No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or any means, electronic, mechanical,

photocopying, or otherwise without the prior permission of the author.

GATE SOLVED PAPER

Chemical Engineering
Process Calculations

Copyright © By NODIA & COMPANY

Information contained in this book has been obtained by authors, from sources believes to be reliable. However,
neither Nodia nor its authors guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any information herein, and Nodia nor its
authors shall be responsible for any error, omissions, or damages arising out of use of this information. This book
is published with the understanding that Nodia and its authors are supplying information but are not attempting
to render engineering or other professional services.

NODIA AND COMPANY

B-8, Dhanshree Tower Ist, Central Spine, Vidyadhar Nagar, Jaipur 302039
Ph : +91 - 141 - 2101150
www.nodia.co.in
email : enquiry@nodia.co.in
 GATE SOLVED PAPER - CH
Process Calculations

Year 2011 Two Marks

Q. 1 Ammonia is synthesised at 200 bar and 773 K by the reaction N 2 + 3H 2 2NH 3

. The yield of ammonia is 0.45 mol/mol of fresh feed. Flow sheet for the process
(along with available compositions) is shown below.

Y
N
PA
M
O
The single pass conversion for H 2 in the reactor is 20%. The amount of H 2 lost in

(A) 10% C
the purge as a percentage of H 2 in fresh feed is
(B) 20%
(C) 45%
& (D) 55%

IA
Q. 2 The following combustion reactions occur when methane is burnt.

D
CH 4 + 2O 2 " CO 2 + 2H 2 O ; 2CH 4 + 3O 2 " 2CO + 4H 2 O
20% excess air is supplied to the combustor. The conversion of methane is 80%

O
and the molar ratio of CO to CO 2 in the flue gas is 1 : 3. Assume air to have

N
80 mol% N 2 and rest O 2 . The O 2 consumed as a percentage of O 2 entering the
combustor is

©
(A) 20%
(C) 80%
(B) 62.5%
(D) 83.3%

Year 2010 One Mark

Q. 3 An equimolar liquid mixture of species 1 and 2 is in equilibrium with its vapour at

400 K . At this temperature, the vapour pressures of the species are p1,sat = 180 kPa
and p2,sat = 120 kPa . Assuming that Raoult’s law is valid, the value of y1 is
(A) 0.3 (B) 0.41
(C) 0.50 (D) 0.60

Year 2010 Two Marks

Q. 4 At constant T and p, the molar density of a binary mixture is given by ρ = 1 + x2

, where x2 is the mole fraction of component 2. The partial molar volume at
infinite dilution for component 1, V 1, 3 is
(A) 0.75 (B) 1.0
(C) 2.0 (D) 4.0
GATE SOLVED PAPER - CH Process Calculations

Q. 5 A saturated solution at 30cC contains 5 mol of solute (mol wt = 50 kg/k mol) per
kg of solvent (mol wt = 20 kg/k mol). The solutiblity at 100cC is 10 mol of the
solute per kg of the solvent. If 10 kg of the original solution is heated to 100cC ,
then the weight of the additional solute that can be dissolved in it, is
(A) 0.25 kg (B) 1 kg
(C) 2 kg (D) 3.34 kg

Q. 6 The product of combustion of methane in atmospheric air (21% O 2 and 79% N 2

) have the following composition on a dry basis:
Product Mol%
CO 2 10.00
Y
O2 2.37
N
CO 0.53
PA
M
N2 87.10

O
The ratio of the moles of CH 4 to the moles of O 2 in the feed stream is

C
(A) 1.05 (B) 0.60
(C) 0.51 (D) 0.45

&
Year 2009
IA One Mark

Q. 7
D
A dehumidifier (shown below) is used to completely remove water vapour from
air
O
N
©
Which one of the following statements is true?
(A) Water is the only tie component
(B) Air is the only tie component
(C) Both water and air are tie components
(D) There are no tie components

Q. 8 Dehydrogenation of ethane, C 2 H 6 ^g h " C 2 H 4 ^g h + H 2 ^g h, is carried out in a

continuous Stirred Tank Reactor (CSTR). The feed is pure ethane. If the reactor
exit stream contains unconverted ethane along with the products, then the number
of degrees of freedom for the CSTR is
(A) 1 (B) 2
(C) 3 (D) 4
GATE SOLVED PAPER - CH Process Calculations

Year 2009 Two Marks

Q. 9 Pure water (stream W ) is to be obtained from a feed containing 5 wt% salt using
a desalination unit as shown below.

