4.

0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Experiment Data:

Molecular Weight (MW) of water (g/mol) 18.00

Molecular Weight (MW) of acetone (g/mol) 58.08
1000.0
The acetone-water mixture
Density of water (kg/m) 0
Density of acetone (kg/m) 791.00 refractive indices were
studied and tabulated in Table 1.

Volume of acetone (ml) 0 2 5 10 15 18 20

Volume of water (ml) 20 18 15 10 5 2 0
Mol of water (mol) 1.111 1.000 0.833 0.556 0.278 0.111 0
Mol of acetone (mol) 0 0.027 0.068 0.136 0.204 0.245 0.272
% mol of acetone (%) 0 2.652 7.554 19.688 42.378 68.811 100.000
Refractive index (nD) 1.3333 1.3376 1.3463 1.3577 1.3653 1.3640 1.3600

Table 1: Tabulation of Acetone-Water Mixture With Respective Refractive Indices

For calculation,

When volume of acetone is 2ml and volume of water 18ml, the calculation are as below.

Mole of Water (mol) = Mass of Water/MW of Water

Density of Water
( kgm ) x Volume of Water ( mL) x
3
1 m3
x
1 x 103 g
MW of Water (
g
) 1 x 106 mL 1 kg
mol
=
1000
( kgm ) x 18 ( mL ) x
3
1m
3
x
3
1 x 10 g
6
g 1 x 10 mL 1 kg
18( )
mol

= 1.000 mol
Mole of Acetone = Mass of acetone/MW of acetone

(mol) =

kg
Density of Acetone
m3 ( )
x Volume of Acetone ( mL )
x
1 m3
x
1 x 103 g
MW of Acetone (
g
) 1 x 10 6 mL 1 kg
mol

=
791
( mkg ) x 2 ( mL) x
3
1 m3
x
1 x 103 g
58.08(
g
) 1 x 10 6 mL 1 kg
mol

= 0.027238 mol

% mol of acetone (%) = (Mol of acetone/ Total mole in the mixture) x 100%
= (0.027238/1.027238) x 100%
= 2.652 %

The following data are calculated as the formula above.

A graph of Refractive Index (nD) versus % Mole Fraction of Acetone (%) is plotted based
on the calculation that had obtained above.

Refractive Index (nD) vs

% Mole Fraction of Acetone (%)
1.37

1.36

1.35

1.34
Refractive Index (nD)

1.33

1.32

1.31
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

% Mole Fraction of Acetone (%)

Graph 1: Refractive index Versus %-Mole Fraction of Acetone

From the benchmark mixture Graph 1, the corresponding %-mole acetone was inferred for
the experimental data obtained as shown in Table 2 below.

Time Temperature Temperature Volume Refractive Acetone Water

(min) mixture (oC) distillate (oC) distillate index (nD) Mole Mole-
(mL) Fraction Fraction
(%) (%)
5 78 58 310 1.3608 25.80 74.20
10 81 58 220 1.3620 30.00 70.00
15 83 58 180 1.3655 42.50 57.50
20 85 58 165 1.3640 68.00 32.00
25 87 58 135 1.3621 83.80 16.20
30 88 58 145 1.3620 84.00 16.00
35 90 58 140 1.3618 88.00 12.00
40 91 57 127 1.3623 81.90 18.10
45 92 57 95 1.3617 88.20 11.80
50 92 57 90 1.3619 87.00 13.00
55 93 57 83 1.3613 91.80 8.20
60 94 57 75 1.3612 92.00 8.00

Table 2: Experimental Data Over 60 Minutes With 5 Minutes Interval

 % Mole Fraction of Acetone (%) vs
Time (min)
100
90
80
70
60
50
% Mole Fraction of Acetone (%)
40
30
20
10
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Time (min)

Graph 2: % Mole Fraction of Acetone (%) Versus Time (min)

Volume distillate (mL) Versus Time (min)

350

300

250

200
Volume Distillate (mL) 150

100

50

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Time (min)

Graph 3: Distillate volume (mL) Versus Time (min)

 Distillate Temperature (C) vs Time (min)
60

58

56

Distillate temperature (C)

