Equipment Design and

Costs for Separating

Homogeneous Mixtures


1. Distillation
Design Procedures for Columns with
Sieve Trays
Designation of design bases
Composition and physical properties of feed and
product
Special limitations: maximum temperature and
pressure drop restrictions, presence of reactive
materials or toxic components etc
Selection of design variables: operating pressure,
reflux ratio, feed condition
Establishment of physical equilibria data
data for binary pairs are combined with a model
(Wilson, NRTL and UNIQUAC) to predict multi-
component behavior; UNIFAC model is used for
prediction based on functional group
Design Procedures for Columns with
Sieve Trays (contd)
Determination of number of equilibrium stages
Underwood equation for minimum reflux
Minimum number of stages from Fenske equation




Number of equilibrium stages, N as a function of
and (Gilliand equation)



min
N
( )
av HK / LK
B
LK
HK
D
HK
LK
min
ln
x
x
x
x
ln
N
o
(
(

|
|
.
|

\
|
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
( ) ( ) ( ) | |
2 / 1
B HK / LK D HK / LK av HK / LK
o o = o
min
R
(
(

|
.
|

\
|
+

=
+

566 . 0
min min
1
1 75 . 0
1 R
R R
N
N N
Design Procedures for Columns with
Sieve Trays (contd)
Selection of column
internals



Design Procedures for Columns with
Sieve Trays (contd)
Determination of column
diameter





5 . 0
v
v L
2 . 0
sb nf
20
C V
|
|
.
|

\
|

|
.
|

\
|
o
=
nf n
V % 90 50 V =
n
"
v
n
V
m
A =
d n C
A A A + =
2 / 1
c
A 4
D
|
.
|

\
|
t
=
Design Procedures for Columns with
Sieve Trays (contd)
Efficiency:

Tray Spacing: 0.46 to 0.61 m (0.3 and
0.91 m are also used)
Column height
( ) | |
245 . 0
av
HK / LK L o
492 . 0 E

o =
o
act
E
N
N =
( ) H H 1 N H
s act c
A + =
s
H
Design Procedures for Columns with
Sieve Trays (contd)
Sieve Tray Geometry
Hole dia: 0.005-0.025 m
Fractional free area: 0.06-0.16 m2
Fractional downcomer area: 0.05-0.3 m2
Pitch/hole dia ratio: 2.5-4.0
Tray spacing: 0.305-0.915 m
Weir height: 0.025-0.075 m
Design Procedures for Columns with
Random Packing
Determination of diameter
Vapor velocity is 70 to 90 % of flooding velocity
Recommended pressure drop
400 to 600 Pa/m for atmospheric and high-pressure
separation
4 to 50 Pa/m for vacuum operations
200 to 400 Pa/m for absorption and stripping
column

Design Procedures for Columns with
Random Packing (contd)
Heights of columns
HTU method






) NTU )( HTU ( Z =
( )
c e G
"
v
A a K
m
HTU =
}

=
1
2
y
y
*
y y
dy
NTU
e L
L
e v
v
L v
a k
V
a k
V
HTU HTU HTU + = + =
L
mV
=
Design Procedures for Columns with
Random Packing (contd)
HETP method

|
.
|

\
|


=
1
ln
HTU HETP
( )N HETP Z =
Design Procedures for Columns with
Structured Packing
Design Procedures for Columns with
Structured Packing (contd)
Diameter
Height
HETP: Rule of thumb
10
a
29 . 9
HETP
p
+ =
Other Distillation Processes
Batch distillation:
Food, pharmaceuticals and biotechnolgy
industries
Rayleigh equation




}

=
2 i
1 i
x
x
i i
i
x y
dx
F
W
ln
Other Distillation Processes (contd)
Azeotropic distillation

Cost Estimation
Cost Estimation (contd)
Costs of distillation column
25 trays 50 trays
Cost Estimation (contd)
Costs of sieve tray
Cost Estimation (contd)
Cost Estimation (contd)
Cost Estimation (contd)
Cost Estimation (contd)
2. Absorption and Stripping
Gas Treatment with Solvent Recovery
Design Procedures
Column diameter: 70 to 90% of the
flooding velocity, Larger of the top or
bottom diameter is used
Number of equilibrium stages: Modified
Kremser equation




=

+
+
1 A
A A
1 N
i
i
1 N
i
Solute fraction absorbed
=

+
+
1 S
S S
1 N
i
i
1 N
i
Solute fraction stripped
V K
L
A
i
i
=
L
V K
S
i
i
=
Design Procedures (contd)
Stage efficiency and column height
Overall efficiency


Column height: Tray spacing/HTU/HETP

L o
log 8 . 57 2 . 19 E =
3. Membrane Separation
Selection of Membranes
Fabricated from natural and synthetic
polymers
Membrane modules
Plate and Frame ($250-400/m2)
Spiral-wound ($25-100/m2)
Hollow fiber ($10-20/m2)
Tubular ($250-400/m2)
Capillary ($25-100/m2)
Ceramic ($1000-1600/m2)
Concentration Profile across Membranes
Design Parameter
Permeance: porosity, solubility or partition
coefficient
Separation factor/selectivity
Purity and yield
Flow Patterns
4. Adsorption
Selection of Adsorbent
Activated Carbon
Molecular Sieve Zeolites
Silica gel
Activated Alumina
Basic Adsorption Cycles
Temperature Swing cycle
Cycle time: few hours
Capacity: 1 kg per 100 kg
of adsorbent
Basic Adsorption Cycles (contd)
Inert Purge cycle
Regeneration is done by purging inert
gas and lowering the partial pressure of
the adsorbate
Cycle times are only a few minutes
Capacity 1 to 2 kg adsorbate per 100 kg
adsorbent
Basic Adsorption Cycles (contd)
Pressure Swing cycle
Cycle time: few minutes
Capacity: 1 to 2 kg per
100 kg adsorbent