If the overall recovery of pure water (through stream W ) is 0.75 kg/kg feed, then
the recycle ratio (R/F) is
(A) 0.25 (B) 0.5
(C) 0.75 (D) 1.0
Y
N
Year 2008

PA Two Marks

M
Q. 10 600 kg/h of saturated steam at 1 bar (enthalpy 2675.4 kJ/kg) is mixed adiabatically
with superheated steam at 450ºC and 1 bar (enthalpy 3382.4 kJ/kg). The product

O
is superheated steam at 350ºC and 1 bar (enthalpy 3175.6 kJ/kg). the flow rate

C
of the product is
(A) 711 kg/h (B) 1111 kg/h
(C) 1451 kg/h
& (D) 5051 kg/h

IA
Q. 11 The molar volume ^V h of a binary mixture of species 1 and 2 having mole
fractions x1 and x2 respectively is given by V = 220x1 + 180x2 + x1 x2 ^90x1 + 50x2h.

D
The partial molar volume of species 2 at x2 = 0.3 is

O
(A) 183.06 (B) 212.34

N
(C) 229.54 (D) 256.26

Q. 12
©
Air (79 mol % nitrogen and 21 mol % oxygen) is passed over a catalyst at high
temperature. Oxygen completely reacts with nitrogen as shown ahead.
0.5 N 2 ^g h + 0.5 O 2 ^g h " NO ^g h
0.5 N 2 ^g h + O 2 ^g h " NO 2 ^g h
The molar ratio of NO to NO 2 in the product stream is 2 : 1. The fractional
conversion of nitrogen is
(A) 0.13 (B) 0.20
(C) 0.27 (D) 0.40

Q. 13 A 35 wt% Na 2 SO 4 solution in water, initially at 50ºC is fed to a crystallizer

at 20ºC. The product stream contains hydrated crystals Na 2 SO 4 .10H 2 O in
equilibrium with a 20 wt% Na 2 SO 4 solution. The molecular weights of Na 2 SO 4
and Na 2 SO 4 .10H 2 O are 142 and 322 respectively. The feed rate of the 35%
solution required to produce 500 kg/h of hydrated crystals is
(A) 403 kg/h (B) 603 kg/h
(C) 803 kg/h (D) 1103 kg/h
GATE SOLVED PAPER - CH Process Calculations

Q. 14 Carbon black is produced by decomposition of methane

CH 4 ^g h " C ^ s h + 2H 2 ^g h
The single pass conversion of methane is 60%. If fresh feed is pure methane and
25% of the methane exiting the reactor is recycled, the the molar ratio of fresh
feed stream to recycle stream is
(A) 0.9 (B) 9
(C) 10 (D) 90

Common Data For Questions 15, 16 and 17 :

Methane and steam are fed to a reactor in molar ratio 1 : 2. The following reactions

Y
take place,
CH 4 ^g h + 2H 2 O ^g h " CO 2 ^g h + 4H 2 ^g h
CH 4 ^g h + H 2 O ^g h " CO ^g h + 3H 2 ^g h
N
The exit stream has the following composition:
PA
where, CO 2 is the desired product, CO is the undesired product and H 2 is a by-product.

