DewPointControl

What/Whycontrolthedewpoint?

Theprocessfromathermodynamicviewpoint

Equipment

Binaryexample

Multi-componentexample

DistillationColumns
 What/Whycontrolthedewpoint?
T T Thedewpointisthetemperatureatwhich
vapour thefirstdropsofcondensateformwhen
coolingamulticomponentmixtureofgases
dew
point
Thebubblepointisthetemperatureatwhich
thefirstvapourisformedwhenheatinga
liquid-vapour multi-componentmixtureofliquids
bubble
point Attemperaturesbetweenthebubbleanddew
liquid pointsatwophasemixtureofliquidand
composition vapourisformed

Inpipelinesdesignedexclusivelyforgases,coolingwilloccurasthegasflowsdownthepipe.
Ifthevapourtemperaturefallsbelowthedewpoint,thenliquidslugsareformedwhichcan
damagethepipeline.
Thedewpointofagasmixtureischangedtoensurethisdoesnothappen.

Controllingthedewpointisawayofcontrollingthecompositionofthegasmixture
 Theprocessfromathermodynamicviewpoint
T starting point T
Theprocesscanbeexaminedusing
cooling aT-xydiagram,generatedfrom
thermodynamicdata/experiments.
dew point
Thegasmixtureisnormallyabove
specified dew itsdewpointandiscooleduntilit
separation
point reachesthedesireddewpointand
avapour-liquidmixtureisproduced.

Ifthismixtureisleftforlong
enough(5mins.max.)thenthe
liquidandvapourphaseswillbein
liquid vapour
composition composition equilibrium.

composition
Theseparationproducesliquidandvapourphasesinequilibrium.
Thedewpointofthevapourphaseisnowatthespecifiedvalue.
 Theprocessfromathermodynamicviewpoint
T T
Feed
Theboilingrangeisthe
differencebetweenthe
dewpointandthebubble
boiling point.
range

specified dew
point

composition

Iftheboilingrangeislargethendewpointcontrolcanbeachievedinonestep
 Theprocessfromathermodynamicviewpoint
T T

separation

heating

cooling

specified dew
point

composition
Iftheboilingrangeisnarrowthenmanystagesarerequired.
Thevapourfromeachstageiscooledandtheliquidfromeachstageisheated
 Equipment

Ifdewpointcontrolcanbeachievedinasinglestagethenallthatisrequiredisa
coolerandaseparationvessel.
vapour

HEAT
EXCHANGER
SEPARATOR

Feed

coolingfluid

liquid
 Equipment
vapour
product
C C C

C S S S S

liquid H H H
product

Whenmorestagesarerequired,anumberofheatexchangersandseparatorscanbeplacedinaline.

Ifmorethan4stagesarerequired,thenamorecosteffectivewayistoarrangethestagesina
column.

Theheating,coolingandseparationthentakeplaceononedistillationstage(plateortray).
 vapour Equipment
product
liquid

Feed

vapour

Thevapourpassingontothenextstage,iscooled
byheatingtheliquidonthenextstage.

Onestagecombinestheheattransferandseparation
liquidproduct dutiesoftheheater,coolerandseparationelements
ofasimpledewpointcontrolplant
 BinaryExample

Afeedatapressureof10barcontaining30mol%etheneand70mol%propaneistohave
itsdewpointreducedby13degreesKelvin.Thetemperatureofthefeedstreamis300Kand
theflowrateis0.1kgs-1.

UsetheT-xydiagramandthedatabelowtocalculate
(i) Thecompositionofthestreamsleavingaftertheseparation.
(ii) Thevapourandliquidflowrates.
(iii) Theheatloadonthecooler

Data
Liquid specific heat capacities
Ethene: CP , L=3078Jkg-1K-1 Propane: CP , L=2479Jkg-1K-1

Heats of Vapourisation

Ethene: HV =391700Jkg-1 Propane: HV =259700Jkg-1

Vapour specific heat capacities

Ethene: CP , V=1503Jkg-1K-1 Propane: CP , V=1628Jkg-1K-1
 BinaryExample
310
Feed dew point = 288 K Feed bubble point = 255 K
Feed
300

290

280

270

260

250

240

230

220
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
liquid or vapour mole% of ethene
 BinaryExample
310

