Chapter 5, Problem 5.26P

A stream of air at 35°C and a gauge pressure of 0.5 atm (Stream 1) flows into a pipe passing through a heater, emerges at 87°C and 0.2 atm (gauge), and splits into two streams. Stream 2 passes out of the system, and Stream 3 goes through another heater and emerges at 180°C and 0.1 atm (gauge). Flowmeters mounted in all three streams show readings of 3120 L/min (Stream 1), 1940 L/mm (Stream 2), and 3420 L/min (Stream 3).

(a) Show that the system is not functioning properly.

(b) Speculate on several possible causes of the malfunction, and state how you would check each one.