Question

A multi-process-unit system uses two filtration units to extract a valuable pure solid from water. Stream numbers are indicated in parentheses - please use these in your flowchart variables and solutions. The fresh feed to the system (1) is 200.0 mol of a water (W)-solid (S) mixture. Stream 1 mixes with two recycle streams (5 and 8) forming a combined stream (2) that enters Filter 1. Filter 1 is inefficient and produces two streams. The first stream produced by Filter 1 is a water-solid mixture stream (3) that exits the overall system. The composition of this stream (3) is unknown, but the quantity of solids in this stream is measured to be equal to 10.0 mol% of the quantity of solid in the fresh feed to the overall system. The second stream produced by Filter 1 (4) (composition of 60.0 mol\% water and the balance solids) enters a Splitter. The Splitter simply diverts stream 4 into two new streams: stream 5, which is recycled to the mixing point that precedes Filter 1; and stream 6, which enters Filter 2. Filter 2 produces a pure solid stream (7) of 100.0 mol solids, which exits the overall system, and a stream of precedes Filter 1. This recycle stream (8) contains 80.0 mol\% of the amount that enters Filter 2. It is known that the amount recycled through stream 5 is 25.0 mol% of the amount recycled by stream 8 . (a) Is this a batch, semibatch, or continuous process?

Answer 1

The process described is a continuous process.

Step-by-step explanation:

The process described in the question is a continuous process. In a continuous process, the inputs and outputs flow continuously without interruption. The fresh feed (1) continuously enters the system and is mixed with the two recycle streams (5 and 8) to form a combined stream (2) that enters Filter 1. The process then continues with the filtration and separation steps, producing various streams with different compositions. At no point does the process stop or require a batch or semibatch operation.