CEIC3004 Process Equipment Design — Distillation Column Design

DCD

Introduction to
Distillation Column
Design
Sarah Grundy; [email protected]
Emma Lovell; [email protected]
 Before we start …
• Resources: Separation Process Principles (3rd ed.)

• DCD folders (Moodle) arranged in weeks as per topic area below

• Software: Aspen Plus (UNSW myAccess)

• Course schedule: DCD (4 weeks)

 Lecture DCD 0: Pre-work on Binary Distillation Column (CEIC3001)
 Lecture DCD 1: Multicomponent flash calculation (SG)
 Lecture DCD2: Shortcut method (EL)
 Lecture DCD3: Rigorous solution procedures (SG)
 Lecture DCD4: Process simulation on DCD (SG)
 Lecture DCD5: Column design: plate efficiency, sizing and packing (EL)
 Lecture DCD6: Plate Hydraulic design (EL)
 Lecture DCD7: Enhanced distillation (SG)
 Lecture DCD8: Residue curve maps (EL)
 Followed by Design Report workshops
 Lecture Learning Outcomes

1. Recall distillation column principles

2. Understand multicomponent distillation and applying flash calculations to

solve multicomponent distillation problems.

3. Derivation of Rachford-Rice and Newton-Raphson methods to estimate

initial distillation operating conditions that can be applied to solve more
complex computer simulator models.

• DCD Quiz: open Week 9 and closed Week 10

− One quiz only
− Two attempts
− 4% of total course marks
− All DCD material from DCD1-DCD8
recap…….Bubble point and Dew point
• Bubble point is the temperature (at a
given pressure) where the first
bubble of vapour is formed when
heating a liquid consisting of two or
more components.

• Dew point is the temperature (at a

given pressure) where the first
droplet of condensate is formed
when cooling a vapour consisting of
two or more components.
What is distillation?
• A process in which a liquid or vapour mixture of two or more
components is separated into its component fractions of
desired purity
• Based on the fact that the vapour of a boiling mixture will be
richer in the components that have lower boiling points
• Energy intensive process in terms of cooling and heating
• A large contributor to plant operating costs, maybe more than
50%
Brief introduction to crude oil distillation
• The terminologies used in this video is excellent so you should familiarise yourself
with it: tower, trays, “flash” zone, rectification, stripping, reflux, boil-up etc….
• Microsoft Teams video #DCD

Refinery Crude Oil Distillation Process Video Link

Types of distillation columns
Packed Bed Column
• Used often for absorption and distillation of vapour-liquid mixtures
• Liquid flows downward through the packing
• Vapour flows upward through the packing

• Advantages
• Cost efficient
• Lower pressure drop
• Good for thermally sensitive liquids
• Disadvantages
• Packing can break during installation
• Mal-distribution of liquid
Types of distillation columns
Tray Column
• The number of trays is dependent on the number of equilibrium stages

• Advantages
• Better distribution
• Can handle high liquid flow rates

• Disadvantages
• Higher pressure drop than packed columns
• Foaming can occur due to induced agitation
Distillation principles
• A distillation column is a series of equilibrium flashes with
feed and two product streams
• Exit liquid is at bubble point
• Exit vapour is at dew point
• A sub-cooled liquid (“A”) is heated, its concentration
remains constant until it reaches the bubble-point,
when it starts to boil (“B”)
• The vapour evolved during the boiling has the
equilibrium composition given by “C” How to read binary phase
• This is approximately 50% richer in component A than diagram: video link
the original liquid
• This difference between liquid and vapour
compositions is the basis for distillation process
Flash zone in distillation column

Rectification section

Stripping section
 Flash zone in distillation column

Rectification section

Flash zone

Stripping section

Reminder: stage numbers convention (mention re- methods)

recap…….Bubble point and Dew point
• Bubble point is the temperature (at a
given pressure) where the first
bubble of vapour is formed when
heating a liquid consisting of two or
more components.

• Dew point is the temperature (at a

given pressure) where the first
droplet of condensate is formed
when cooling a vapour consisting of
two or more components.
Check-in slide
• What would use your bubble point
calculation for as initial estimate?

• What would use your dew point

calculation for as initial estimate?
 Multicomponent flash evaporation
• Flash evaporation: A liquid stream containing several
components is partially vaporised in a “flash drum” at a
certain pressure and temperature. This results in two
phases: a vapour phase, enriched in the more volatile
components, and a liquid phase, enriched in the less
volatile components.
• The fluid is pressurised and heated and is then passed
through a throttling valve into the flash drum. Because of
the large drop in pressure, part of the fluid vaporises. The Unless the volatility difference
vapour is taken to overhead, while the liquid drains to the between components is very large,
bottom of the drum, where it is withdrawn. flashing is not a replacement for
distillation, but an auxiliary operation
used to prepare streams for further
processing (distillation).