300

290

280

270 A B C
260

250

240

230

220
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
liquid or vapour mole%

ForbinarysystemswecanusetheLeverruletofindthevapourfraction.
AB
vapour fraction, f =
AC
Bymeasuringthedistancesonthediagramwecanfindthevapourfraction
2.8 cm
f= = 0.38
7.4 cm

 BinaryExample
UsinginformationfromtheT-xydiagram

vapourcomposition-56%ethene,44%propane
liquidcomposition-13%ethene,87%propane

massflowofvapour=0.38x0.1=0.038kgs-1
massflowofliquid=(1-0.38)x0.1=0.062kgs-1

Theheatbalanceistakenoverthecoolerandtheseparator.Usingtheinletstreamisat300Kandthis
istakenasthedatum.Therearetwooutletstreams;thevapourat275Kandtheliquidat275K.

Theenthalpyofanyidealliquidorvapourstreamisgivenby
2
H = yi H i
i=1

Fortheindividualcomponents,theenthalpiesinthevapourandliquidaregivenby

275 275
H i,vap = H 10
i ,300 + CpdT  H i,liq = H 10
i,300 + CpdT - DH V
300 300
 BinaryExample
Sincethedatumisat300Kand10bar,theenthalpyiniszero.

Vapour
275
Ethene Enthalpy= 0 - 1503dT = 1503[ 275 - 300] = -37575 J kg -1
300
275
Propane Enthalpy= 0 - 1628dT = 1628[ 275 - 300] = -40700 J kg -1
300
.
H mix = m y i H i = 0.038(0.56 -37575 + 0.44 -40700) = -1480.1 J s -1

Liquid
275
Ethene Enthalpy= 0 - 1503dT - 391700 = 1503[ 275 - 300] = -429275 J kg -1
300
275
Propane Enthalpy= 0 - 1628dT = 1628[ 275 - 300] - 259700 = -300400 J kg -1
300
.
H mix = m y i H i = 0.062(0.13 -429275 + 0.87 -300400) = -19664 J s -1

 BinaryExample
2

Enthalpy Balance
H1=H2+H3+Q

0=-1480.1+-19664+Q

Q=21144.1Js-1 OR 21.1kW
 Multi-componentExample
Afeedmixturewhosecompositionisgivenbelowistohaveitsdewpointreducedby20degrees
Kelvininasinglestageoperation.Thetemperatureandpressureofthefeedare340Kand500
kParespectivelyandthefeedflowrateis1.5kgs-1.

Calculatethefollowing
(i)Theamountofliquidandvapourproduced.
(ii)Thecompositionoftheliquidandvapourstreams

Feed Composition
Component Mole%
Ethane 10.0
Propane 15.0
Propene 8.0
Butane 20.0
Butene 12.0
Pentane 25.0
Pentene 10.0
 Multi-componentExample

Formulti-componentmixtures,wecannotplottheT-xychartbecausewedonothave
enoughdimensions.

Insteadwehavetocalculatethebubbleanddewpointsforthemixture.

Weuseaniterativeprocedurebasedonamassbalanceoverthecombinedcoolerand
separator.
Vapour
flowrate=V
composition=yi
Feed
flowrate=F
vapourfractionf=V/F
composition=yF

cooler

Liquid
boundary for
mass balance flowrate=L
composition=xi
 Multi-componentExample
Overallmassbalance
L
F = L+V dividingbyFleadsto = 1- f
F

Componentmassbalance
Fy F = Lxi + Vy i dividingbyF y F = (1- f)x i + fy i

Theliquidandvapourproductstreamsareinequilibriumsowecanwritethat
y i = K ix i whereKi istheequilibriumconstant

Replacingyiinthecomponentmassbalance
y F = (1- f)x i + fK i xi

Rearrangingforxi leadsto
xF
xi =
1 + f (K i - 1)

Wecanwriteequationsliketheoneaboveforeachcomponent.Ifwecalculateliquidstreamcompositions
usingthecorrectvalueoffthentheyshouldallsumtoone.
Thisisthebasisofaniterativeproceduretofindf.
 Multi-componentExample
Weneedtodefinethebubbleanddewpointsofthismixture.

Foramulticomponentmixtureitisimpossibletoplotthedata,insteadweuseaniterativeprocedure
basedontheequilibriumatthebubbleanddewpoints.

Atequilibriumbetweenanidealgasvapourphaseandanidealsolutionliquidwecanwrite

x i Pisat = y i P

xi-molefractionofcomponentiintheliquid yi-molefractionofcomponentiinthevapour
Pi s a t-vapour(saturation)pressureofliquid P-systempressure.

