Radfrac For Dummies: A How To Guide On Aspen Plus: Distill

RadFrac for Dummies:
A How to Guide on Aspen Plus
DISTILL
FEED DIST
BOTTOMS
This example will show how to use Radfrac on Aspen Plus to model distillation
columns. The feed shown in the diagram above will consist of 50 lbmol/hr of
Methanol and 50 lbmol/hr of water. A purity of 99.5% is desired in both the
bottoms and distillate product streams using a reflux ratio of 1.5.
Radfrac © SDSM&T 2/35
If you don’t know how to log on to

Aspen Plus, please see the
“Getting Started on Aspen Plus”
manual.
Choose the Template Option
Click “OK.”
This window allows you

to select a particular
simulation option. For
this example, select the
“General with English
Units” option. Also, make
sure that the option in the
Run Type box displays
“Flowsheet”
Click “OK”
Each time Aspen Plus is opened and a

new file is created or an existing file is
opened this login window appears.
Enter Unix host for the server type,

sylvan.che.sdsmt.edu for the node
name, and your correct User name and
Password.
Click “OK”
Another window will appear indicating

the connection was established.
Click “OK.”
Aspen Plus automatically assigns labels to

every stream and block. To turn this option
off, click on the Tools menu in the toolbar
and select Options.
In the Options window, click on the folder tab

labeled “Flowsheet”. Next, click on these
boxes under the "Stream and Block labels."
The check marks in the boxes should
disappear indicating that these options are
disabled.
Click 'OK' when through.

To start the simulation,

click on the Columns tab
found in the selection of
pieces of equipment. Go
to the down arrow to the
right of the RadFrac
selection. Click on Fract1,
the second picture from
the left in the top row.
Next, move the cursor
into the white area and
click on the desired
position for the column.
A prompt should appear
asking to input the block
ID, for this example “Dist”
was chosen.
The Feed, Distill and

Bottoms streams
need to be created.
To create the
streams, first click on
the “Material
Streams” box at the
bottom left corner of
the window. Red
and blue arrows
appear around the
column.
A red arrow signifies
a stream that is
required for a design
specification; blue
arrows signify an
optional stream.
Click on the red

arrow on the left side
of the column to add
your feed stream. For
this simulation there
is only one feed
stream, if there were
more feed streams
use the blue arrow
on the left of the
column to add more
streams.
Enter “Feed” in the

ID box when
prompted for this
simulation.
We next need to add the

product streams. Only
one of the red arrows
needs to be chosen at
the top of the column.
Chose the bottom of the
two red arrows at the top
of the column. This
column will have a total
condenser and therefore
liquid distillate. Label
the top product stream
“Distill”.
Next add the bottom

product stream using the
red arrow. Label the
product “Bottoms”.
All the necessary

streams have been
added and numerical
data can now be
entered.
Now we are ready

to begin entering
the necessary
numerical data.
Click on the “Next”

button to begin
entering the data.
This button is blue
and is located in
the tool bar at the
top of the window.
Click “OK”.
If this box doesn’t appear it

is because your flowsheet
isn’t complete. A box will
then appear telling you
what part of the flowsheet
you are missing.
This box should appear

and a title for this
simulation can now be
entered although is not
mandatory for this
simulation. Click on the
Next button to continue
entering numerical data.
If this box doesn’t appear

you can go to Setup on
the left-hand side of the
box and click on that.
The Components box will

be the next to appear. This
allows us to enter all of the
components that will be
present within our system; in
this simulation they will be
Methanol and Water.
Type “Methanol”
under the column
“Component ID” and
press the Enter key.
AspenPlus will now

search its
database and
attempt to match a
chemical name
with the
Component ID that
was entered. If
this happens the
other three boxes
(Type, Component
Name, and
Formula) will fill
automatically and
other components
can then be
entered.
Enter “Water” in
the second row
under
“Component ID”
and hit Enter to
fill the other three
boxes. We now
have entered all
the components
necessary for this
simulation. Hit
the “Next” button
to proceed.
The next screen

to appear is the
Property
Specifications
sheet. This
allows us to
choose the base
method that we
want to use for
the calculations
AspenPlus will
perform. We will
select NRTL for
this simulation.
Click “Next.”
The next screen to

appear will show
the interaction
parameters for the
components in our
system using the
base method we
selected. If you
are happy with this
numbers (and we
sure hope you are)
click “Next.”
A prompt screen will appear

asking if we want to enter any
more data or change the
property specifications.
Since everything is good to go,
click “OK.”
Now it’s time to

begin entering the
physical data for the
system. The first
screen that will
appear will be for the
Feed stream.
Before we actually
start entering data
let’s go over a
couple of the
different available
options.
There are 3 “State