Species CH 4 H2O CO 2
M
H2 CO
Mol% 4.35 10.88 15.21
O 67.39 2.17
Q. 15
C
The selectivity for desired product relative to undesired product is

&
(A) 2.3 (B) 3.5
(C) 7 (D) 8

IA
Q. 16 The fractional yield of CO 2 is (where fractional yield is defined as the ratio of

D
moles of the desired product formed to the moles that would have been formed,

O
if there were no side reactions and the limiting reactant had reacted completely)
(A) 0.7 (B) 0.88
(C) 1
N (D) 3.5

Q. 17
©
The fractional conversion of methane is
(A) 0.4
(C) 0.7
(B) 0.5
(D) 0.8

Year 2007 One Mark

Q. 18 If mi , m i , m iR , m iE are molar, partial molar, residual and excess properties

respectively for a pure species i , the mixture property M of a binary non-ideal
mixture of components 1 and 2, is given by
(A) x1 m 1 + x2 m 2 (B) x1 m 1R + x2 m 2R
(C) x1 m1 + x2 m2 (D) x1 m 1E + x2 m 2E

Year 2007 Two Marks

Q. 19 If the percentage humidity of air (30ºC, total pressure 100 kPa) is 24% and the
saturation pressure of water vapour at that temperature is 4 kPa, the percent
relative humidity and the absolute humidity of air are
(A) 25.2, 0.0062 (B) 25, 0.0035
(C) 20.7, 0.0055 (D) 18.2, 0.0035
GATE SOLVED PAPER - CH Process Calculations

Statement For Linked Answer Q 20 and 21 :

44 kg of C 3 H 8 is burnt with 1160 kg of air (mol wt = 29) to produce 88 kg of CO 2 and
14 kg of CO.
C 3 H 8 + 5O 2 " 3CO 2 + 4H 2 O
Q. 20 What is the percent excess air used?
(A) 55 (B) 60
(C) 65 (D) 68

Q. 21 What is the percent carbon burnt?

(A) 63.3 (B) 73.3
(C) 83.3 (D) 93.3

Y
Year 2006
N One Mark

Q. 22

PA
At a given temperature and pressure, a liquid mixture of benzene and toluene
and toluene is in equilibrium with its vapour. The available degree(s) of freedom
is (are)
M
O
(A) 0 (B) 1

C
(C) 2 (D) 3

&
IA
Year 2006 Two Marks

D
Q. 23 For a binary mixture of A and B at 400 K and 1 atm, which one of the following
equilibrium states deviates significantly from ideality?

O
ln ^pA,sath = 6.2 − 2758

N
Given,
T
where, pA,sat = vapour pressure of A (in atm)


© T = temperature (in kelvin)
pA = partial pressure of A (in atm)
xA = mole fraction of A in liquid
yA = mole fraction of A in vapour
(A) xA = 0.5 ; yA = 0.25
(B) xA = 0.5 ; pA = 0.25
(C) xA = 0.5 ; pA = 0.5
(D) xA = 0.6 ; yA = 0.3

Q. 24 A Metal Recovery Unit (MRU) of intake capacity 5000 kg/h treats a liquid
product from a plant and recovers 90% of the metal in the pure form. The
unrecovered metal and its associated liquid are sent to a disposal unit along with
the untreated product from the plant (see figure below). Find the flow rate ^m 6h
and the weight fraction of the metal ^w 6h. The liquid product flow rate is 7500
kg/h of composition 0.1 (wt fraction), Assume steady state.
GATE SOLVED PAPER - CH Process Calculations

(A) m 6 = 7500 kg/h , w 6 = 0.0 (B) m 6 = 7050 kg/h , w 6 = 0.04255

(C) m 6 = 4500 kg/h , w 6 = 0.1712 (D)
Y
m 6 = 5600 kg/h , w 6 = 0.0314

N
A feed stream ^S1h at 100 kg/h and containing only A mixes with recycle stream
A
Q. 25

P
S5 before entering the reactor (see figure below), where the reaction A " B takes
place. The operation is at steady state. The stream S 3 leaving the reactor is

M
separated, without either phase or composition change into two streams S 4 and

O
S5 . If the mass fraction of B in S 4 in 0.95 and total flow rate of S5 is 10 kg/h ,
then the ratio of flow rates of streams ^S 3 /S5h, and the flow rate of A in S 3 are
respectively
C
&
IA
D
O
N
©
(A) 11 and 110 kg/h
(C) 11 and 5.5 kg/h
(B) 24 and 240 kg/h
(D) 70 and 330 kg/h

