Forums | Portfolio Discussions

05 July 2023, 9:04 PM

At first, the Mass Balance class looked so unfamiliar to me so I worried that I wouldn't be able to understand the concept of this course easily. However, after I attended a few classes, I found that I already learned some basic concepts in the first semester. There are a few important topics that I learned from Mass Balance class. The lecturer of this course is Dr Zarina. The first class was started by ice breaking and I introduced myself about my name, pre-u, age and hometown. The first topic that I learned is Introduction to Engineering Calculations that includes an overview of this course. The physical textbook for this course is important, therefore our lecturer prepared the link to buy the book. However, luckily my senior passed her own textbook for me. This course is different from others since we should obey some guidelines for tests and final exams such as writing in blank A4 paper and box the final numerical answers. The lecturer also prepared the example from each chapter for us and teach step by step who lets us more understanding about the chapter. The second topic that I learned is process & process variables that include unit conversion, force, density, pressure, flow rate, and chemical composition. I can understand this topic easily because I had learned it since first semester in Industrial Seminar & Profession class. In unit conversion, I learned to use the method for using conversion factor. The method is important to obey to make sure the answers are accurate and get the marks for calculation. In Mass Balance class, I learned a few chemical processes such as distillation, extraction, absorption, filtration, and crystallization. Those chemical processes are important for changing chemical and physical properties to produce the needed product in industry. The clear process flow diagram (PDF) should be drawn and must list the basis of the diagram clearly for the purpose calculation. The streams that enter the process unit are input while the streams that out from the process unit are output. There are some symbols for different unknowns so it can clearly identify. I faced some problems in identifying the position of the unknowns in input or output stream. Therefore, I used a Degree of Freedom Analysis (DOF) to check the PDF, if the DOF is not equal to zero, I will correct the flow diagram again. Dr Zarina will do some quiz to test our understanding. Through the quiz, I understood my mistakes and did some corrections.

After that, the lecturer introduced us to the new topic which is material balance on single unit. In this topic, I learned the basic concept of normal balance which is input equal to output (in = out). On 17 April 2023, Test 1 was held. Before the test, I do a lot of pass year question and I will discuss with my friend about the question I cannot done it by myself. Through the discussion, I learned some lessons from my mistakes. During the answering, I found that time management is very important because the time is limited and I will fail to answer the questions if I do not manage the times for each question. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with my result of test 1 because I only got the half mark in this test.

Test 2 start on 23 May 2023 included the new subtopic was started which was recycle and bypass. I learned some chemical process which are filtration and crystallising will recycle their product to get the higher molar composition of product and avoid the wasting filtrate happen. The next chapter is Chemical Reaction and Stoichiometry, we learned to use the chemical balance to solve the question. From the chemical balance, we got the limiting reactant and theoretical weight by using the stoichiometry coefficient in chemical balance. This chapter will related to the next chapter which is process combustion. The molar composition of air is the basic we must know which is 0.21 mol Oxygen/mol and the 0.79 mol Nitrogen/mol.

The main assignment in this course is a mini project. We started to look again at all the details in the description and draw the process flow diagram by ourselves before the discussion in the group. So, I sketched the diagram in blank paper before starting the drawing in Excel. After I finished the drawing, I shared it in my group to compare with others. The team leader shared the Excel's link and Word's link in the group for editing. I faced the problems in starting the calculation at which parts before there are many unknowns. Therefore, we decided to draw the overall process flow diagram in excel and complete the degree of freedom analysis for each device in every sheet of Excel. After that, we decided to start calculations from the oxidative reactor by using the extent of reaction. After solving the unknowns in the oxidative reactor, the unknowns in other devices can be easily solved by using the normal balance. Since I was not familiar with Excel, therefore I faced some problems in calculating the answers by using formulas and linking each other. However, I watched back the recording of the Excel seminar to solve the problems. Through this course, I learned that communication is very important to build a strong team. Because good communication can improve work productivity since the correct opinions and instructions can pass to others in a shorter time. Besides that, it can prevent any misunderstanding among team members.

Test 3 placed on 26 June 2023 which included the new chapter which is single phase system and single component in multiple phase. I learned the ideal gas and non-ideal gas from these two chapters. The most important information from these two chapters are Raoult’s Law and Antoine Equation to solve the problem. These chapters are more difficult and it depends on data from the textbook.