Variables” that we
are allowed to
choose from
Temperature,
Pressure, or
Vapor Fraction. 2
of these 3 must be
specified. Click on
the arrow on the
right side of
Temperature or
Pressure Box to
alternate between
the choices.
The units can be

changed for any
variable by simply
clicking on the
arrow on the right
side of the unit
box. This will bring
up a list of different
units to choose
from. For this
example we will
use degrees
Celsius for
temperature and
atmospheres for
the pressure.
Change the units of

Temperature to
Celsius and enter 25.
Also set the pressure
in the stream equal to
1 atm.
As stated in the
problem, the feed
flowrate to the column
needs to be set at 100
lbmol/hr. Enter that
here.
The next required

input involves
setting the
Composition for
the feed stream.
Click on the arrow

on the right hand
side of the box to
view all of the
different options for
defining the
composition.
Choose “Mole-
Frac.”
The problem
statement calls
for a 50/50 split
between the two
components in
the feed.
Enter 0.5 in both

boxes and then
hit “Next.”
The feed stream

is now complete.
Now is the time

we’ll all been
waiting for,
designing the
actual column.
The first step is to
get at least a
rough estimate
for the required
number of stages
needed.
To do this,
we’re going to
use AspenPlus
to generate a T-
XY plot and use
it to do a quick
McCabe-Thile
diagram. At the
top of the
screen under
Tools, click on
Analysis,
Property, and
Binary.
Click on this arrow

and select T-xy as the
type of analysis you
want performed. The
pressure must also be
equal to the operating
pressure of your
column so enter 1
atm.
Whenever you are

ready, click on “Go.”
AspenPlus should
generate this
liquid/vapor
equilibrium plot for
Methanol and Water
at 1 atm. The X-axis
is the molefrac of
Methanol, so the
extreme left and
extreme right
represent pure Water
and MeOH
respectively.
Notice that there are

no azeotropes
between the two so
perfect separation is
theoretically possible.
This diagram can

give us an estimate
of how many
equilibrium stages
are necessary by
using the McCabe-
Thiele method.
Unfortunately, we
cannot show you
the actual drawing
but trust us; it
takes about 7
equilibrium stages.
After the graph has

been made and
looked at you can
close all three
windows that are
for the graph.
Enter 10 for the

Number of Stages
because our
column will not be
operating at 100%
efficiency.
We will optimize
this number a little
bit further down the
road.
Click on the arrow

on the right hand
side of the
Condenser box to
display the
condenser
candidates.
As mentioned earlier
this column will have
a Total condenser.
Click on the arrow on

the right hand side of
one of the operating
specification boxes to
display all of the
alternatives. For this
example, we’re going
to choose to set the
Reflux Ratio and
Distillate rate since
methanol is the
component we are
worried about
recovering and it has
a lower boiling point
than water.
Because there are

no azeotropes, the
Distillate Flowrate
of methanol can be
set to the same
number of moles as
the entering flowrate,
50 lbmol/hr.
The normal range of

Reflux Ratios is
from 1.25 - 1.8 for
most applications.
Enter 1.5 and press
“Next” to continue.
The next screen asks

to specify the Feed
Stage. If you’re not
certain of the location
a safe bet is usually
somewhere in the
middle.
This is another area

that will be optimized
later.
For now, we’ll enter 5

and press “Next.”
We are now required

to enter the Pressure
at which the column
will operate.
Change the units to

atmospheres by
clicking the arrow on
the right hand side of
the units box, and type
a 1 in the box on the
left.
If data is already
available for Pressure
Drop in the column, it
can be entered. For
this simulation we will
address the pressure
drop in the column a
little later on in our
program.
Instead of clicking on
“Next”, which would
bring up a prompt to
run the simulation,
click on the
Efficiencies folder.
Our column isn’t

perfect but what really
ever is. Normal
efficiencies range from
50-80% and there are
shortcut methods
found in literature to
determine efficiency of
a column.
We want
Murphree-type
efficiency, so click
on the circle to the
left to highlight it.
Click on the
Vapor-Liquid tab
to continue.
Next we’re going to

set the efficiency
for one stage of the
column.
AspenPlus will
then be able to
calculate the other
stage’s efficiencies
from our given
benchmark.
Enter 5 for the

stage and 0.7 for
the efficiency.
The next step is

for us to set the
type of trays that
our column will
consist of.
Click on the Tray

