Distillation

Distillation – p.1/19
 Distillation
Distillation is a cascade of flash units.
The art of distillation dates back to atleast the first
century A.D.
Currently, multistage distillation is by far the most widely
used method for separating liquid mixtures of chemical
components.
Distillation is a highly energy intensive technique.

Distillation – p.3/19
 Distillation Modeling
V yk

T P
1
D dk Feed flowrate, F
2
L Vapor flowrate, V
Distillate flowrate, D
F z
F Bottoms flowrate, B
L
Reflux ratio, R =
D
N-1
N

B b
k
Operation Issues
Design Issues T and P
Number of trays Reflux Ratio, R
Column Diameter Feed tray location
Tray spacing Product recoveries
Distillation – p.4/19
 Distillation Modeling
Consider a distillation unit with N trays
L j-1 Vj
and a multicomponent feed Fj with Nc
Fj
PVj
components that comes to the jth tray
and liquid products P Lj and vapor P Vj .
M
j
PL
j

Lj Tray j Vj-1
There could be multiple feed trays
and multiple product trays.

Each tray has a liquid holdup Mj and a much smaller

vapor holdup with liquid and vapor mole fractions xij
and yij respectively.
Tray j has liquid Lj and vapor Vj flowing out of the tray
and is connected to streams above and below.
A mass and energy balance could be written for each
component on each tray.
Distillation – p.5/19
 Mass Balance:

Fj zij + Lj−1 xi,j−1 + Vj+1 yi,j+1 − (P Lj + Lj )xij −

(Vj + P Vj )yij = 0 i = 1, 2, ..., Nc ; j = 1, 2, ..., N

Equilibrium Expressions:

yij = Kij xij

Kij = K(Tj , Pj , xij )

Summation Equations:



xij = 1, yij = 1, j = 1, 2, ..., N
i i

Heat Balance:

Fj HFj + Lj−1 Hl,j−1 + Vj+1 Hv,j+1 − (P Lj + Lj )Hlj −

(Vj + P Vj )Hvj + Qj = 0 j = 1, 2, ..., N
Distillation – p.6/19
 MESH Equations
The Mass, Equilibrium, Summation, and Heat (MESH)
equations form the standard model for tray-by-tray
distillation model.
Note that the thermodynamic properties (K values and
specific enthalpies) are expressed as implicit functions
that require physical property models.
These are a large number of equations that are not
trivial to solve.
For this reason, short-cut methods are typically used for
designing columns.
Once a column is designed, its performance is
analyzed using a detailed model.

Distillation – p.7/19
 Short-cut Distillation Model
Light Key: The component that is present in significant
quantity in the bottoms stream is called the light key
component.
Components lighter than the light key can be assumed
to come out completely in the distillate steam.
Heavy Key: The component that is present in significant
quantity in the distillate stream is called the heavy key
component.
Components heavier than the heavy key can be
assumed to come out completely in the bottoms stream.
Degrees of Freedom: A column has three degrees of
freedom and is fully specified if the following are known:
1. Overhead split fraction of light key , ξlk
2. Overhead split fraction of heavy key, ξhk
3. Column pressure or temperature
Distillation – p.8/19
 Short-cut Distillation Model
Assumptions:
Vapor is an ideal gas and the liquid is an ideal solution.
Each stage is at equilibrium and is modeled as a flash
unit.
αk/n is independent of temperature and pressure.
The split fractions of the light and heavy keys are known
(ξlk and ξhk are known).
The column is under total reflux.

Distillation – p.9/19
 Fenske Equation
Under the above assumptions, the minimum number of
stages is given by the Fenske equation:
 
(ξlk (1 − ξhk ))
ln
(ξhk (1 − ξlk ))
N=
ln(αlk/hk )

Once N is known, all other component split fractions

can be obtained by substituting k for lk in the Fenske
equation. With minor rearrangement:

αkN ξhk
ξk =
1 + (αkN − 1)ξhk

Note that when N = 1, we get the expression for split

fractions in a flash unit. Distillation – p.10/19
 Selection of column P or T T
cw

T
dew,C
1 • Column pressure is lower
2 T
bub,C at the top than at the bottom
• More volatile components are
higher in concentration at
the top
T
N-1 dew,R
N

T T
st bub,R

Tcw ≤ Tbub,C ≤ Tdew,C ≤ Tbub,R ≤ Tdew,C ≤ Tst

Distillation – p.11/19
 Selection of column P or T
Column pressure is selected so that the following
constraints hold.
Select the condenser pressure so that Tbub,C ≥ 310 K .
This ensures that Tcw ∼ 303 K .
Select condenser pressure so that all bubble point
temperatures are below the critical temperature of the

mixture. Tbub ≤ Tcm where Tcm = xk Tck .
From the bubble point equation we note that Tbub
increases with P and we prefer to choose P above
1 atm. Thus P = ᾱn Pn0 (Tbub ) ≥ 1 atm

