Mass Transfer

Group Homework

CHEN 4420
Mass Transfer

Date of Completion:
Prepared by:

10/04/16
Kyle Zygula, Artur Tkachev
Cole Clabough, Jesus McKinnon
Manisha Patel, Joe Amoabeng

Distillation is a process in which a mixture is separated physically into two or more

products by boiling out the more volatile component. Separation processes that take place inside
of a distillation tower are heavily driven by vapor-liquid equilibrium principles. As the volatility
of components approaches similar values, the relative difficulty of achieving separation
increases. Relative volatility, a variable that describes the difference in volatilities of two
chemicals, is defined as the ratio of K values of the more volatile and less volatile components;
, =

A fundamental concept that is used in distillation includes an analysis of theoretical

stages needed to achieve a desired separation in the column. Calculations necessary for the
analysis are based around the more volatile component entering the system and the design of the
column. An ideal distillation stage meets the following criteria: it operates under steady state
conditions and contains both vapor and liquid products; all vapor and liquid introduced to the
stage are perfectly mixed and are in very intimate contact with each other; and the total amount
of vapor entering the stage is in equilibrium with the liquid leaving the stage. Stage efficiency is
a variable that accounts for non-ideality of studied stages. The number of ideal stages is equal to
the number of non-ideal stages multiplied by the efficiency.
A columns operating conditions are important for the quality of the final product and
safety; at higher operating pressures, the relative volatility of the system is lower, which
increases the separation difficulty. As a result, reflux requirements for the column increase. The
column would require more stages and increased duties for the reboiler and condenser to perform
the separation. At higher operating pressures, the reboiler temperature rises, thereby requiring a
more expensive heating medium. If the same heating medium is used, a reboiler with a larger
heat transfer area would be required. A McCabe-Thiele diagram is an excellent graphical
analysis tool that applies the aforementioned concepts as a means of visualizing crucial stage
design parameters, such as the number of theoretical stages under varying parameters, feed
points and thermal settings, excessive reflux and overall pinched conditions.
Typically in the Chemical Industry, customers request that product provided meets their
minimum specifications. Product purity depends on the ability to separate the mixture into its
various components. Distillation has certain limitations; if the relative volatility between the
different components of the mixture approaches the value of one, then separating various
components becomes difficult without other separation methods. Furthermore, if a mixture is
extremely corrosive, highly fouling, or if any of the compounds are thermally unstable,
distillation is not advised as the primary separation method.
A method of purity enrichment is increasing the number of stages, which must be
accompanied by a hand-in-hand increment in boil-up and reflux ratios. However, an optimal
solution takes economic factors into consideration. Additional stages, reflux, and boil-up will
add operational costs to the tower. The study performed for this report shows how differences in
reflux ratio, boil-up, and final product purity affects the number of ideal stages.

In the first scenario of the study, reflux and boil-up ratios were altered while relative
volatility, efficiency, and more volatile stream compositions were defined. With a minimum
boil-up ratio of 0.51 and a reflux ratio of 3.3, the optimal feed was introduced at stage 11of 22
total stages. Any smaller reflux ratio resulted in an undefined solution. However, increasing the
reflux ratio resulted in a decreased number of stages; although the feed line location has not
changed, the feed stage lowered to stage 8 at the highest reflux ratio. Figure 1 presents the
minimum and maximum reflux ratio cases at a constant boil-up ratio. This could also be
confirmed by the generation of a key ratio plot which is far superior to identifying improperly
located feeds, especially with large multicomponent systems. Maintaining lower reflux ratios and
increasing the boil-up results in a lower number of required stages. In such cases, the feed line is
much higher in comparison to the previously mentioned case.

Figure 1 a) McCabe-Thiele Diagram at the lowest boil-up and reflux ratios, b) McCabe-Thiele Diagram at the highest reflux ratio and the lowest boil-up

Unlike the first scenario, in the second problem the light key component fractions in the
distillate and bottoms streams were not constant. Instead, the second scenario defaulted the boilup and reflux ratios to 1.0 and 3.0 respectively. The original instructions state that the mole
fraction of the most volatile component in the distillate has to be set substantially lower than in
the bottom stream ( 0.02, 0.98). However, that assumption is logically incorrect,
therefore the suggested ranges for the fractions were reversed.
During the first case of the second scenario, the xb fraction was kept at its lowest value
0.02, while the xd fraction was gradually increased ranging from 0.98 to 0.999. Thus resulting in
the relocation of the optimal feed stage from 7 to 11, and a total increase in the number of stages
from 12 to 16. In the second case, the fraction in the distillate stream was kept constant at its
lowest value of 0.98, while the xb fraction was gradually increased from 0.002 to 0.02. The
resulting changes decreased the required number of stages from 17 to 12, though the optimal
feed stage remained at stage 7. The feed stage did not change because the distillate rate did not
change. If it had increased, it would have caused the optimal feed stage to move higher in the
column.
As mentioned previously, higher purity may require more stages, which will demand an
increase in boil-up and reflux ratios to adjust the temperature gradient of the column. Such
correlations can be noticed in the results of this study. However, changes in the system require
further input of energy that increases operating costs. Another factor that is not considered in
this study is efficiency. All of the results are based on an ideal situation, which does not reflect
the real operations within chemical industries. Tower internals, trays and packing are not 100%
efficient. Non-ideal situations would require a taller shell and larger auxiliary equipment
(Exchangers, Pumps, etc.).