Sizing folder on
the left to get to
this screen.
Click “New” to
continue.
A box will appear prompting you

for a section number.
Click “OK” to continue.
This screen allows us to

choose from a list of
possible types of trays
within our column.
Enter a 2 in the starting

stage and a 9 in the
ending stage because
there are 10 stages in
our column as both the
condenser and reboiler
count as stages.
For this simulation,

we are going to
choose Bubble-Cap
trays.
Click on the box to

the right of Tray
Type to see the list
of available trays.
We’ll leave the
number of passes
and tray spacing as
they are.
Click on the Tray

Rating folder on the
left. Click “new” to
continue.
Another prompt will

appear to choose a
section number, click
“OK”.
Enter 2 and 9 again

respectively for the
starting and ending
stages along with
Bubble cap for the
Tray Type.
An estimate for the

Diameter of the
trays is now
required.
Enter 1.5 ft.
Click on the
Design/Pdrop tab to
continue.
Click on the box

directly to the left of
Update section
pressure profile to
have AspenPlus
calculate the
pressure drop in the
column.
Just one final detail and

we’ll be ready to run our
simulation. Double-click
on the Setup folder,
then click on Report
Options and finally click
on the Stream tab.
Click on the box to the

left of Mole in the
Fraction Basis
Column. AspenPlus will
now report the Mole
fraction of each stream,
99.5% is the goal.
Click “Next.”
Here’s the moment

we’ve been waiting
for. We’re ready to
run our simulation.
Click “OK.”
The control panel

will appear display
the iterations as
AspenPlus finds
solutions for our
simulation. The
calculations should
complete normally.
Click on the blue

folder with the check
mark to view the
results.
Click on Streams to
view the results for
each of the three
streams.
Use the arrows on the

left and bottom of the
stream report to look
through all of the
results. We achieved
94.2% purity in both
product streams. Not
quite up to the spec of
99.5%, let’s find out
what we can optimize
to meet our goal.
Double-click on the
blue Blocks folder
and then also on
Dist.
Next, go to the top

menu bar and click
on Plot and then
Plot Wizard.
Plot Wizard takes

the profiles
AspenPlus
generated for the
column and turns
them into pretty little
charts.
A welcoming screen will

appear, click “next” to
move onto this screen.
The first plot we want to
look at is the liquid
composition inside the
column.
Click on Composition
and hit “Next”.
Click on the double

arrows pointing to the
right to select both
components to be in
the plot.
Next click the circle

next to Liquid under
“Select Phase.”
Clicking on “Next”
again brings up
different plot options.
Nothing on the next
set of options needs to
be changed.
Click “Finish” to view

the plot.
This plot can tell us a

couple of different
things.
First off, there are no

level spots in the
diagram so we don’t
have any extra stages.
Also, notice the little

dip in the middle on
stage 5, our feed
stage. This means
that we could possibly
increase our
separation by
changing the location
of the feed tray.
These are two areas

where we could
optimize our column.
Let’s start to optimize

by changing the
number of stages in
our column.
Close all the results

folders and click on
the Blocks and Dist
folders respectively to
return to the column
Setup screen.
Under Configuration,
change the number of
stages from 10 to 13
while leaving the feed
stream on stage 5 for
the time being.
We also need to
change the number
of stages with
respect to our Tray
Sizing and Tray
Rating.
Go into the 1 below

each folder
respectively and
change the ending
stage to 12.
We’re all set up, so

click “Next” to run
the simulation again.
Click “OK” to
continue.
Upon completion click

on the blue folder
again and go under
Results Summary
and then Streams.
The results show that

we now have 94.9%
purity in each of the
product streams.
Moving in the right
direction but still not
up to the desired
specs.
Let’s take a look at the

