DISTILLATION 541

in feed composition and uncertainties in plate efficiency, large columns are often
operated with the feed entering a few plates above or below the optimum location.
If large changes in feed composition are anticipated, alternate feed locations can
be provided.

HEATING AND COOLING REQUIREMENTS. Heat loss from a large insulated

column is relatively small, and the column itself is essentially adiabatic. The heat
effects of the entire unit are confined to the condenser and the reboiler. If the
average molal latent heat is ,\ and the total sensible heat change in the liquid
streams is small, the heat added in the reboiler q, is 17'\, either in watts or Btu per
hour. When the feed is liquid at the bubble point (q = 1), the heat supplied in
the reboiler is approximately equal to that removed in the condenser, but for other
values of q this is not true. (See page 554.)
If saturated steam is used as the heating medium, the steam required at the
reboiler is
17'\
m=-
, '\, (18.32)

where Ins = steam consumption

V= vapor rate from reboiler
'\, = latent heat of steam
,\ = molal latent heat of mixture
If water is used as the cooling medium in the condenser and the condensate
is not subcooled, the cooling-water requirement is
- V,\ V,\
= (18.33)

where In = water consumption .. ,i;.~;,

T2 - Tl = temperature rise of cooling water

Example 18.2. A continuous fractionating column is to be designed to separate

30,000 kgjh of a mixture of 40 percent benzene and 60 percent toluene into an
overhead product containing 97 percent benzene and a bottom product containing
98 percent toluene. These percentages are by weight. A reflux ratio of 3.5 mol to 1
mol of product is to be used. The molal latent heats of benzene and toluene are 7360
and 7960 caljg mol, respectively. Benzene and toluene fonn an ideal system with a
relative volatility of about 2.5; the equilibrium curve is shown in Fig. 18.16. The feed
has a boiling point of 9SOC at a pressure of 1 atm. (a) CalCrllate the moles of overhead
product and bottom product per hour. (b) Determine the number of ideal plates and
the position of the feed plate (I) if the feed is liquid and at its boiling point; (b) if the
feed is liquid and at 20'C (specific heat 0.44 cal/g-'C); (ib) if the ,feed is a mixture of
two-thirds vapor and one-third liquid. (c) If steam at 20 IbJ /in. 2 (1.36 atm) gauge is
used for heating, how much steam is required per hour for each of the above three
cases, neglecting heat losses and assuming the reflux is a saturated liquid? (d) If
cooling water enters the condenser at 25°C and leaves at 40°C, how much cooling
water is required, in cubic meters per hour?
542 MASS TRANSFER AND ITS APPLICATIONS

FIGURE 18.16
Example 18.2. part (b)(r).

Solution
(a) The molecular weight of benzene is 78 and that of toluene is 92. The concentra-
tions of feed, overhead, and bottoms in mole fraction of benzene are
40
78
XF = 40 60 = 0.440
78 + 92
2
XB = 2 78 98 = 0.0235
78+92
The average molecular weight of the feed is

The average heat of vaporization of the feed is

). ~ 0.44(7360) + 0.56(7960) ~ 7696 caVg mol
The reed rate F is 30,000/85.8 ~ 350 kg mol/h. By an overall benzene balance,
using Eq. (18.5).
D ~ 350 0.440 - 0.0235
153.4 kg mol/h
0.974 - 0.0235
B ~ 350 - 153.4 ~ 196.6 kg mol/h
 DISTILLATION 543

