Chemical Technology

Subject Code: CH2001

Lecture 2

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 Unit operations
Distillation
• Distillation is the process of separating the components
or substances from a liquid mixture by using
selective boiling and condensation.
• Batch distillation is an unsteady state operation. A
mixture is distilled to separate it into its component
fractions before the distillation still is again charged with
more mixture and the process is repeated.
• Batch distillation has been a common technique for
separation and purification of small volumes of high-
value specialty chemicals. The outstanding feature of
batch distillation is its flexibility in design and operation,
making it a common solvent recovery technology that is Batch distillation
typically used in processing industries, such as
pharmaceutical, food and specialty chemical industries

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 Continuous Distillation
• Continuous distillation, a form of distillation, is an ongoing
separation in which a mixture is continuously fed into the process
and separated fractions are removed continuously as output
streams.
• Continuous distillation runs at a steady state.
• The process produces at least two output fractions. These fractions
include at least one volatile distillate fraction, which has boiled and
been separately captured as a vapor condensed to a liquid, and
practically always a bottoms (or residue) fraction, which is the least
volatile residue that has not been separately captured as a
condensed vapor.
• The main variables that affect the purity of products in continuous
distillation are the reflux ratio and the number of theoretical
equilibrium stages, in practice determined by the number of trays or
the height of packing.

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 Drying of solid
• Drying may be defined as the vaporization and
removal of water or other liquids from a solution,
suspension, or other solid-liquid mixture to form a
dry solid.
• Three types of dryers (1) spray (2) rotary (3) tunnel.
• It is a complicated process that involves
simultaneous heat and mass transfer, accompanied
by physicochemical transformations.
• Drying occurs as a result of the vaporization of
liquid by supplying heat to wet feedstock, granules,
filter cakes and so on. Based on the mechanism of
Spray drying is a method of producing a dry powder from
heat transfer that is employed, drying is a liquid or slurry by rapidly drying with a hot gas. This is
categorized into direct (convection), indirect or the preferred method of drying of many thermally-
contact (conduction), radiant (radiation) and sensitive materials such as foods and pharmaceuticals. A
dielectric or microwave (radio frequency) drying. consistent particle size distribution is a reason for spray
drying some industrial products such as catalysts
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 Rotary dryer
• The rotary dryer is a type of industrial
dryer employed to reduce or minimize the
liquid moisture content of the material it is
handling by bringing it into direct contact with
a heated gas.
• The dryer is made up of a large, rotating
cylindrical tube, usually supported
by concrete columns or steel beams.
• The dryer is inclined to slopes slightly so that
the discharge end is lower than the material
feed end in order to convey the material
through the dryer under gravity.
• A rotary dryer is suitable to dry metallic and
nonmetallic mineral, clay in cement industrial
and coal slime in coal mine, etc. Rotary
dryers can be widely used to dry various
materials, and are simple to operate.

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 Tunnel dryer
• The tunnel dryer is a machine where a container
(tray) filled with the material is placed on a trolley or
the material is loaded directly on the trolley, and the
trolley is pushed in from the tunnel chamber
entrance.
• The material is dried while being moved through
the drying chamber.
• This dryer is available in various dimensions due to
the modular design. The specially developed airflow
plate in this dryer ensures even heating over the
whole drying area.
• It uses the latest burner technologies. Due to this
technology and attention to fuel efficient design,
these dryers have a proven record of low gas
consumption.
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 Evaporation
• Evaporation is a type of vaporization that occurs on
the surface of a liquid as it changes into the gas
phase.
• The surrounding gas must not be saturated with the
evaporating substance. When the molecules of the
liquid collide, they transfer energy to each other based
on how they collide with each other.
• When a molecule near the surface absorbs enough
energy to overcome the vapor pressure, it will escape
and enter the surrounding air as a gas.
• When evaporation occurs, the energy removed from
the vaporized liquid will reduce the temperature of the
liquid, resulting in evaporative cooling.
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 Extraction
• Extraction is a separation process from the mixture
of chemicals. Common examples include liquid-liquid
extraction, and solid phase extraction.
• Liquid–liquid extraction, also known as solvent
extraction and partitioning, is a method to separate
compounds or metal complexes, based on their
relative solubilities in two different immiscible
liquids, usually water and an organic solvent.
• Leaching is a liquid-solid operation. The two phases
are in intimate contact, the solute(s) can diffuse from
the solid to the liquid phase, which causes a
separation of the components originally in the solid.
A special leaching process, when an undesirable
component is removed from a solid with water, is
called washing.

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 Fluid-solid separation
• Solid-Liquid Separation is a major unit operation that exists in almost every flow scheme
related to the chemical process industries, ore beneficiation, pharmaceutics, food or water
and waste treatment. The separation techniques are very diverse and the objective of this
site is to provide a platform for plant and design engineers, research personnel and students
to discuss practices, experiences and new developments in this fascinating unit operation.
• Centrifugation
• Setting tank
• Wet scrubber
• Crystallizer
• Filter (rotary)
• Filter press
• Cyclone separator
• Electrostatic precipitator
• Bag filter
• Thickener-classifier

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 Fluid storage

• Storage tanks are containers that hold liquids,

compressed gases (gas tank; or in U.S.A "pressure
vessel", which is not typically labeled or regulated as a
storage tank) or mediums used for the short- or long-term
storage of heat or cold.
• Gas holders
• Tanks
• Pressurized spheres
• Underground caverns

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 Gas-liquid contacting

• Absorption
• Stripping

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 Heat exchangers
• A heat exchanger is a system used to transfer heat between two or more fluids. Heat
exchangers are used in both cooling and heating processes.[1] The fluids may be separated
by a solid wall to prevent mixing or they may be in direct contact.[2] They are widely used
in space heating, refrigeration, air conditioning, power stations, chemical
plants, petrochemical plants, petroleum refineries, natural-gas processing, and sewage
treatment. The classic example of a heat exchanger is found in an internal combustion
engine in which a circulating fluid known as engine coolant flows through radiator coils
and air flows past the coils, which cools the coolant and heats the incoming air. Another
example is the heat sink, which is a passive heat exchanger that transfers the heat
generated by an electronic or a mechanical device to a fluid medium, often air or a liquid
coolant.
• Fired heater
• Rebolier
• Condenser
• Shell and tube exchanger
• Jacketed kettle
• Direct mixing

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 Membrane separation
• Membrane technology covers
all engineering approaches for the
transport of substances between
two fractions with the help
of permeable membranes. In
general, mechanical separation
processes for separating gaseous or
liquid streams use membrane
technology.
• Dialysis
• Gaseous diffusion

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 Mixing

• Agitation
• Solid blending

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 Size reduction and Enlargement

• Crushing
• Grinding
• Pelletizing

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 Solid handling

• Pneumatic conveying
• Bucket elevators
• Screw conveyors
• Belt conveyor

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 Solid/solid separation

• Screening
• Elutriation
• Forth flotation
• Jigging
• Magnetic separation

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