Liquid Composition
diagram…
Double-click on the
blue Blocks folder
and then on the blue
Dist folder to look at
the results for the
column.
Go to Plot at the top

of the screen and click
on Plot Wizard.
Hit “Next” through the

welcoming screen and
click on the
Composition plot.
Choose to plot Both

Components in the
Liquid phase and hit
“Finish.”
From this plot it is

obvious that our feed
stage is a little bit too
low.
We want the
composition to be
smooth lines without
any humps or bumps
in the middle.
Close the Results

folder and let’s go
adjust our feed stage.
Back under the

Blocks/Dist folders,
click on Setup and then
the Streams tab at the
top of the screen.
Change your feed plate

from 5 to 6 and click
next.
Once again check your

Liquid Composition
diagram using Plot
Wizard as done in
previous steps.
Is the hump gone from

the middle? If not
continue this procedure
until the curves are
smooth. (Hint: 9 might
be the answer)
After you’ve
determined the
optimum feed plate
location (HINT: 9) your
plot should look like
this.
Next check your

stream results to see if
we have achieved the
desired purity in our
Methanol Stream.
Unfortunately we still
haven’t reached the
desired purity in our
product streams. But
we did increase the
purity by 3% to 97.5%
by optimizing the
location of the feed
plate.
Since the reflux ratio

is given at 1.5 in the
problem statement,
the only other option is
to continue to increase
the number of stages
in our column.
Return to the Setup

screen under the
Blocks/Dist folder.
Click on the
Configuration tab at
the top and increase the
number of stages in the
column.
Also, go under the Tray

Sizing and Tray Rating
folders and change the
ending stage on each to
one stage less than the
actual number of stages
that you entered here.
Next click on the

Streams tab and
change the location
of the feed plate.
Click on “Next” to
run the simulation,
then check the liquid
composition diagram
to be sure that it is in
the optimum
position. If it is,
check the results.
Continue this
procedure until you
meet the given purity
spec.
There’s the magic

number, 99.5%!
The final configuration

of the column has 21
bubble-cap trays with
the feed plate on
stage 16.
Now that we have our

column set up, let’s
look at a couple of the
other options that are
available.
AspenPlus has also

calculated the
Diameter of the
column.
On the Results
page, click on
Blocks, Dist,
Tray Sizing, and 1.
Next, click on the

Results tab at the
top of the screen.
This screen shows a
calculated diameter
of around 2 feet for
our column.
There are a couple of

different ways that we
can look at the pressure
drop within the column.
The first is by clicking
on the Tray Rating
folder and opening 1.
Click on the Results tab

at the top and use the
arrows on the right to
move down until the
Section Pressure Drop
is shown.
Since this is the only

section, the pressure
drop for our column is
about 4.5 psi. By
clicking on the “psi” box
you can also change
the pressure units.
The other way we can

observe the pressure
drop is by using Plot
Wizard to create a
graph.
Go to Plot Wizard and

click on the Pressure
graph.
Choose the desired

units and click “Finish.”
A graph similar to this

one should be created
showing the pressure
profile in the column.
The temperature profile

can also be created in a
similar manner.
Congratulations! You have

finished the race and you’re
probably not even half as tired
as this guy, he looks beat.
Now you can enter
components, feed streams,
column data and generate
results for all of your own
simulations. Feel free to brag
to all of your friends now
about your superior knowledge
of Radfrac, you’ve earned it.
You are truly a champion.
Peace and Love,
Bj

Radfrac For Dummies: A How To Guide On Aspen Plus: Distill

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RadFrac for Dummies:

A How to Guide on Aspen Plus

If you don’t know how to log on to

Choose the Template Option

This window allows you

Each time Aspen Plus is opened and a

Enter Unix host for the server type,

Another window will appear indicating

Aspen Plus automatically assigns labels to

In the Options window, click on the folder tab

Click 'OK' when through.

To start the simulation,

The Feed, Distill and

Click on the red

Enter “Feed” in the

We next need to add the

Next add the bottom

All the necessary

Now we are ready

Click on the “Next”

If this box doesn’t appear it

This box should appear

If this box doesn’t appear

The Components box will

AspenPlus will now

The next screen

The next screen to

A prompt screen will appear

Now it’s time to

There are 3 “State

The units can be

Change the units of

The next required

Click on the arrow

Enter 0.5 in both

The feed stream

Now is the time

Click on this arrow

Whenever you are

Notice that there are

This diagram can

After the graph has

Enter 10 for the

Click on the arrow

Click on the arrow on

Because there are

The normal range of

The next screen asks

This is another area

For now, we’ll enter 5

We are now required

Change the units to

Our column isn’t

Next we’re going to

Enter 5 for the

The next step is

Click on the Tray

A box will appear prompting you

Click “OK” to continue.

This screen allows us to

Enter a 2 in the starting

For this simulation,

Click on the box to