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Lec3 Sep

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12 views37 pages

Lec3 Sep

Uploaded by

engineerala2022
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Advanced

separation process
Lec3

Instructor:

Eng: Abdullah Ali Alsharafi

Email :[email protected]
A single stage continuous Distillation (Flash Distillation)

Flash distillation is used to separate components in a mixture


making use of the difference in their volatilities. The operation
consists of partially vaporizing or condensing the mixture by
either heating or cooling the feed and separating the vapor from
the liquid in a tank, called a flash drum

 Flash evaporation is one of the simplest unit operations.


A liquid stream is partially vaporized in ” a flash
separator” at a certain pressure and temperature. The
result is vapor, which is richer in the more volatile
component than the remaining liquid.
A single stage continuous Distillation (Flash Distillation)

 The opposite operation to flash distillation

(partial evaporation) is partial condensation


(with a complete vapor feed to be condensed).
 Flash distillation usually employed as an
auxiliary operation to prepare streams for further
processing.
A single stage continuous Distillation (Flash Distillation)

Figure 1 Continuous, single-stage equilibrium separations:


(a) flash vaporization and (b) partial condensation.
A single stage continuous Distillation (Flash Distillation)
A single stage continuous Distillation (Flash Distillation)

Process description
The flash can be seen as a distillation with only one
equilibrium stage. The operation stops, when the
liquid and vapor streams reach the equilibrium
compositions, which is defined by temperature and
pressure, and the two streams can easily be separated.
A single stage continuous Distillation (Flash Distillation)

 The feed is preheated before entering the


separator.
 The heated mixture then flows through a
pressure-reducing valve to the separator before
being to the separator.
 Due to the large pressure drop, the liquid
evaporates very fast (hence ”flash”).
A single stage continuous Distillation (Flash Distillation)

Another method:

If we have
F = moles per unit time of feed of mole fraction xF of A,
V = moles per unit time of vapor formed with y the mole
fraction of A, and
S = moles per unit time of liquid with x the mole
fraction of A,
A single stage continuous Distillation (Flash Distillation)

On material balance:

Thus
A single stage continuous Distillation (Flash Distillation)

The values of x and y can be found graphically using


equilibrium curve and knowing xF

Practically, the vapor quantity depends upon the


enthalpy of the feed as well as the enthalpies of the
vapor and liquid leaving the separator.
For a given feed condition, the fraction vaporized may
be increased by lowering the pressure in the separator.
( multi component Flash Distillation)
( multi component Flash Distillation)
( multi component Flash Distillation)
( multi component Flash Distillation)
( multi component Flash Distillation)

Enthalpy Balance

The enthalpy balance gives the heat duty of the exchanger required for the
separation. In general, as mentioned before, the molar enthalpies are
functions of the temperature, the pressure and the compositions. Process
simulators have correlations to very accurately estimate the enthalpies of
very non-ideal solutions, but for most hydrocarbon mixtures very good
approximations are obtained neglecting the temperature and pressure
dependence, which is small except at very high pressures.

Liquid Feed

When the feed is in the liquid state, the enthalpy balance, Eq. (3), can be
simplified by solving for L from Eq. (1) and substituting into Eq. (3):
( multi component Flash Distillation)

where λv is the latent heat of the vapor and Cp for fees is the molar heat
capacity of the feed (assumed liquid).
The latent heat is calculated using the vapor mole fractions and the
component molar latent heats:
( multi component Flash Distillation)

Vapor Feed

If the feed to the flash drum is vapor, the equation must be modified by
solving for V from Eq. (1) and substituting into Eq. (3) to get
( multi component Flash Distillation)

Assume that the specifications are the feed flow, composition and enthalpy,
the pressure and the fraction of the feed vaporized. The solution procedure is
then as follows:
( multi component Flash Distillation)
BUBBLE POINT
DEW POINT
( multi component Flash Distillation)

1. Calculate the liquid rate, L = F – V


2. Assume a temperature and calculate Ki for each component
3. Calculate xi using Eq. (13) for each component
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until  X i  1

Example 1. Design of a Flash Drum

A liquid mixture containing 38 weight% of propane and the balance n-octane

is to be separated in a flash drum operating at 3.5 atm. The feed rate is

950 kg/min and enters at 30°C. Using a reasonable vaporization fraction

determine the temperature and product flows and compositions, the

exchanger heat duty, and the recovery of each component.


( multi component Flash Distillation)
Solution.

Because the equilibrium relationship is given in molar


units we must first convert the weight fractions and mass flow to molar
basis. The molecular weights are 44 for propane and 114 for octane.

Mole fractions of propane: 0.38


x 44  0.614
0.38 1  0.38

44 144

Average molecular weight:


Mw  0.614(44)  (1  0.614)(144)  71.0

Molar rate of feed:


kg min kmole kmole
F  (950 )(60 )( )  802
min hr 71kg hr
Solution.
Solution.
Solution.
SOLUTION
NOTE

This example shows that when the relative volatility of the components is
high (in this case 8.71/0.0706 = 12.3) the product compositions can be
relatively pure and the recoveries high. This would not be the case if the
relative volatility were nearer 1.0 which case a countercurrent stage
distillation column would be required to obtain pre products and high
recoveries.
EXAMPLE 2

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