Week-1, Lecture-1 An Introduction

Shabina Khanam
Associate Professor
Department of Chemical Engineering

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 Presents the unit operations in
chemical engineering that involve
the handling and processing of
particulate solids.

Primary Features
 Covers the most important operations involving particulate solids
 Describes the characteristics of powders and particulates
 Explores common bulk solids processing operations, including sedimentation,
filtration, fluidization, Flotation
 Presents the operations relevant to transportation of solids

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 Unit Operations – Definition
In chemical engineering and related fields, a unit operation is a
basic step in a process. Unit operations involve a physical change
such as separation, crystallization, evaporation, filtration,
sedimentation, etc.
For example, in milk processing, homogenization, pasteurization,
chilling, and packaging are each unit operations which are
connected to each other to form the overall process. A process
may require many unit operations to obtain the desired product
from the raw materials.

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 Unit Operations – The History
Arthur D. Little used the concept of "unit operations" to explain industrial
chemistry processes in 1916 [1].
In 1923, William H. Walker, Warren K. Lewis and William H.
McAdams wrote the book The Principles of Chemical Engineering and
explained that the variety of chemical industries have processes which
follow the same physical laws [2]. They summed up these similar
processes into unit operations.
Each unit operation follows the same physical laws and may be used in all
relevant chemical industries.
For example the same engineering is required to design a mixer, even if
the use, market or manufacturers are very different.

[1] "Arther Dehon Little". Scatter Acorns That Oaks May Grow. MIT Libraries. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
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[2] Arthur D. Little, William H. Walker, and Warren K. Lewis". Chemical Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
Unit Operations – The History

It is as old as mankind and has been

used in a broad field industrial
activities such as food preparation,
ceramics, glass and building
technology. Some people consider
Particle technology as the second
oldest profession of mankind.
Powder Technology in ancient Egypt
illustrating the threshing process . Picture
from a wall painting in the tomb of Menna.

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 Unit Operations – The History
The history and origin of Henna is hard to
trace with centuries of migration and cultural
interaction it is difficult to determine where
particular traditions began.
Henna has been used in India since around
the 4th or 5th centuries.

As back as 3000BC in India Turmeric

Powder, Spices Powder and Ayurvedic
Medicine made up of powders (using
particle technology) were used.

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 Unit Operations – The History

The old traditional

method of grinding
the grains in India
and Africa, which
was widely used
until twentieth
century, was
crushing them by
Indian stone grinder Sudanese stone grinder stones.

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 Unit Operations
Around 75% of chemical manufacturing processes involve
small solid particles (fine particles) at some point. Proper
design and handling of these fine particles often makes the
difference between success and failure.

Many products such as catalysts, pigments, fertilizers, cements, ceramics

and pharmaceuticals are currently manufactured in particulate forms. In the
chemical industry, for example, more than half of the products and at least
three-quarters of the raw materials are in granular form.

Particles in fact do not behave as solids, their behavior is some what near to
liquids. These can be filled in a container to take its shape. As materials
become smaller, from the sub-micron scale to the nanometer scale, their
electric, optical and magnetic properties change extensively.
 Optimum Particle Size
There is an optimum particle size, or at least a smallest and largest
acceptable size, for most items involving particles.

 The taste of chocolate is affected by the size of their respective ingredients.

 Extremely fine amorphous silica is added to tomato ketchup to control its
flow.
 Pharmaceutical tablets dissolve in our systems at rates determined in part by
particle size and exposed surface area.
 The setting time of concrete, dental fillings, and broken-bone casts proceeds
in accordance with particle size and surface area exposure.
Range of particle diameters in different products
Particle size Product Particle size Product
8.83 m Chocolate Powder 710-3350µm Coffee Powder
30-80 m Spray Dried Milk 30-60m Coarse paint powders
150-450µm Sugar Caster 10-20 m Ultrafine powder paint
200-600µm Extra Fine Sugar 0.005-1.0 m Acrylic Paint
650-900µm Crystal 750 Sugar 10 m Talcum Powder
800-2200µm Coarse Sugar 1 m Wood smoke particles