Pi s a tisknownasafunctionoftemperatureformostofthehydrocarbonscommonlyencountered.

Itispossibletoarrangetheequilibriumconditiontofindtheequilibriumconstant,Ki,foreach
component.

y i Pisat
Ki = =
xi P

 BubbleandDewPoints
Bubble Point(feedcompositionusedasliquidcomposition)
Fromtheconditionforequilibrium

x i Pisat
yi =
P

Thesumofallthemolefractionsinthevapourphasemustbeone.

N
1 N N
y i = P x i Pisat = 1 fi x i Pisat = P
i=1 i=1 i=1

sincethevapourpressureisafunctionoftemperatureonly,weadjustthetemperatureuntilthiscondition
issatisfied.Thetemperatureatwhichthisisoccursisthebubblepoint.

Thevapourpressureisgivenbyequationsoftheform

a2
ln Pi sat = a1 + + a3 ln T + a 4 T a5
T

sowecannotsolvethisproblemanalytically,butinsteadhavetouseiterationonaspreadsheetfor
example.

 BubbleandDewPoints
Dew Point(feedcompositionusedasvapourcomposition)
Fromtheconditionforequilibrium

yi P
xi =
Pisat

Thesumofallthemolefractionsintheliquidphasemustbeone

N N
yi 1
x i = P sat
=1 fi N
=P
i=1 i=1 Pi y
sati
i=1 Pi

Thevapourpressureisafunctionoftemperatureonlysoweadjustthetemperatureuntilthisequationis
satisfied.Thisisthedewpoint.

Thisisaniterativeprocedure,thatiscarriedoutonaspreadsheet.
 IterationforBubblePoint
A B C D E F G H I

1 Pressure 500000
2

4 Guess T 200
5

6 Vapour pressure calculated using Psat = exp(A+B/T+ClnT+DT^E)

7

8 Component A B C D E Psat xi xi Psat

9 Ethane 51.857 -2598.7 -5.128 1.4913e-5 2 217218.5 0.10 21721.9
1 0 Propane 59.078 -3492.6 -6.067 1.0919e-5 2 20078.4 0.15 3011.8
1 1 Propene 57.263 -3382.4 -5.771 1.0431e-5 2 26721.9 0.08 2137.8
12 Butane 66.343 -4363.2 -7.046 9.4509e-6 2 1945.1 0.20 389.0
13 Butene 68.490 -4350.2 -7.412 1.0503e-5 2 2659.4 0.12 319.1
14 Pentane 78.741 -5420.3 -8.825 9.6171e-6 2 193.4 0.25 48.4
15 Pentene 120.150 -6192.4 -16.597 2.1922e-2 1 280.4 0.10 28.0
16

17 sum 27655.9

Changetheguesstemperatureuntilthesumisequaltothetotalpressure(500000Pa)
 IterationforBubblePoint
A B C D E F G H I

1 Pressure 500000
2

4 Guess T 281.19332
5

6 Vapour pressure calculated using Psat = exp(A+B/T+ClnT+DT^E)

7

8 Component A B C D E Psat xi xi Psat

9 Ethane 51.857 -2598.7 -5.128 1.4913e-5 2 2887149.8 0.10 288715.0
1 0 Propane 59.078 -3492.6 -6.067 1.0919e-5 2 602726.7 0.15 90409.0
1 1 Propene 57.263 -3382.4 -5.771 1.0431e-5 2 742530.0 0.08 59402.4
12 Butane 66.343 -4363.2 -7.046 9.4509e-6 2 138809.8 0.20 27762.0
13 Butene 68.490 -4350.2 -7.412 1.0503e-5 2 171293.8 0.12 20555.3
14 Pentane 78.741 -5420.3 -8.825 9.6171e-6 2 34860.8 0.25 8715.2
15 Pentene 120.150 -6192.4 -16.597 2.1922e-2 1 44412.4 0.10 4441.2
16

