DISTILLATION COLUMN

Distillation
Types of distillation columns
Batch columns
Continuous columns

Selection
Choice Between Plate and Packed Column
Plate column are designed to handle wide range of liquid flow rates without
flooding.
If a system contains solid contents; it will be handled in plate column, because solid
will accumulate in the voids, coating the packing materials and making it
ineffective.
Dispersion difficulties are handled in plate column when flow rate of liquid are low
as compared to gases.
For large column heights, weight of the packed column is more than plate column.
If periodic cleaning is required, man holes will be provided for cleaning. In packed
columns packing must be removed before cleaning.
For non-foaming systems the plate column is preferred.
Design information for plate column is more readily available and more reliable
than that for packed column.
Inter stage cooling can be provided to remove heat of reaction or solution in plate
column.
When temperature change is involved, packing may be damaged.

Design
Design Steps
Calculation of minimum reflux ratio.
Calculation of optimum reflux ratio.
Calculation of theoretical no. of stages.
Calculation of actual no. of stages.
Calculation of diameter.
Calculation of height.
Calculation of no. of holes.
Calculation of weeping and flooding.
Calculation of pressure drop.


49814.10037 kg


Top Product = 6850.67kg

Bottom = 42963.42kg

Continue . . .
Nature of feed
Pressure of feed = P=1100kpa
At, Temperature=103.7
o
C
Light Key (lk) =n-Butane
Heavy Key (hk) =n-Pentane
Top temperature =62
o
C
Bottom temperature=163
o
C
Feed is entering as liquid , so q=1.477

Continue . . .
Calculation of Minimun Reflux Ratio
Using Underwood Equation;

By iterations we find


R
min
= 1.334
Calculation of Optimum Reflux Ratio
R=(1,2 1.5) R
min
=2


q
x
n
i
i
F i
i
=

=
1
1
u o
o
1
min
1
+ =

=
R
x
n
i
i
D i
i
u o
o
Continue . . .
Calcualtion of Minimum No. of Plates
Using Fenske relation;



N
min
= 22
Using Gililand-Eduljee Relation



N = 22
Efficiency of the Plate
E
o
= 74 %
Actual No. of Stages
N=29
( )
avg HK LK
B
LK
HK
D
HK
LK
x
x
x
x
N
/
min
ln
ln
o
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
(
(

|
.
|

\
|
+

=
+

566 . 0
min min
1
1 75 . 0
1 R
R R
N
N N
Continue . . .
Location of Feed Plate:
Using Kirkbride relation;


We get


Actual N
D
= 11
Actual N
B
= 18

( )
( )

)

|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
2
log 206 . 0 log
D HK
B LK
F
LK
HK
B
D
x
x
x
x
D
B
N
N
621 . 0 =
B
D
N
N

Continue
Top Condition Bottom Conditions
L
n
= 204 kmol/hr
V
n
= 344Kgmol/hr
M aver. = 47.04Kg/Kgmol
T = 62
o
C
Liq density = d
L
= 520.8 Kg/m
3
Vap density = d
V
= 1.875Kg/m
3

L
m
= 292.172 Kmol/hr
V
m
= 175.25 Kmol/hr
M aver=117.75 Kg/Kgmol
T = 163
o
C
Liquid density = d
L
= 543 Kg/m
3
Vapor density = d
V
= 4.55 Kg/cm
3

Continue . . .
Flooding Velocity in Stripping Section


F
LV
= 0.44
Taking Plate Spacing = 0.8 m
From Graph
K
1
= 0.07
Now putting values in the following relation



Uf = 0.25 m/sec

L
V
m
m
LV
V
L
F

=
V
V L
f
K U

=
1
Continue . . .
Column Cross sectional Area in Stripping Section:
Taking Actual Operating Velocity to be 85% of the maximum
flooding velocity we get
Operating Velocity = 0.21 m/sec


Net Area = 2.2 m
2

Taking Down-comer Area as 12% of total cross sectional area we get
Total Column cross sectional Area = Net Area/0.88
A
c
= 2.5 m
2
Column Diameter
D
C
= 1.78 m (5.82 ft)

Velocity
rate Flow vol.

