What is mass balance in thermodynamics?
A mass balance, also called a material balance, is an application of conservation of mass to the analysis of physical systems. By accounting for material entering and leaving a system, mass flows can be identified which might have been unknown, or difficult to measure without this technique.
Why are mass balances important?
In industry, mass balances are widely employed in engineering, and environmental analyses ( 1, 2 ). For example, mass balance theory is used to design chemical reactors, to analyze alternative processes to produce chemicals, as well as to model pollution dispersion and other processes, just to name a few.
What is a mass balance model?
Mass balance models are based on the law of conservation of mass/matter (the Lomonosov- Lavoisier law), which states that “mass of a closed system of substances will remain constant over time, regardless of the processes acting inside the system”.
What is mass balance and energy balance in a steady flow process?
Thermodynamic state, path, process and cycles and also “Pure substance in thermodynamics”. Today we will see here very important topic i.e. Mass balance and energy balance for a steady flow process with the help of this post.
How are mass and energy balances related in physics?
Mass and Energy Balances. One of the fundamental laws of physics states that mass can neither be produced nor destroyed—that is, mass is conserved. Equally fundamental is the law of conservation of energy. Although energy can change in form, it can not be created or destroyed.
Which is the control volume in the mass balance equation?
In our derivation of the mass balance equation, we have referred to the mass of pollutant in a lake and the fluxes of pollutant into and out of the lake—that is, we have used a lake as our control volume. Theoretically, any volume of any shape and location can be used. Realistically, however, certain control volumes are more useful than others.
What are the different types of mass balance problems?
Mass balance problems can be divided into those that are in steady state and those that are non-steady state. A steady-state situation is one in which things do not change with time—the incoming concentration and flow rate are constant, the outgoing flow rate is constant, and therefore the concentration in the control volume is constant.