Q. 26 A liquid mixture of benzene and toluene is in equilibrium with its vapour at

101 kPa and 373 K. The vapour pressure of benzene and toluene at 373 K
respectively are 156 and 63 kPa. Assuming that the system obeys Raoult’s law,
the mole fraction of benzene in the liquid phase is
(A) 0.65 (B) 0.41
(C) 0.065 (D) 0.04

Year 2005 One Mark

Q. 27 A process flow sheet analysis results in the degrees of freedom having a value of
–2, which one of the following steps must be next carried out?
(A) Identify and add two new independent equations from process model
(B) Remove two equations that have been wrongly assumed to be independent
(C) Assign values of two variables in the process
(D) Assign value to one variable and remove one equation that was wrongly
assumed to be independent
GATE SOLVED PAPER - CH Process Calculations

Year 2004 One Mark

Q. 28 The weight fraction of methanol in an aqueous solution is 0.64. The mole fraction
of methanol xM satisfies
(A) xM < 0.5 (B) xM = 0.5
(C) 0.5 < xM < 0.64 (D) xM $ 0.64

Year 2004 Two Marks

Q. 29 80 kg of Na 2 SO 4 (mol wt = 142) is present in 330 kg of an aqueous solution. The

solution is cooled such that 80 kg of Na 2 SO 4 .10H 2 O crystals separate out. The
weight fraction of Na 2 SO 4 in the remaining solution is
(A) 0.00 (B) 0.18
(C) 0.24 (D) 1.00

Y


Statement For Linked Answer Q 30 and 31 :
N
PA
1 mol of methane undergoes complete combustion in a stoichiometric amount of air. The
reaction proceeds as CH 4 + 2O 2 " CO 2 + 2H 2 O . Both the reactants and the products

M
are in gas phase.

O
∆H o298 =− 730 kJ/mol of methane

C
Q. 30 Mole fraction of water vapour in the product gases is about
(A) 0.19 (B) 0.33

&
(C) 0.40 (D) 0.67

IA
Q. 31 If the average specific heat of all the gases/vapour is 40 J/(mol-K), the maximum
temperature rise of the exhaust gases in ºC would be approximately equal to
(A) 1225
D (B) 1335

O
(C) 1525 (D) 1735

Q. 32
N
A vessel of volume 1000 m3 contains air which is saturated with water vapour.

©
The total pressure and temperature are 100 kPa and 20ºC, respectively. Assuming
that the vapour pressure of water at 20ºC is 2.34 kPa, the amount of water vapour
(in kg) in the vessel is approximately
(A) 17 (B) 20
(C) 25 (D) 34

Q. 33 The number of degrees of freedom for an azeotropic mixture in a two component

vapour-liquid equilibrium is/are
(A) 0 (B) 1
(C) 2 (D) 3

Q. 34 The vapour pressure of water is given by

ln p sat = A − 5000 ,
T
where A is a constant, p sat is vapour pressure in atm and T is temperature in
kelvin. The vapour pressure of water in atm at 50ºC is approximately
(A) 0.07 (B) 0.09
(C) 0.11 (D) 0.13
GATE SOLVED PAPER - CH Process Calculations

Year 2003 Two Marks

Q. 35 6 g of carbon is burnt with an amount of air containing 18 g oxygen. The product

contain 16.5 g CO 2 and 2.8 g CO besides other constituents. What is the degree
of conversion of the basis of disappearance of the limiting reactant?
(A) 100% (B) 95%
(C) 75% (D) 20%

Q. 36 An aqueous solution of 2.45% by weight H 2 SO 4 has a specific gravity of 1.011.

The composition expressed in normality is
(A) 0.2500 (B) 0.2528

Y
(C) 0.5000 (D) 0.5055

N
Q. 37

PA
Air at a temperature of 20ºC and 750 mm Hg pressure has a relative humidity
of 80%. What is its percentage humidity? Vapour pressure of water at 20ºC is

M
17.5 mm Hg.