54

52

50
0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Time (min)

Graph 4: Distillate Temperature (C) Versus Time (min)

% Mole Fraction(%) vs Volume Distillate (mL)

100
90
80
70
60
% Mole fraction 50
40
30
20
10
0
50 100 150 200 250 300 350

Volume Distillate (mL)

Acetone Mole Fraction (%) Water Mole-Fraction (%)

Graph 5: % Mole Fraction (%) vs Distillate Volume (mL)

4.2 Data Analysis And Discussion :
The refractive index is a ratio of the speed of light in a medium relative to its speed
in a vacuum. This change in speed from one medium to another is what causes light rays to
bend. This is because as light travels through another medium other than a vacuum, the
atoms of that medium constantly absorb and reemit the particles of light, slowing down the
speed light travels at. In this experiment, refraction indexes for different composition of
acetone-water mixtures were obtained. (Stone, Jack A.; Zimmerman, Jay H., 2011).
From Graph 1 given, it depicted that the refractive index of acetone was increased
gradually with the increasing acetone concentration. However, the refractive index was
peaked at about 1.653 and then decreased slowly with the further increasing of acetone
composition. This was due to the density difference between pure acetone and diluted
acetone. From the result obtained, the refractive index for pure water was 1.333 while for
pure acetone was 1.359. These values were quite similar to the standard refractive index for
pure water and pure acetone at temperature of 25C. (Stone, Jack A.; Zimmerman, Jay H.,
2011)
By referring to Graph 2, the mole fraction of acetone increased throughout the
distillation process, within the range of 0.2580 to 0.920. From the 16 litres of mixture with
the composition of 80% water and 20% acetone prepared for this experiment, the resulting
composition of acetone distillate increased approximately from 25% to 92%, proving that
the concentration of desired acetone can be improved through distillation process.
Theoretically, the composition of acetone distillate should be kept constant throughout the
experiment. However, from Table, the mole fraction of acetone distillate increased generally
due to low separation efficiency of distillation column and the presence of impurities in the
column. (Seader, J.D. and Henley, Ernest J., 2006)
From Graph 3, the volume of distillate was generally decreasing as the process
proceeding. This experimental result proved that the composition of acetone in the mixture
decreased, hence the volume of distillate was also reduced as increasing of time. On the
other hand, Graph 4 indicated the temperature of distillate remained constant throughout the
process, which was at 57oC. This was because the acetone-water mixture achieved the
azeotropic boiling point.
Theoretically, the composition of distillate should be increased with the volume of
distillate which is enriched with more volatile component. As Graph, the experimental
results were opposed the theoretical result which the composition of distillate decreased
slightly with the increasing volume of distillate. This may due to the presence of incomplete
separation of acetone-water mixture and also the existence of impurities in this product,
affecting the accuracy of the result. (Kister, Henry Z., 1992).
By using packed reactor column, the efficiency of separation of acetone-water
mixture which exhibits azeotropic behaviours was improved as the packing materials in the
column provided better contacts of liquid and vapour. However, due to some errors have
occurred during the experiment, such as poor separation efficiency in the column and
presence of impurities in the column, there were some slight deviations from the expected
results in the experimental data.
4.3 Safety Regulation And Precaution:
1) Helmet and google should be wear when taking the temperature readings at the
distillation column all the times.
2) Temperature should be monitered constantly and avoiding the mixtures in the reboiler
from boiling uncontrollably.
3) Direct contact with the column,transferring pipes and boiler should be avoided to
prevent burns due to the extreme heat yielded by high temperature.
4) Make sure that there is no obstruction in the piping that could lead to excessive
pressure build up in the still and cause it to burst before start the experiment
5) Google should be used for avoiding from splashing of chemical into our eyes.
6) Chemical waste must be disposed of properly in the designated waste containers only.
7) When filling the boiler, we have to ensure that there is sufficient headspace for the
vapours to collect in, avoiding the liquid volume from expanding or foam
uncontrollably if the heat source is not carefully monitored and boil over or cause an
obstruction in the piping.
APPENDIX

Sample of inference of corresponding %-mole fraction of acetone