Composition control

On-line analysers are rarely used as the installed cost will normally be in the range of £100 K
per instrument. Therefore composition is often regulated indirectly using temperature (at
constant pressure there is a direct relationship between temperature and composition for a
binary mixture). Using a liquid temperature near the base of the column for bottom composition
and a liquid temperature near the top of the column for top product composition, the remaining
mv’s (i.e. those not used for the purposes of level and pressure control) may be used to regulate
composition. This leads to the following schemes:

Top product composition (through a liquid temperature near the top of the column) is
regulated by adjusting reflux flow, L.

ottom product composition (through a liquid temperature near the bottom of the
column) is regulated by adjusting vapour flow, V (indirectly via steam flow).