17 sum 500000.0

Thebubblepointofthismixtureis281.2K
 IterationforDewPoint
A B C D E F G H I

1 Pressure 500000
2

4 Guess T 335.63316
5

6 Vapour pressure calculated using Psat = exp(A+B/T+ClnT+DT^E)

7

8 Component A B C D E Psat yi yi / Psat

9 Ethane 51.857 -2598.7 -5.128 1.4913e-5 2 8606042.4 0.10 1.1620e-8
1 0 Propane 59.078 -3492.6 -6.067 1.0919e-5 2 2228441.2 0.15 6.7312e-8
1 1 Propene 57.263 -3382.4 -5.771 1.0431e-5 2 2670775.1 0.08 2.9954e-8
12 Butane 66.343 -4363.2 -7.046 9.4509e-6 2 678788.3 0.20 2.9464e-7
13 Butene 68.490 -4350.2 -7.412 1.0503e-5 2 807200.0 0.12 1.4866e-7
14 Pentane 78.741 -5420.3 -8.825 9.6171e-6 2 230216.4 0.25 1.0859e-6
15 Pentene 120.150 -6192.4 -16.597 2.1922e-2 1 276338.3 0.10 3.6188e-7
16

17 1 / sum 500000.0

Thedewpointis335.6K

Sincewewanttoreducethedewpointby20K,thedewpointofthemixturewillbe315.6K
 Iterationforthevapourfraction
Thetemperatureafterthecoolerisnowknowntobe315.6K.

WecancalculatethevapourpressuresforallthecomponentsandhencecalculateKiforeach
componentfrom;
Pi sat
Ki =
P

Usingtheformulafromthemassbalance

xF
xi =
1 + f (K i - 1)

wecancalculatethemolefractionofeachcomponentintheliquidleavingtheseparatorforsome
guessedvalueoff.

Changethevalueoffuntil

N
xi = 1
i=1
 Iterationforthevapourfraction
A B C D E F G
1 Pressure(Pa) 500000 bubble point = 281.2 K
2 dew point = 335.6 K
3
Vapour pressure calculated using Pvp = exp(A+B/T+ClnT+DT^E)
4 Component A B C D E
5 Ethane 51.857 -2598.7 -5.128 1.4913e-5 2
6 Propane 59.078 -3492.6 -6.067 1.0919e-5 2
7 Propene 57.263 -3382.4 -5.771 1.0431e-5 2
8 Butane 66.343 -4363.2 -7.046 9.4509e-6 2
9 Butene 68.490 -4350.2 -7.412 1.0503e-5 2
10 Pentane 78.741 -5420.3 -8.825 9.6171e-6 2
11 Pentene 120.150 -6192.4 -16.597 2.1922e-2 1
12
13 vap.fract. = 0.455
14
15 Component xF T (K) Pvp (Pa) Ki xi yi = Ki xi
16 Ethane 0.10 315.6 5941966 11.884 0.017 0.200
17 Propane 0.15 315.6 1450184 2.900 0.080 0.233
18 Propene 0.08 315.6 1753714 3.507 0.037 0.131
19 Butane 0.20 315.6 405636 0.811 0.219 0.177
20 Butene 0.12 315.6 487846 0.976 0.121 0.118
21 Pentane 0.25 315.6 125409 0.251 0.379 0.095
22 Pentene 0.10 315.6 153355 0.307 0.146 0.045
23
24 1.000 1.000
25
26 Mass flow in = 1.500 kg/s
27 vapour flow= 0.682 kg/s
28 liquid flow= 0.818 kg/s
29
 SeparationsinDistillationColumns
topproduct

Whenmanystagesarerequiredtoseparate
amixtureofchemicals,adistillationcolumn
isused.
Onestage
Eachstagerepresentsonecooling/heating
andseparationoperation.
Feed
Thevapourandliquidleavingastageare
assumedtobeinequilibrium.

bottom
product
 ThePartsofaDistillationColumn
condenser QC topproduct
(overheadsordistillate)

Reflux
rectificationsection

Onestage

Feed
strippingsection

QH

bottomproduct
Reboiler (bottomsorresidue)
 DesignofaDistillationColumn
Adistillationcolumnisessentiallyatubewithsomeinternalgas-liquidcontactingdevices.

Thediameterofthetubeisdeterminedbythehydrodynamics(fluidflowcharacteristics)ofthe
gas-liquidcontactingdevice.

Themaximumgas-liquidflowratethataplatecanprocessdeterminesthediameterofaplate
column.(floodinglimit)

Thelength(orheight)ofthecolumnisdeterminedbythenumberofstageswhichisrelatedto
thedifficultyoftheseparation.

Thecapitalcostofthecolumnisprimarilydeterminedbytheheightofthecolumn.

