Chemical Engineering Insights
DESIGN OF A
DISTILLATION
COLUMN
D E V SH A R M A
Mass Transfer Operations
DISTILLATION
COLUMN DESIGN
BINARY MULTI
COMPONENT COMPONENT
MIXTURE MIXTURE
Shortcut Rigorous FUG Method Rigorous
Method method DSTWU MODEL method
(McCabe-Thiele (Method of Ponchon RAD-Frac MODEL
Method) Savarit)
D E V SH A R M A
Mass Transfer Operations
SOME BASIC TERMINOLOGY FOR CALCULATION
Temperature and Pressure Considerations
FLASH FEED For Separation
Equilibrium Curve
> >
To maintain vapor >
flow inside column
Column Driving Force
>
Condenser
DISTILLATE
Reflux
Drum
FEED
Feed
Preheater
(RELATIVE VOLATILITY) Reboiler
A measure of the ease of separation of BOTTOMS
components in distillation.
Separation Not possible DIFFICULTY IN
=1 SEPARATION
by Ordinary Distillation (REFLUX RATIO)
No Reflux
Total
Reflux
D E V SH A R M A
Mass Transfer Operations
MCCABE-THIELE METHOD
The McCabe-Thiele method is a graphical technique used to design and analyze
binary distillation columns. It determines the number of theoretical stages required
for a given separation by plotting operating lines and equilibrium curves
Condenser
Assumptions
DISTILLATE 1. No Heat Losses
Reflux 2. Tray to tray vapor and
1 Drum
liquid flow is constant
2 throughout
3 Enriching Section
{CONSTANT MOLAR
OVERFLOW}
FEED Flashing Zone
Feed
Preheater
Known Data
N-2 Stripping Section
N-1
N
Reboiler
BOTTOMS
To Evaluate
(feed liquid fraction)
No. of Trays
>1 =1 1 > q >0 =0 <0 Feed tray Location
Feed Subcooled Saturated Vapor Liquid Saturated Superheated
Condition Liquid Liqid Mixture Vapor Vapor
D E V SH A R M A
Mass Transfer Operations
q values & slopes
For Operating line in Enrichment Section Equation for q line
(Slope & Intercept) q= 1 q= 0
1>q>0
Equilibrium Curve
y=x
By Staircase
Construction
No. of Trays = ✔
Feed Tray
Location = ✔
For this case
No. of trays = 4
Feed Tray Location = 2
D E V SH A R M A
Mass Transfer Operations
FUG METHOD (ANALYTICAL METHOD)
FENSKE EQUATION
Minimum Number of
Trays Calculation
LK - Light Key Component
HK - Heavy Key Component
UNDERWOOD EQUATION
Minimum Reflux
Ratio Calculation
Evaluate for LK & LLK
- Fraction in Feed
- Volatility w.r.t. a reference component
- Relative Volatility
- Fraction in Distillate
GILLILAND CORRELATION
Actual Reflux Ratio & Actual Number of Stages
Usually,
where
D E V SH A R M A
Mass Transfer Operations
TRAY EFFICIENCY
Point Tray Efficiency Murphy Tray Efficiency
The efficiency of a single point on Considers the entire tray and is
the tray. It is the ratio of the actual defined as the ratio of the
change in vapor composition to actual change in vapor
the maximum possible change composition to the change
dictated by the vapor-liquid that would occur if the vapor
equilibrium curve. were in equilibrium with the
liquid leaving the tray
Overall Column Tray Efficiency
Ratio of the number of theoretical trays (stages) to the actual number
of trays in the column.
D E V SH A R M A