Distillation – p.12/19
Partial Condenser and Reboiler
The conditions given in the previous slide can be
difficult to satisfy when we have non-condensible or
non-volatile comonents.
If there are non-condensibles in the distillate, a partial
condenser should be used.
If there are non-volatiles in the bottoms, a partial
reboiler should be used.
Mass and energy balance calculations for partial
condensers and reboilers are greatly simplified by
noting that the product streams are saturated liquid and
vapor as shown in the next slide.

Distillation – p.13/19
 Partial Condenser Calculations
T
V, y1 cw T
V, y1 cw
D , yd
D , yd V
T V
dew,C T D, dk
cond T
dew,C Tcond Tcond Flash
1 D , xd
D, dk Tank
2 L 1
L, xd Figure 1 D , xd
2 L, xd L
Figure 2

Figure 1 is equivalent to Figure 2.

The calculation of flowrates in Figure 2 is a straightforward

flash calculation.
Dv
Tcond can be easily calculated as P is specified and is
D
specified. Dv is the mole rate of non-condensibles and D is
the total distillate flowrate.

Distillation – p.14/19
 Total vs. Partial Reboiler
TOTAL REBOILER
PARTIAL REBOILER
Dew Point
N
N yb
Dew Point

xb zb xb
xb

Bubble Point Bubble Point

The temperature of the stream exiting the reboiler is the

highest temperature in the column.
To avoid excessively high temperatures, a partial
reboiler effectively adds an extra equilibrium stage.

Distillation – p.15/19
 Total Reboiler Calculations
TOTAL REBOILER
Consider a mixture with three
Dew Point
N components, 1, 2 and 3
where 2 is the key component
in the bottoms stream and
xb
xb 3 is a very high boiling component.
Bubble Point

In a total reboiler, the y1 = x1 , y2 = x2 and y3 = x3 .

The dew pointtemperature can becomputed from
0 y1 y2 y3
P2 (Tdew ) = P + + .
α1/2 α2/2 α3/2
Since component 3 has a high boiling point, α3/2 is a
very small number and so the dew temperature Tdew will
be very high.
Distillation – p.16/19
 Partial Reboiler Calculations
PARTIAL REBOILER
Consider the same mixture as in
N yb the previous slide.
Dew Point
In a partial reboiler, yi and xi
zb xb are in equilibrium since the reboiler
Bubble Point
is effectively a flash unit.
Since component 3 has a very high boiling point, its
mole fraction in the vapor stage is expected to be
almost zero at reasonable temperatures.
The dew pointtemperaturecan be computed from
0 y1 y2
P2 (Tdew ) = P + .
α1/2 α2/2
y3
Since the term is negligible, the dew temperature
α3/2
Tdew will not be as high as in a total reboiler. Distillation – p.17/19
Reflux Ratio and Theoretical Stages
Calculate the actual theoretical stages and reflux ratio from
the following equations (Westerberg correlations)
12.3
Ni = 2/3 1/6
i = lk, hk
(αlk/hk − 1) (1 − βi )
where βlk is the split fraction of the light key at the top
(βlk = ξlk ) and βhk is the split fraction of the heavy key
at the bottom (βhk = 1 − ξhk ).
1.38
Ri = 0.9 0.1
i = lk, hk
(αlk/hk − 1) (1 − βi )
From Nlk and Nhk calculate the actual theoretical
stages as:
NT = 0.8max(Ni ) + 0.2min(Ni )
From Rlk and Rhk calculate the reflux ratio as:
R = 0.8max(Ri ) + 0.2min(Ri )
Distillation – p.18/19
 Design Procedure for Distillation
Specified Feed

Specify splits of
two key components

Estimate splits of
nonkey components

Determine column pressure

Bubble pt./dew pt.
and type of condenser
Repeat only calculations
if estimated
Flash the feed at Adiabatic flash
and calculated
the column pressure
splits of nonkey
components
Calculate the minimum
differ Fenske equation
theoretical stages
considerably

Calculate splits of Fenske equation

nonkey components

Calculate mimimum Westerberg correlation

reflux ratio

Calculate actual
theoretical stages for Westerberg correlation
specified reflux ratio

Calculate condenser
Energy balance
and reboiler duties

Exit Distillation – p.19/19