Methanol is produced by reacting with carbon monoxide and hydrogen. A fresh feed stream containing
CO and H2 joins a recycle stream, and the combined stream is fed to a reactor. The reactor outlet stream
flows at a rate of 350 mol/min and contains 10.6 wt% H2, 64.0wt% CO, and 25.4 wt% CH3OH. (Notice that
those are percentages by mass, not mole percent). This stream enters a cooler in which most of the
methanol is condensed. The liquid methanol condensate is withdrawn as a product, and the gas stream
leaving the condenser-which contains CO, H2, and 0.4 mole% uncondensed CH3OH vapor- is the recycle
stream that combines with the fresh feed.
Without doing any calculations, prove that you have enough information to determine (i) the molar flow
rates of CO and H2 in the fresh feed, (ii) the production rate of liquid methanol, and (iii) the single-pass and
overall conversions of CO. Then perform the calculations.