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13. There are two operating lines one each for rectifying and stripping sections in a distillation column under normal operation. (a) How come there is only one operating line under total reflux? (b) Which of the two sections includes the feed plate? 14. As the reflux ratio is increased from the minimum, number of stages decreases continuously. Why should then the fixed cost for the column show a minimum when plotted against the reflux ratio? 15. If a mixture forms an azeotrope, what can be done to achieve the necessary separation by distillation? 16. If the solvent flow rate in an absorption tower is not dictated by the process requirements (the absorption tower may be only one of the many units in a big chemical process) and one is free to choose a suitable value, how is it done? 17. When the operating and equilibrium lines are both straight, the number of ideal stages in absorption in plate columns can be calculated by a formula based on the absorptionfactor method, and graphical construction can be avoided. (a) Give physical meaning to the various terms in the equation for the absorption-factor method? (b) What is the new form of this equation when the two lines are not only straight but parallel too? Interpret the numerator and denominators of this equation physically. 18. SO2 is to be removed from a given sulfur dioxide air mixture in an absorption tower fed with pure water to reduce its concentration in the outlet gas to an acceptable specified value to meet the anti-pollution requirements. The operating pressure could be 1.0 atm. or 5.0 atm. What possible advantage can one expect from a highpressure operation? 19. Plot the equilibrium curve of ammoniaair-water, in mole-fraction units, at 1.0 atm and 30 C, over the concentration range covered by the solubility chart given in McCabe and Smith. Repeat the calculation when the total pressure is 2.0 atm. Do you notice any difference between the two curves? Discuss its possible implications. 20. A gas-liquid operation is one in which a gas and a liquid phase are brought into contact for diffusional exchange. As one moves from humidification to absorption to distillation, complexity increases. Explain. 21. (a) Why is distillation the most important of all mass transfer operations? (c) What is that operating feature which makes it so? 25. (a) Most modern experimental data on packed towers are given in HTUs rather than in coefficients. Why? (b) What is the physical meaning of a transfer unit? 26. An increase in system pressure increases the number of stages in a distillation column, while they decrease in an absorption tower. Discuss. 27. When is distillation not a viable option for separating two components, or n-components, from a mixture? 28. In gas absorption one comes across solubility charts and equilibrium curves. Do they give the same information? If yes, why not have only one of them? 2
29. In gas absorption, you have less soluble and more soluble gases. Will the slope of the equilibrium curve for a less soluble gas be more or less than that for a more soluble gas? Explain qualitatively. 30. In a gas absorption process, certain assumptions are made about inlet gas mixture and liquid solvent. What are they? How do they help? 31. What is the Fenske equation and what is it useful for? 32. What are the essential differences between azeotropic and extractive distillation? 33. What is steam distillation and under what circumstances is it useful? What does steam do in such a distillation process?