O
(A) 80.38 (B) 80

C
(C) 79.62 (D) 78.51

Q. 38
&
Na 2 SO 4 .10H 2 O crystals are formed by cooling 100 kg of 30% by weight aqueous

IA
solution of Na 2 SO 4 . The final concentration of the solute in the solution is 10%.
The weight of crystals is

D
(A) 20 (B) 32.2

O
(C) 45.35 (D) 58.65

Q. 39
N
A sample of natural gas containing 80% methane ^CH 4h and the rest nitrogen
^N 2h is burnt with 20% excess air. With 80% of the combustibles producing CO 2

©
and the remainder going to CO, the Orsat analysis in volume percent is
(A) CO 2 : 6.26 , CO : 1.45, O 2 : 3.91, H 2 O : 15.66 , N 2 : 72.60
(B) CO 2 : 7.42 , CO : 1.86, O 2 : 4.64 , N 2 : 86.02
(C) CO 2 : 6.39 , CO : 1.60, O 2 : 3.99 , H 2 O : 15.96 , N 2 : 72.06
(D) CO 2 : 7.60 , CO : 1.90, O 2 : 4.75 , N 2 : 85.74

Year 2002 One Mark

Q. 40 Methane is mixed with stoichiometric proportion of oxygen and completely

combusted. The number of additional specifications required to determine the
product flow rate and composition is
(A) 0 (B) 1
(C) 2 (D) 3

Q. 41 The number of degrees of freedom for an azeotropic mixture of ethanol and water
in vapour-liquid equilibrium is
(A) 3 (B) 1
(C) 2 (D) 0
GATE SOLVED PAPER - CH Process Calculations

Year 2002 Two Marks

Q. 42 Fresh orange juice contains 12% (by weight) solids and the rest water. 90% of the
fresh juice is sent to an evaporator to remove water and subsequently mixed with
the remaining 10% of fresh juice. The resultant product contains 40% solids. The
amount of water removed from 1 kg fresh juice is
(A) 0.4 (B) 0.5
(C) 0.6 (D) 0.7

Q. 43 1 kg of saturated aqueous solution of a highly soluble component A at 60ºC is

cooled to 25ºC. The solubility (0.2 kg A)/(kg water) at 25ºC. The amount in kg
of the crystals formed is
(A) 0.4 (B) 0.25
(C) 0.2 (D) 0.175

Year 2001
Y One Mark

N
A
Q. 44 For the case of a fuel gas undergoing combustion with air, if the air/fuel ratio is

P
increased, the adiabatic flame temperature will
(A) increase
(B) decrease
M
O
(C) increase or decrease depending on the fuel type
(D) not change
C
Year 2001
& Two Marks

IA
Q. 45 A butane isomerization process produces 70 kmol/h of pure isobutane. A purge

D
stream removed continuously contains 85% n -butane and 15% impurity (mol %).

O
the feed stream is n -butane containing 1% impurity (mol %). The flow rate of
the purge stream will be

N
(A) 3 kmol/h (B) 4 kmol/h

©
(C) 5 kmol/h (D) 6 kmol/h

Year 2000 One Mark

Q. 46 In a binary liquid solution of components A and B, if component A exhibits

positive deviation from Raoult’s law then component B
(A) exhibits positive deviation from Raoult’s law
(B) exhibits negative deviation from Raoult’s law
(C) obeys Raoult’s law
(D) may exhibit either positive or negative deviation from Raoult’s law

Q. 47 The molar composition of a gas is 10% H 2 , 10% O 2 , 30% CO 2 and balance H 2 O

. If 50% H 2 O condenses, the final mole percent of H 2 in the gas on a dry basis
will be
(A) 10% (B) 5%
(C) 18.18% (D) 20%

**********
GATE SOLVED PAPER - CH Process Calculations

ANSWER KEY
Process Calculations
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(A) (D) (D) (A) (C) (D) (B) (D) (B) (D)
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
(B) (B) (C) (B) (C) (A) (D) (A) (A) (D)
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
(C) (A) (C) (B) (C) (B) (B) (B) (B) (A)
31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40

Y
(D) (A) (B) (D) (B) (D) (C) (D) (B) (B)

N
41 42 43 44 45 46 47

A
(B) (D) (C) (B) (C) (A) (D)

P
M
O
C
&
IA
D
O
N
©