STAGED DISTILLATION

McCABE-THIELE METHOD
DISTILLATION WITH REFLUX
CONTINUOUS
DISTILLATION
TYPICAL
FLOWSHEET
F
D
La
Va
Vb
Lb
B, (W)
CONDENSER
REBOILER
RECTIFICATION
SECTION
STRIPPING
SECTION
PROCESS CONFIGURATION
PROCESS IS EQUIVALENT TO AN ABSORBER
ON TOP OF A STRIPPER
ABOVE FEED ABSORBER
BELOW FEED STRIPPER
EACH SECTION HAS DISTINCT MASS
BALANCE
OPERATING LINE
BOTH SECTIONS HAVE SIMILAR
EQUILIBRIUM
PRESSURE MAY VARY TOP TO BOTTOM
McCABE-THIELE MODEL
GRAPHICAL MODEL FOR ENTIRE
PROCESS
DIAGRAM IS BASED ON
THREE MASS BALANCES
RECTIFICATION
STRIPPING
FEED
EQUILIBRIUM LINE
ASSUMED CONSTANT
PRESSURE
COLUMN MASS BALANCES
MASS BALANCE RATIOS
D F
F B
B D
F D
B D
B F
B D F
x x
x x
B
D
x x
x x
F
B
x x
x x
F
D
ON SUBSTITUTI
B x D x F x COMPONENT
B D F OVERALL

=
+ =
+ =
, ,
:
:
:
RECTIFICATION (ENRICHING)
SECTION OPERATING LINE
MASS BALANCE IN UPPER
SECTION
FEED TRAY TO DISTILLATE
PRODUCT
TOP TRAY IS 1
TOTAL CONDENSER
n n n n D
a a a a D
n n
a a
L x V y D x
L x V y D x COMPONENT
L V D n TRAY TO TOP FROM
TEXT IN L V D L V D CONDENSER
=
=
=
= =
+ +
+
1 1
1
1
:
:
] [ :
RECTIFICATION OPERATING LINE
FROM COMPONENT EQUATION
ASSUMING CONSTANT MOLAL OVERFLOW (L/V =
CONSTANT)
) 8 4 . 11 (
1 1
1
1
1 1
1

+
+
+
=
= =
+ =
+
+
+ +
+
d
D
n
d
d
n
n
n a
d
n
D
n
n
n
n
R
x
x
R
R
y
V
L
SLOPE
D
L
R
V
Dx
x
V
L
y
STRIPPING SECTION OPERATING
LINE
MASS BALANCE IN
LOWER SECTION
FEED TRAY TO BOTTOMS
PRODUCT
BOTTOM TRAY IS n
REBOILER IS A STAGE
1 1
1
1
:
:
] [ :
+ +
+
+
=
=
=
= =
m m m m B
b b b b B
m m
N m b b
V y L x B x
V y L x B x COMPONENT
V L B m TRAY TO BOTTOM FROM
TEXT IN L V W V L B REBOILER
STRIPPING OPERATING LINE
FROM COMPONENT EQUATION
ASSUMING CONSTANT MOLAL OVERFLOW
(L
n
/V
m+1
= CONSTANT)
) 11 4 . 11 (
1 1
1
=
+ +
+
m
B
m
m
m
m
V
Bx
x
V
L
y
FEED LINE MASS BALANCE
FEED LINE (q-LINE) MASS BALANCE MUST
INCLUDE THE HEAT BALANCE


POSSIBLE FEED CONDITIONS (FIG. 11.4-7)

) 19 4 . 11 (
1 1

=
q
x
x
q
q
y
F
q FEED CONDITION
>1 SUPERCOOLED
1 SATURATED LIQUID
1<q<0 PARTIAL VAPOR
0 SATURATED VAPOR
<0 SUPERHEATED VAPOR
EQUILIBRIUM STAGE
CALCULATIONS
CONSTRUCT EQUILIBRIUM DIAGRAM
USE GRAPHICAL CONSTRUCTION
INSTALL ON A SPREADSHEET PROGRAM
EQUILIBRIUM DATA
CANNOT BE CALCULATED
USE CORRELATIONS
NORMALLY ISOBARIC

EQUILIBRIUM STAGE
CALCULATIONS
OPERATING LINE DATA
REPRESENT MASS BALANCES BETWEEN
FEEDS AND WITHDRAWALS
CAN HAVE MULTIPLE FEEDS AND
WITHDRAWALS
BINARY DATA
SYSTEM IS BASED ON BINARY SYSTEM
MULTI-COMPONENT USES PSEUDO-
BINARY SYSTEM (KEYS)
CALCULATION SEQUENCE
CONSTANT MOLAL OVERFLOW
ASSUMES THERE IS NO CHANGE IN
LATENT HEAT STAGE TO STAGE
ALLOWS OPERATING LINES TO BE
CONSTRUCTED AS STRAIGHT LINES
FOR SINGLE FEED, OVERHEAD AND
BOTTOM STREAMS, RECTIFICATION
OPERATING LINE IS PLOTTED FROM:
1 1
1
+
+
+
=
+
d
D
n
d
d
n
R
x
x
R
R
y
CALCULATION SEQUENCE
PLOT THE q-LINE (FEED LINE)
INTERSECTS AT x
F
ON x = y LINE
INTERSECTS EQUILIBRIUM LINE AT x,y



INTERSECTION WITH THE
RECTIFICATION OPERATING LINE
DEPENDS ON THE REFLUX RATIO
q
x
x
q
q
y
F

=
1 1
CALCULATION SEQUENCE
THE STRIPPING LINE IS
PLOTTED BY
DIFFERENCE
THE NUMBER OF
EQUILIBRIUM STAGES IS
DETERMINED BY
STEPPING BETWEEN THE
OPERATING LINES AND
THE EQUILIBRIUM LINE
NUMBER IS NOT LIKELY
TO BE AN EXACT
INTEGER
GRAPHICAL DEMONSTRATION
PLOT EQUILIBRIUM
DATA
LOCATE PRODUCT
VALUES, x
D
& x
B
AND
FEED x
F
LOCATE THE FEED
LINE
LOCATE THE
RECTIFICATION
OPERATING LINE
LOCATE THE
STRIPPING
OPERATING LINE
STEP OFF THE
EQUILIBRIUM STAGES


ACETONE(1)/BENZENE(2) COLUMN
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
X ACETONE)
Y
(
A
C
E
T
O
N
E
)
x
B
x
F
x
D
x,y
LIMITING CASES
MINIMUM REFLUX RATIO
OPERATING LINES INTERSECT WITH
EQUILIBRIUM LINE (PINCH POINT)
MINIMUM REFLUX FOR INFINITE STAGES
ACTUAL REFLUX
MUST BE
GREATER
'
'
1 x x
y x
R
R
D
D
dMIN
dMIN

=
+
LIMITING CASES
TOTAL REFLUX
MINIMUM NUMBER OF EQUILIBRIUM
STAGES
NO FEED
V = L
LIMITING CASES
CONSTANT RELATIVE VOLATILITY
YIELDS FENSKE EQUATION TO
ESTIMATE N
min
(11.4-23)

AB
D B
B D
x x
x x
N
o ln
) 1 (
) 1 (
ln
min
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