Separation Process Principles (3rd ed.) Chapter 4.4

Reminder: Phase equilibrium and K-value
K-value
Notation:
𝒚𝒚𝒊𝒊 z: feed mole fraction
𝑲𝑲𝒊𝒊 = Vapour-liquid distribution ratio
𝒙𝒙𝒊𝒊 Vapour-liquid equilibrium ratio x: liquid mole fraction
y: vapour mole fraction

• A measure of the tendency of a given chemical species to partition itself

preferentially between liquid and vapour phases
• It serves as a measure of the "lightness" of a constituent species

𝑷𝑷𝒊𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒂𝒕𝒕
Raoult’s law 𝒚𝒚𝒊𝒊𝑷𝑷 = 𝒙𝒙𝒊𝒊𝑷𝑷𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒂𝒕𝒕
𝒊𝒊 𝑲𝑲𝒊𝒊 =
𝑷𝑷
𝜸𝜸𝒊𝒊 𝑷𝑷𝒊𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒂𝒕𝒕
Modified Raoult’s law 𝒚𝒚𝒊𝒊𝑷𝑷 = 𝒙𝒙𝒊𝒊𝜸𝜸𝒊𝒊𝑷𝑷𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒂𝒕𝒕
𝒊𝒊 𝑲𝑲𝒊𝒊 =
𝑷𝑷
 Complete DePriester
chart on Moodle

Reminder: DePriester chart

P decreases

T increases
DePriester chart
exercises

At 2000 kPa, what is

the boiling point of
ethane?
DePriester chart
exercises

At 2000 kPa, what is

the boiling point of
ethane?

At 15ºC, what is the

saturated vapour
pressure of iso-
butane?
DePriester chart
exercises

At 2000 kPa, what is

the boiling point of
ethane?

At 15ºC, what is the

saturated vapour
pressure of iso-
butane?
Multicomponent flash calculation
• Short videos can be found on Moodle DCD1 section
• Transcript of Multicomponent flash calculation video on
Moodle DCD1
• Two strongly recommended videos: Crude oil and
Multicomponent Flash 1
• Additional videos: Multicomponent Flash 2 and Newton-
Raphson method video on Moodle
Flash process
Flash process variables

Process variables Description Number of variables

Composition 3 streams, C components 3C
each (zi, yi, xi)
Flowrate F, V and L 3
Temperature TF, TV and TL 3
Pressure PF, PV and PL 3
Heat transfer Q (heat duty) 1
Total 3C + 10
Equations for single-stage flash
Equation Description Number of equations
𝑇𝑇𝑉𝑉 = 𝑇𝑇𝐿𝐿 Thermal equilibrium 1
𝑃𝑃𝑉𝑉 = 𝑃𝑃𝐿𝐿 Mechanical equilibrium 1
𝐹𝐹𝑧𝑧𝑖𝑖 = 𝐿𝐿𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖 + 𝑉𝑉𝑦𝑦𝑖𝑖 Component material C
balance
𝑦𝑦𝑖𝑖 = 𝐾𝐾𝑖𝑖𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖 Phase equilibrium C
𝑐𝑐 𝑐𝑐

� 𝑦𝑦𝑖𝑖 = 1 � 𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖 = 1 Summations 2

𝑖𝑖=1 𝑖𝑖=1
ℎ𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹 + Q = ℎ𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉 + ℎ𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿 Energy balance 1
Total 2C + 5
𝐾𝐾𝑖𝑖 = 𝑓𝑓 (𝑇𝑇𝑉𝑉, 𝑃𝑃𝑉𝑉, 𝑦𝑦, 𝑥𝑥) ℎ 𝑠𝑠𝑡𝑡𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 = 𝑓𝑓 (𝑇𝑇𝑠𝑠𝑡𝑡𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚, 𝑃𝑃𝑠𝑠𝑡𝑡𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚, 𝑠𝑠𝑡𝑡𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑖𝑜𝑜𝑛𝑛)

MESH equations
Material balances, Equilibrium ratios, Summations, and H-equation (energy balance)
Degrees of freedom
Number of variables Number of equations Degrees of freedom
(NV) (NE) (DF)

DF = NV - NE
3C + 10 2C + 5 C+5
If the feed is totally specified, C + 3 variables are known (zi, F, TF, and PF)

2C + 7 2C + 5 2

Totally specified feed

Minimum of 2 degrees of freedom
Adiabatic flash
Isothermal flash
 Step Equations
Vaporised fraction 𝜓𝜓=𝑉𝑉/𝐹𝐹

