Chapter 2:
From Fundamental to Properties
Abstract
Read the abstractTable of contents
See the table of contentsList of examples
- 2.1: Refrigeration system
- 2.2: VLE observation
- 2.3: Flexfuel model
- 2.4: Phase envelope of a natural gas with retrograde condensation
- 2.5: Entropy rise in a ideal gas expansion
- 2.6: Cryogenic plant
- 2.7: Distillation column
- 2.8: Energy balance in a column feed
- 2.9: Risk of condensation of water in a gas stream
- 2.10: Effect of the feed composition on the water-gas shift reaction
- 2.11: Effect of temperature on the reaction constant
- 2.12: Chemical looping
Example 2.1: Refrigeration system
Propane is used to cool a process, as shown in the diagram of figure 1. The fluid that to be cooled in exchanger E103 should have an outlet temperature of -30 °C. What pressure will the exchanger work at?
Analysis:
- Pressure and temperature are the basic properties of the system.
- Only propane appears in the process. It is a well-known light hydrocarbon.
- Propane will evaporate to cool the process. It is a vapor-liquid equilibrium of a pure component.
Model requirement:
A vapour pressure curve is enough to solve the question asked. As long as the temperature remains within the limits provided by the database, the Antoine’s equation is sufficient (see chapter 3):
For propane, the values are:
Parameter | Tc (K) | Pc (bar) | A | B | C |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Value | 369.82 | 42.4 | 5.75442079 | -5.48259492 | -0.04723775 |
Solution:
See complete results in file (xls):
Some help on nomenclature and tips to use this file can be found here.
The refrigeration system uses the heat of vaporization of propane to cool the process fluid. The propane, a pure component (), is at liquid-vapor equilibrium, i.e. a two-phase equilibrium (φ=2). The Gibbs' phase rule indicates that . If temperature is imposed (lower than -30 °C: say -35 °C), then pressure must be as well.
We therefore find that, at -35 °C, the pressure is 1.4 bar. With this information, the thermodynamic state is defined, indicating that temperature was a sufficient piece of information.