Binary Distillation with the

McCabe-Thiele Method
Samir Khan
Adept Scientific plc
Samir.Khan@adeptscience.co.uk
Binary fractional distillation is a method of separating two
liquid components via a distillation column (which contains a
number of trays, or stages). It's a concept encountered by
virtually every Chemical & Process Engineering student.
This application calculates the required number of theoretical
stages for a set of specified operating parameters via the
McCabe-Thiele method. It plots the classic McCabe-Thiele
diagram and evaluates the minimum and actual reflux ratio,
and the thermodynamic state of the feed.
This application also highlights several Maple concepts.
The ability to instantly observe the effect of changes in
operating parameters.
Text boxes for the input of operating parameters
Maple's programming language to calculate the number of
theoretical stages required for the distillation process and
error-checking of unrealistic operating parameters (i.e. try
making the fraction of light component in the feed greater
than than in the distillate)
The precise control over the appearance of a plot for
presenting engineering information.
The use of document blocks for suppressing the display of
code, allowing students to concentrate on the engineering
fundamentals.
Note: Execute the entire worksheet (with !!!) once before
changing any parameters.

Operating Parameters
Mole Fraction of Light
Component in Feed

0.6

Mole Fraction of Light

Component in Distillate

0.98

Mole Fraction of Light

Component in Bottoms

0.02

Reflux Ratio as a
Multiple of Minimum
Reflux Ratio

3.5

Thermodynamic State
of Feed (q-value)

0.39585

Relative Volatility of
Binary Feed

2.5

Draw McCabe-Thiele ...

1
Bottoms

0.9

0.8

Fraction of Light in Vapour

0.7
Equilibrium
Line

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

Minimum Refl
Reflux Ratio

0.2

Number of The
Stages

0.1

Thermodynam
of Feed

0
0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

Fraction of Ligh

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