Scribd
Upload
218 views3 pages

Objective:: Bubble Cap Distillation Column

The document describes an experiment to study the effect of operational time on the composition and volume of distillate from a bubble cap distillation column. A mixture of 30% ethanol and 70% water is fed into the column and samples of the distillate are collected every 5 minutes to measure refractive index and volume. The experiment aims to correlate distillate composition and volume with operational time. Packing materials in the column enhance contact between vapors and reflux to improve distillate purity. Safety regulations and references are also listed.

Uploaded by

Husna Hafiza Bt. R.Azami
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
218 views3 pages

Objective:: Bubble Cap Distillation Column

The document describes an experiment to study the effect of operational time on the composition and volume of distillate from a bubble cap distillation column. A mixture of 30% ethanol and 70% water is fed into the column and samples of the distillate are collected every 5 minutes to measure refractive index and volume. The experiment aims to correlate distillate composition and volume with operational time. Packing materials in the column enhance contact between vapors and reflux to improve distillate purity. Safety regulations and references are also listed.

Uploaded by

Husna Hafiza Bt. R.Azami
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

BUBBLE CAP DISTILLATION COLUMN

Objective:

1. To study the effect of operational time on the composition and volume


of the product distillate.
2. To study the correlation between the volume of the product distillate
and the composition of the product distillate.

Theory:

Distillation process is a process of separating light components from other


components based on volatility differences. The components with lower
boiling points will vaporize first and therefore will be collected as distillate
with high purity. Packing materials are used to increase the surface area for
enhancing contact between the vaporized components with the reflux so
that purity of the product distillate can be further improved.

Equipment/Materials:

1. Bubble cap distillation column

2. Refractometer
3. Syringe
4. Beaker
5. Measurement cylinder
6. Reagent bottle
7. Stop watch
8. Water
9. Ethanol

Procedure:
1. Prepare 7 ethanol-water mixture using pipette. Obtain the refractive
index of the mixtures using refractometer.
2. Prepare 32 liters of ethanol-water feed mixture with composition of
methanol 30% and water 70%.
3. Make sure all equipment is in place and in good conditions before
starting the experiment.
4. Adjust the valves position as follows:
Open valve: V2
Close valve: RCV1, V3, V4
5. Turn on the electric heater simultaneously with the coolant flow
pump.
6. Set the reflux ratio at 2.0 or 3.0 by slowly openning reflux control
valve RCV1 and the product distillate will flow to RI 1B. The rest of the
product distillate will flow through RI 1A and return to the reboiler
vessel.
7. To collect product distillate which does not return to the reboiler
vessel, adjust the position of the valves as follows:
Close valve V2
Open valve V3 (Close valve V3 if V4 is opened)
Open valve V4 (to collect sample)
8. Measure the volume and refractive index of the collected product
distillate.
9. Repeat steps 7 and 8 for every 5 minutes and fill in the table given.
10. Reminder: Make sure samples of the standard material and the
product distillate are kept in the container given.

Questions:

1. Plot graph refractive index vs. %-mole ethanol for benchmark mixture
of ethanol-water.
2. Discuss the resulted graph.
3. Calculate the ethanol mole fraction from the refractive index.
4. Plot graph mole fraction and volume of product distillate vs. time.
5. Discuss the advantages of bubble cap distillation column.
6. Discuss the data and results obtained.
7. List all the safety regulations and precautions that need to be
considered when conducting the experiment.

References:

1. Geankoplis, C. J., “Transport Processes & Unit Operations”, 3rd Edition,


Prentice-Hall, 1995.
2. Mc Cabe, W. L., Smith, J. C. & Harriot, P., “Unit Operation of Chemical
Engineering”, 4th Edition, Mc Graw-Hill, 1985.
3. Coulson & Richardson, “Chemical Engineering”, Volume 2, Pergamon,
1983.

Experimental setup:

You might also like