Material Balance Equations for Reactive Systems Steady-State and Continuous Operation

1 Material Balance Equations for Reactive Systems (Steady-State and Continuous Operation) 

As mentioned previously, matter is neither created nor destroyed, but it is conserved. The law of conservation of matter postulates that the amount of material before and after a process is strictly the same. What the law of conservation of matter implies is that, beyond transformations, matter is always conserved. In other words, atoms react with each other as substances, but atoms are neither created nor destroyed. 

Formulation of a general mass balance for a reactive and open system under steady-state conditions (process unit)  

Referring to Fig. 8.3, the total mass balance under steady state can be written as follows  

Total input mass — Total output mass = 0. 

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