Flowrates V = 𝜓𝜓𝐹𝐹
L = (1-𝜓𝜓)𝐹𝐹
Material balance 𝐹𝐹𝑧𝑧𝑖𝑖 = 𝜓𝜓𝐹𝐹𝐾𝐾𝑖𝑖 𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖 + (1-𝜓𝜓) 𝐹𝐹𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖
𝑧𝑧𝑖𝑖
Rearrangement 𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖 =
1 + 𝜓𝜓(𝐾𝐾𝑖𝑖 − 1)
Phase equilibrium 𝐾𝐾𝑖𝑖 𝑧𝑧𝑖𝑖
𝑦𝑦𝑖𝑖 = 𝐾𝐾𝑖𝑖 𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖 =
1 + 𝜓𝜓(𝐾𝐾𝑖𝑖 − 1)
𝑐𝑐 𝑐𝑐
Summations
� 𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖 − � 𝑦𝑦𝑖𝑖 = 0
𝑖𝑖=1 𝑖𝑖=1
𝑐𝑐
Rachford-Rice equation 𝑧𝑧𝑖𝑖 (1 − 𝐾𝐾𝑖𝑖 )
𝑓𝑓 𝜓𝜓 = � =0
1 + 𝜓𝜓 𝐾𝐾𝑖𝑖 − 1
𝑖𝑖=1
Behaviour of f(ψ)
Newton-Raphson method

Step Equations
Tangent equation 𝜓𝜓𝑛𝑛+1
𝑓𝑓(𝜓𝜓𝑛𝑛 )
= 𝜓𝜓𝑛𝑛 − ′
𝑓𝑓 (𝜓𝜓𝑛𝑛 )
𝑐𝑐
First derivative 𝑧𝑧𝑖𝑖 (1 − 𝐾𝐾𝑖𝑖 )2
𝑓𝑓 ′ 𝜓𝜓 = � =0
[1 + 𝜓𝜓 𝐾𝐾𝑖𝑖 − 1 ]2
𝑖𝑖=1

Stop iteration |𝜓𝜓𝑛𝑛+1 − 𝜓𝜓𝑛𝑛 |

< 0.0001
𝜓𝜓𝑛𝑛
Isothermal flash calculation – steps!

Step Equation
1 𝑇𝑇𝑉𝑉 = 𝑇𝑇𝐿𝐿

2 𝑃𝑃𝑉𝑉 = 𝑃𝑃𝐿𝐿
3 𝑧𝑧 𝑖𝑖 (1−𝐾𝐾𝑖𝑖)
𝑐𝑐

Check f(0) < 0, f(1) > 0, solve 𝑓𝑓 𝜓𝜓 = �

𝑖𝑖=1 1+𝜓𝜓( 𝐾𝐾 𝑖𝑖 −1) =0

4 𝑉𝑉 = 𝜓𝜓𝐹𝐹
𝐿𝐿 = 1 − 𝜓𝜓 𝐹𝐹
5 𝑧𝑧𝑖𝑖
𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖 =
1 + 𝜓𝜓(𝐾𝐾𝑖𝑖 − 1)
6 𝐾𝐾𝑖𝑖 𝑧𝑧𝑖𝑖
𝑦𝑦i =
1 + 𝜓𝜓(𝐾𝐾𝑖𝑖 − 1)
7 𝑄𝑄 = ℎ𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉 + ℎ𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿 − ℎ𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹
 Isothermal flash – Class Example
A 100 kmol/h feed consisting of propane (C3), n-butane (nC4), n-pentane
(nC5) and n-hexane (nC6) is partially vaporised prior to entering a distillation
column at 100 psia (6.9 bar) and 200ºF (93ºC). The composition of the feed
is: 10 mol% C3, 20 mol% nC4, 30 mol% nC5 and 40 mol% nC6. Calculate
the vapour and liquid flowrates and compositions.
K-value (200ºF, 100 psi)
Newton-Raphson method for finding ψ
Flowrate and composition
Recap: Isothermal flash calculation steps

Step Equation
1 𝑇𝑇𝑉𝑉 = 𝑇𝑇𝐿𝐿

2 𝑃𝑃𝑉𝑉 = 𝑃𝑃𝐿𝐿
3 𝑧𝑧 𝑖𝑖 (1−𝐾𝐾𝑖𝑖)
𝑐𝑐

Check f(0) < 0, f(1) > 0, solve 𝑓𝑓 𝜓𝜓 = �

𝑖𝑖=1 1+𝜓𝜓( 𝐾𝐾 𝑖𝑖 −1) =0

4 𝑉𝑉 = 𝜓𝜓𝐹𝐹
𝐿𝐿 = 1 − 𝜓𝜓 𝐹𝐹
5 𝑧𝑧𝑖𝑖
𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖 =
1 + 𝜓𝜓(𝐾𝐾𝑖𝑖 − 1)
6 𝐾𝐾𝑖𝑖 𝑧𝑧𝑖𝑖
𝑦𝑦i =
1 + 𝜓𝜓(𝐾𝐾𝑖𝑖 − 1)
7 𝑄𝑄 = ℎ𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉 + ℎ𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿 − ℎ𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹
Tutorial 1: Flash calculations
Question 1