Theoperatingcostisdeterminedbytheamountofheatingandcoolingrequiredinthereboiler
andcondenser.

Theparameterthatcontrolsboththesecostsiscalledtherefluxratio.
 DesignofaDistillationColumn
optimumcost
totalcost

operatingcosts
Cost

fixedcosts
RefluxRatio
 DesignofaDistillationColumn
Thekeyfeaturesofcolumndesignandoperationcanbeexaminedusingasimplemodelofa
binarydistillation.

ThisiscalledtheMcCabe-Thielemethod.

Itisbasedonaplotofthemolefractionofacomponentinthevapourandliquidatequilibrium.

Thekeyassumptioninthemodelisthattheliquidandvapourflowratesintherectificationand
strippingsectionsofthecolumnareconstant.

Thebasisofthisassumptionisasfollows
-Onanystageinthecolumntheleastvolatilecomponent(highestboilingtemperature)is
condensingfromthevapourandevaporatingthemostvolatilecomponent(lowestboiling
temperature).

-Iftheheatsofvaporisationofbothcomponentsarethesamethenthevapourandliquidflows
willremainconstant.

-Thisisagoodapproximationforhydrocarbonsystems.
 Txy data for Benzene-Toluene at 101300 Pa

120

110 vapour
Temperature (C)

100

90

liquid 80
composition liquid
vapour 70
composition 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
Mole fraction Benzene

VapourandLiquidcompositionsatequilibriumareplottedonaseparatechart
 y-x diagram for Benzene-Toluene at 101300 Pa

1.0

0.9

0.8
Mole fraction benzene in vapour

0.7

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0.0
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
Mole fraction benzene in liquid
 Example

200molsofafeedcontaining50mol%benzeneand50mol%tolueneistobeseparatedintoatop
productcontaining99.5mol%benzeneandabottomproductcontaining99.5mol%toluene.Determine
thenumberofstagesrequirediftherefluxratiois1.5timestheminimumrequired.
 Condenser QC xD=0.995
D

overallmassbalanceonthecolumn
L0
rectificationsection
F=D+B

200=D+B

componentbalanceonthecolumn
F
xF =0.5 xF F=xDD+xB B
strippingsection

100=0.995D+0.005B

SolveforDandB

B=100mols
QH D=100mols
B
Reboiler xB =0.005
 Condenser QC xD=0.995
overallmassbalanceonrectificationsection
D
Vn-1=Ln+D
L0
componentmassbalance

yVn-1=xLn+xDD

stagen Thevapourflowrateisconstant-V
LiquidflowsareconstantL0 =Ln
DefinetherefluxratioasR=L0 /D RD=L0
LiquidLn VapourVn-1
incorporatingtheseassumptionsanddefinitionsinthe
componentmassbalance
yV=xRD+xDD

rearrangingandsimplifying
R xD
y = x +
R +1 R +1
 *Theequation:

R xD
y = x +
R +1 R +1

 iscalledtheoperating lineequationwhichrepresentsthecompositionsbetweenstages.

Theoperatinglineinthismodelistheequationofastraightlinewhosegradientandinterceptdependon
therefluxratio.

*Thisoperatinglineisvalidabovethefeedpoint.

Belowthefeedpointmassbalancesyieldthefollowingoperatingline

y=x
(R + F D) + x D - x F F
(1+ R) (1+ R) D(1+ R)
Theminimumrefluxratiocorrespondstotheliquidflowdownthecolumnfromthecondenserthatwill
causethevapourflowfrombelowthefeedtobeinequilibriumwiththeliquidfromabovethefeed

Atminimumrefluxthecolumncannotoperate
 y-x diagram for Benzene-Toluene at 101300 Pa

1.0

0.9

operatinglineatminimumreflux
0.8
Mole fraction benzene in vapour

intercept=0.43
0.7

0.6

0.5
Usingthevalueoftheinterceptwe
0.4 canfindRm i n
xD 0.995
0.43 = = fi Rmin = 1.971
0.3 Rmin + 1 R min + 1

0.2 Sinceweareusing1.5timesRm i n
Feed

Rm i n=1.5x1.314=1.971
0.1

0.0
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
Mole fraction benzene in liquid
 y-x diagram for Benzene-Toluene at 101300 Pa

1.0

0.9

0.8
Mole fraction benzene in vapour

0.7

0.6

0.5
17stages.feedon8thStage
0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1 Feed

0.0
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
Mole fraction benzene in liquid