Steady-state (chemical engineering)

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A unit operation is considered to be at a steady state with respect to an operation variable if that variable does not change with time. Such a process is called a steady-state process.

[edit] Example

Say a barrel of water had a hole in the bottom. Your job is to use a hose and keep filling the barrel with water. If the hose is discharging the same amount of water into the barrel as is draining out, then the water level in the barrel would not rise or fall. When the water level is constant it would be considered to be at steady state.