Operating
Vapor
Area Net =
Continue . . .
Flooding Velocity in Rectifying Section
F
LV
= 0.112
K
1
= 0.11
U
f
= 0.48 m/sec
Actual Operating Velocity = 0.41 m/sec
Net Area = 1.11 m
2

A
c
= 1.25 m
2

D
C
= 1.26 m
Nearest Standard available for Rectifying section = 1.37 m (4.5 ft)

Continue . . .
Tray Design for Stripping Section
Down-Comer Area = 0.12(A
c
)
A
D
= 0.316
Active Area = A
c
2A
D

A
a
= 2 m
2

Hole Area = 0.07(A
a
)
Take weir height = 38 mm
Plate Thickness = 3mm
Plate Spacing = 0.8m
Material of Construction = Stainless Steel


Continue . . .
Weir Length:

From Fig.

L
w
= 1.39 m
Weir Liquid Crest:
Using relation,

h
ow
= 66 mm

12 100 =
c
d
A
A
76 . 0 =
c
w
D
L
3 / 2
750
|
|
.
|

\
|

=
w L
m
ow
L
L
h

Continue . . .
For minimum Crest use 70% of maximum flow
h
ow(min)
= 52 mm
Min. Liquid Crest = h
w
+ h
ow
= 90 mm
Weeping Check:


From Fig. K
2
= 30.9
U
min
= 2.1 m/sec
Actual minimum Vapor velocity through holes;


V
act(min)
= 2.4 m/sec

( )
( )
2 / 1
2
min
4 . 25 9 . 0
v
h
d K
U

=
7 . 0
Area Hole
.
(min)
=
rate flow vol Vapor
V
act
Continue . . .
Pressure Drop for Stripping Section:
There are three main sources of pressure drop
(a) Flow through holes
(b) Static head of liquid on plate
(c) Residual pressure drop
Dry Plate Pressure Drop:


Plate thickness / hole diameter = 0.94


From Fig. C
o
= 0.82
Hence,h
d
= 38.3 mm-liquid

l
v
o
h
d
C
u
h

2
51
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
8 100 =
Ap
Ah
Continue . . .
Residual Head:

hr = 23 mm-liq.
Total Pressure Drop:
Total head loss per plate = h
d
+ h
r
+ h
w
+ h
ow

h
t
= 165 mm-liq.
Pressure drop per plate = 9.8110
-3
(h
t
) (
L
)
P = 883 Pa
Total Pressure drop in Stripping section;
P
s
= No. of plates in Stripping Section P
p

= 16 Kpa



L
r
h

3
10 5 . 12
=
Continue . . .
Down comer Backup:
Assuming that down comer is 6 mm below the weir level;
Then height of aperture thus formed is
h
ap
= h
w
- 6
=32mm
Flow Channel at bottom of down comer;
A
ap
=h
ap
L
w

= 0.05m
2



h
dc
=87.8

2
] [ 166
m l
wd
dc
A
L
h

=
Continue . . .

= 354mm
Residence Time:
=3.1

Height of Stripping Section:
H
s
= No of plates in Stripping section Plate Spacing
+ Vapor Disengagement section
H
s
= 16.3 m
Residence Time:
t
r
= 6 sec
Height of Rectifying Section:
H
s
= 9.7 m


d t ow w b h h h h h + + + =
m
L bc d
r
L
h A
t

=
Continue . . .
Tray Design for Rectifying Section:
A
D
= 0.1769
A
a
= 1.12 m
2

Hole Area = 0.112 m
2

Take weir height = 38 mm
L
w
= 1.12m
Weir Liquid Crest:
h
ow-min
= 17 mm
Min. Liquid Crest = h
w
+ h
ow
= 55 mm
Weeping Check:
From Graph K
2
= 30.2
U
min
= 2.36 m/sec
V
act(min)
= 2.9 m/sec
Continue . . .
Pressure Drop
h
d
= 35 mm-liquid
h
r
= 24 mm-liq.
h
t
= 123.4 mm-liq.
P
t
= 640 Pa
P
R
=7.1 Kpa
Down comer Backup:
h
ap
=32 mm
A
ap
= 0.05 m
2

h
dc
=4 mm-liq.
h
b
= 182 mm-liq

Continue . . .
Total Pressure drop in column
Total P
T
= P
s
+ P
R
=23KPa
Total Column Height:
H
c
= H
s
+ H
R

= 26 m