A 100 kmol/h feed consisting of propane (30 mol.%), n-butane (50 mol.%)
and n-pentane (20 mol.%) is flashed at 40ºC (104ºF) and 500 kPa (72.5
psia). Calculate the vapour and liquid flowrates and compositions. Use the
attached DePriester chart to determine the required K-values for the
components.
Tutorial 1: Flash calculations
Question 2

Refer to the example isothermal flash calculation presented in the video on

Moodle.

a) Prepare a diagram showing the variation of the Rachford-Rice function in the

range of 0<ψ<1. Use increments of 0.1 for ψ and connect the points with a
solid line.
b) Repeat part (a) but evaluate the Rachford-Rice function at T = 300ºF (149ºC)
and P = 100 psia (6.9 bar). What conclusion can be made about the condition
of the mixture?
c) Repeat part (a) but evaluate the Rachford-Rice function at T = 150ºF (66ºC)
and P = 100 psia (6.9 bar). What conclusion can be made about the condition
of the mixture?
Tutorial 1: Flash calculations
Question 3

a) Based on the feed described in Question 1, determine the temperature at

which 50% (mole basis) of the initial mixture is vaporised at a pressure of 500
kPa. Note, a trial and error approach is required.
b) Prepare a diagram showing f(ψ) versus ψ to verify your result in part (a).
 Example — Adiabatic flash calculations

• Adiabatic flash of binary liquid — Principles: Video link

• Adiabatic flash of binary liquid — Excel spreadsheet
Next…….Bubble point and Dew point
• Bubble point is the temperature (at a
given pressure) where the first
bubble of vapour is formed when
heating a liquid consisting of two or
more components.

• Dew point is the temperature (at a

given pressure) where the first
droplet of condensate is formed
when cooling a vapour consisting of
two or more components.
Recall: bubble and dew point calculations
At bubble point, ψ = 0 and f(0) = 0.
𝑐𝑐 𝑐𝑐 𝑐𝑐 𝑐𝑐
𝑧𝑧𝑖𝑖 (1 − 𝐾𝐾𝑖𝑖 )
𝑓𝑓 𝜓𝜓 = � =0 𝑓𝑓 0 = � 𝑧𝑧𝑖𝑖 1 − 𝐾𝐾𝑖𝑖 = � 𝑧𝑧𝑖𝑖 − � 𝑧𝑧𝑖𝑖 𝐾𝐾𝑖𝑖 = 0
1 + 𝜓𝜓 𝐾𝐾𝑖𝑖 − 1
𝑖𝑖=1 𝑖𝑖=1 𝑖𝑖=1 𝑖𝑖=1

𝑐𝑐

� 𝑧𝑧𝑖𝑖 𝐾𝐾𝑖𝑖 = 1
𝑖𝑖=1

At dew point, ψ = 1 and f(1) = 0.

𝑐𝑐 𝑐𝑐 𝑐𝑐 𝑐𝑐
𝑧𝑧𝑖𝑖 (1 − 𝐾𝐾𝑖𝑖 ) 𝑧𝑧𝑖𝑖 1 − 𝐾𝐾𝑖𝑖 𝑧𝑧𝑖𝑖
𝑓𝑓 𝜓𝜓 = � =0 𝑓𝑓 1 = � = � − � 𝑧𝑧𝑖𝑖 = 0
1 + 𝜓𝜓 𝐾𝐾𝑖𝑖 − 1 𝐾𝐾𝑖𝑖 𝐾𝐾𝑖𝑖
𝑖𝑖=1 𝑖𝑖=1 𝑖𝑖=1 𝑖𝑖=1
𝑐𝑐
𝑧𝑧𝑖𝑖
� =1
𝐾𝐾𝑖𝑖
𝑖𝑖=1

Examples 4.2 & 4.3 in Separation Process Principles (3rd ed.)

 Key Takeaways

1. Distillation Column – you have an equilibrium flash contacting, two phases

(liquid and vapour) mix, they come to an equilibrium (vapour-liquid
equilibrium and thermal equilibrium) and then separate.

2. Multicomponent flash calculation/s is the essence of distillation. It is used to

determine the composition of the light (LK) and the heavy (HK) components.

3. These methods (Rachford-Rice and Newton-Raphson) determine initial

conditions (temperature and pressure) that can be used for more complex
computer simulator models.

Next steps: revisit the concepts, practice tutorial

question/s using the excel sheet provided.