as air as an ideal gas.
a. Evaluating the power developed at $0.08 per kWh, determine the value of the power, in
$/year, for 8000 hours of operation annually. (ANSWER: $558,000/year)
b. Perform a thermodynamic analysis of the proposed heat recovery system.
ChE 143/ Problem set2

Figure 2

3. The performance of an ammonia absorption cycle refrigerator is to be compared with that of a


similar vapor-compression system. Consider an absorption system having an evaporator
temperature of −10◦C and a condenser temperature of 50◦C. The generator temperature in this
system is 150◦C. In this cycle 0.42 kJ is transferred to the ammonia in the evaporator for each
kilojoule transferred from the high-temperature source to the ammonia solution in the
generator. To make the comparison, assume that a reservoir is available at 150◦C and that heat
is transferred from this reservoir to a reversible engine that rejects heat to the surroundings at
25◦C. This work is then used to drive an ideal vapor-compression system with ammonia as the
refrigerant. Compare the amount of refrigeration that can be achieved per kilojoule from the
high-temperature source with the 0.42 kJ that can be achieved in the absorption system.

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