(b) Next we determine the number of ideal plates and position of the feed plate.
(1) The first step is to plot the equilibrium diagram and on it erect verticals at
xv, XF, and Xs. These should be extended to the diagonal of the diagram. Refer to
Fig. 18.16.
The second step is to draw the feed line. Here,! = 0, and the feed line is vertical
and is a continuation of line x = X F .
The third step is to plot the operating lines. The intercept of the rectifying line
on the y axis is, from Eq. (18.19), 0.974/(3.5 + 1) = 0.216. From the intersection of
this operating line and the feed line the stripping line is drawn.
The fourth step is to draw the rectangular steps between the two operating
lines and the equilibrium curve. In drawing the steps, the transfer from the rectifying
line to the stripping line is at the seventh step. By counting steps it is found that,
besides the reboiler, 11 ideal plates are needed and feed should be introduced on the
seventh plate from the top.t
(ill The latent heat of vaporization of the feed J. is 7696/85.8 = 89.7 cal/g.
Substitution in Eq. (18.24) gives
0.44(95 - 20)
q = 1+ = 1.37
89.7
From Eq. (18.31) the slope of the feed line is -1.37/(1 - 1.37) = 3.70. When
steps are drawn for this case, as shown in Fig. 18.17, it is found that a reboiler
and 10 ideal plates are needed and that the feed should be introduced on the fifth
plate.
(iil) From the definition of q it follows that for this case q = t and the
slope of the feed line is -0.5. The solution is shown in Fig. 18.18. It calls for a
reboiler and 12 plates, with the feed entering on the seventh plate.
(c) The vapor flow V in the rectifying section, which must be condensed
in the condenser, is 4.5 mol per mole of overhead product, or 4.5 x 153.4 =
690 kg mol/h. From Eq. (18.27),
V = 690 - 350(1 - q)
Using the heat of vaporization of toluene rather than that of benzene to be
slightly conservative in design, A = 7960 cal/g mol. The heat from 1 Ib of steam
at 20 Ibf/in' gauge, from Appendix 7, is 939 Btujlb; hence J. s = 939/1.8 = 522 cal/g.
The steam required, from Eq. (18.32), is
7960_
rn, = - V = 15.25[690 - 350(1 - q)] kg/h
522
The results are given in Table 18.2.

t To fulfill the conditions of the problem literally, the last step, which represents the reboiler,
should reach the concentration Xn exactly. This is nearly true in Fig. 18.16. Usually, Xn does
not correspond to an integral number of steps. An arbitrary choice of the four quantities X n , X F , X B ,
and Rn is' not necessarily consistent with an integral number of steps. An integral number can be
obtained by a slight adjustment of one of the four quantities, but in view of the fact that a plate
efficiency must be applied before the actual number of plates is established, there is little reason for
making this adjustment.
544 MASS TRANSFER AND ITS APPLICATIONS

FIGURE 18.17
Example 18.2, part (bXitJ.

(cl) The cooling water needed, which is the same in all cases, is, from Eq.
(18.33),

mw ~ 7960 x 690 ~ 366,160 kgjh

40 -25
The density of water at 25°C (77°F), from Appendix 14, is 62.241b/ft', or
62.24 x 16.018 ~ 996.3 kg/m'. The water requirement is 366,160/996.3 ~ 367.5 m'/h.
The use of cold feed, case (il), requires the smaIlest number of plates but the
greatest amount of reboiler steam. The total energy requirement for the reboiler
and the preheater is about the same for all three cases. The reasons for preheating
the feed, in most cases, are to keep the vapor flow rate about the same in both

TABLE 18.2
Solution to Example 18.2, part (c)
Reboiler steam mso Number of
Case q kg/h ideal plates

(i) 1.0 10,520 11

(ii) 1.37 12,500 10
(iii) 0.333 6,960 12
 DISTILLATION 545

5.
Feed line

I'IGURE 18.18
Example 18.2, part (b)(iU).

sections of the column and to make use of the energy in a hot-liquid stream such
as the bottom product.

MINIMUM NUMBER OF PLATES. Since the slope of the rectifying line is

RD/(RD + 1), the slope increases as the reflux ratio increases, until, when RD is
infinite, V = L and the slope is 1. The operating lines then both coincide
with the diagonal. This condition is called total reflux. At total reflux the
number of plates is a minimum, but the rates of feed and of both the overhead
and bottom products are zero. Total reflux represents one limiting case in
the operation of fractionating columns. The minimum number of plates required
for a given separation may be found by constructing steps on an x-y diagram
between compositions x D and x B using the 45' line as the operating line for both
sections of the column. Since there is no feed in a column operating under total
reflux, there is no discontinuity between the upper and lower sections.
For the special case of ideal mixtures, a simple method is available for
calculating the value of N min from the terminal concentrations X B and X D •
This is based on the relative volatility of the two components a AB, which is
defined in terms of the equilibrium concentrations

Ci. AB = YocA""",/X-,A=, (18.34)

YBe!xne