Particle size analysis shows guidance to the chocolate producers in

their efforts to make the best consumer-acceptable product. The
control of chocolate viscosity is vital to its quality and production cost
and is directly influenced by solid particle size distribution (PSD). The
taste test results ranked the chocolate with the finest size distribution
as having the best taste and “mouth feel”.
Example of Wheat

Semolina

It is basically just the

carbohydrate content of
wheat and it is free from
vitamins, fiber, and protein.

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Properties affected by Size of Particulate Matter
There are a wide range of properties that change as the particle size of
materials reduces to below a critical size. The actual size at which this
change occurs is material dependent.

 Optical
 Magnetic
 Thermal
 Mechanical
 Energy
 Biomedical
 Environmental
 Surfaces
 Industries that uses Particulate Matter

Coal Chemicals Explosives Phosphorous Production

Ceramics Paints Food and Beverages
Potassium Production Glass Industry Plastics
Synthetic Fibers Nuclear Industry Biomedical
Fertilizer Pharmaceuticals Aerospace
 Unit Operations
Chemical engineering unit operations consist of five classes:
Fluid flow processes, including fluids transportation, filtration and
solids fluidization.
Heat transfer processes, including evaporation and heat exchange.
Mass transfer processes, including absorption, distillation,
extraction, adsorption, and drying.
Thermodynamic processes, including gas liquefaction and
refrigeration.
Mechanical processes, including solids transportation, crushing and
pulverization, and screening.

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 Unit operations of Particulate Matter
Target Audience
Undergraduate students.
However, this course will also be helpful for anyone of any
professional level, preferably holding a college degree or
with substantial industrial experience, working in the
production, handling, processing, modification and
transportation of particulate matter.
 Unit operations of Particulate Matter
Objectives of this course
 To identify the important physical mechanisms occurring in
processes involving particles
 To formulate and solve mathematical descriptions of such
processes
 To apply this knowledge to the design of particulate systems
such as Sedimentation tank, Filtration unit, Fluidization unit,
Flotation cell, etc.
 Unit operations Covered in this Course
Sedimentation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW_cuvYsDsI
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 Unit operations Covered in this Course
Filtration

http://scs.sk.ca/cyber/elem/learningcommunity/sciences/science10/curr_content/science10/
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unita/redon17.html
 Unit operations Covered in this Course
Fluidization

https://sites.google.com/site/lmcpabd/fluidized-bed 20
 Unit operations Covered in this Course
Flotation

https://www.britannica.com/technology/flotation-ore-dressing
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https://gabrielmichaelvega.wordpress.com/2011/12/05/the-physics-of-flotation/
 Unit operations Covered in this Course
Transportation of Particulate Matter

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 References
1 Backhurst, J. R. and Harker J. H.,”Coulson and Richardson Chemical Engineering”, Vol. II”,5th Ed.,
2002, Butterworth-Heinemann.
2 Brown G.G. and Associates, "Unit Operations", 1995, CBS Publishers.
3 McCabe W.L., Smith J.C and Harriott P., “Unit Operations of Chemical Engineering”, 7th Ed., 2005,
McGraw Hill.
4 Geankoplis C.J., Transport Processes and Separation Process Principles, 4th Ed., 2003, Prentice Hall.
5 Narayanan C.M. and Bhattacharya B.C., “Mechanical Operation for Chemical Engineers –
Incorporating Computer Aided Analysis”, 1992, Khanna Publishers.
 Summary of the video

 The course Unit Operations of Particulate Matter is defined

along with its industrial applications.
 The importance of the course is discussed while highlighting
its utility from ancient time to present days.
 The effect of particle size on product quality was discussed.
 Unit Operations covered in this course was briefed.

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Thank You!

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