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Introduction of Feed: the q-line

Consider the section of the distillation column ( see the Figure below) at the tray where the feed is
introduced (known as the feed tray location), say tray f :

The feed may consists of liquid, vapour or a mixture of both. The quantities of the liquid stream and
vapour stream in the rectifying and stripping sections may change abruptly because of the addition
of the feed stream.
 
Define:
q = The moles of liquid flow in the stripping section that results from the
introduction of each mole of feed.
The value of q can be controlled by adjusting the amount of preheat the feed stream is subjected
to before entering the column.
For different feed conditions, q has the following numerical limits :
· cold feed (below bubble point) q > 1
· feed at bubble point (saturated liquid) q = 1
· feed partially vapour 0 < q < 1
· feed at dew point (saturated vapour) q = 0
· feed superheated vapour q < 0
If the feed is a mixture of liquid and vapour, then q is the fraction of the feed that is liquid. For
example, if a feed is 25% liquid and 75% vapour, then q = 0.25.
Recall our analysis of Flash Distillation: by changing the fraction of feed vapourised, we change the composition of the
more volatile component in the vapour and liquid product streams.
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Effect of various feed conditions on vapour and liquid loading in column:

The following table summarizes the effect of different feed conditions on the vapour and liquid
flowrates in the rectifying and stripping sections respectively.
As an example, consider the Figure above whereby the feed is a cold liquid. In this case, all the
liquid feed will go to the stripping section. In addition, because the feed is cold, it will also
condense some of the rising vapour. As a result, the amount of liquid flow in the stripping section L'
is much larger than the liquid flow in the rectifying section L. The vapour flow in the rectifying
section V, is lower than the vapour flow in the stripping section V' because of the condensation into
the liquid. Hence for case (a), we have L' > L and V' > V.
Similar evaluation can be carried out for the other feed conditions. See the left Figure below
for saturated liquid,and the right Figure below for vapour-liquid mixture,

 
The left Figure below is for saturated vapour and the right Figure below is for superheated vapour.

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The feed section operating line (or simply the q-line) can be obtained by performing a material
balance around the feed tray. Click here for more information.
Plotting of the q-line requires the q-value and the feed MVC mole fraction, x F. As shown above, q =
1.0 for saturated liquid and q = 0.0 for saturated vapour. For vapour-liquid mixture, q = fraction of
feed that is liquid. For other conditions, we need to calculate the q-values. Click here for more
information.
The feed tray location can be identified once the number of theoretical trays is determined. Click
here for more information.
 Feed Section Operating Line (q-line)

See the Figure below for a feed tray and consider F moles/hr of feed, with fraction q of liquid; thus

liquid flow = q F moles/hr

vapour flow = (1-q) F moles/hr
Overall material balance:
L' = L + q F
V = V' + (1-q) F
Component balance for the more volatile component - see the Figure below:

Rectifying section : V y = L x + D xD

Stripping section : V' y = L' x - B xB

At the feed point where the two lines operating lines intersect:
( V - V' ) y = ( L - L' ) x + D xD + B xB
we have:
V - V' = ( 1 - q ) F
L - L' = - q F

In addition, from component balance around the entire column:

F xF = D xD + B xB
Thus, ( 1 - q ) F y = - q F x + F xF
Re-arranging in the form y = f(x), we have:

For a given feed condition, xF and q are fixed, therefore the q-line is a straight line with slope -q / (1-q) and
intercept xF / (1-q).
If x = xF , then y = xF.
i.e. the q-line passes through the point (x F, xF) on the 45o diagonal.

Different values of q will result in different slope of the q-line. See the Figure below.
Note that the q-line passes through the point (xF, xF) on the 45o diagonal for all values of q.

Feed Plate Location

Optimum location would be the one represented by the triangle that has one corner on the rectifying
line and the other corner on the stripping line.
In transferring from the rectifying section to the stripping section, the steps on the diagram should
be kept as large as possible, and the transition is made at the first opportunity after passing the
intersection point.
 
As can be seen from the Figure below, the optimum feed location is stage no.5 that results in the
least number of stages. Any other location would have resulted in more than 5 trays.

As an example, see the Figure below whereby the "staircase" construction is continued beyond tray
5. As we stepped-off along the ROL to tray 6 and tray 7, note that the triangles had become
smaller, which means that the driving force for mass transfer is smaller. As a result, more trays will
be required to achieve the desired separation.
Comparing the 2 cases, we can clearly see that tray 6 for the first case is more effective than that
for the second case - the triangle is larger. And the Figure below showed the case whereby the
change to SOL is made too soon, at tray 4. Again the result is less than optimum.
 The q-values

If the condition of the feed is known to be either saturated liquid or saturated vapour, then the
value of q is either 1 or 0. However, if we are not certain of the feed condition, then we
must calculate the value of q. We can do so by deriving a formula for q using enthalpy balance
around the feed plate f. This is shown in the Figure below:

With: Energy In = Energy Out, we have

F HF + L HL,f-1 + V' HV,f+1 = L' HL,f + V HV,f
where
HF = enthalpy of feed, evaluated at TF
HV = enthalpy of vapour, and
HL = enthalpy of liquid
Assume that HL,f-1 = HL,f = HL, and, HV, f+1 = HV,f = HV

Then,
F HF + L HL + V' HV = L' HL + V HV
F HF = (V - V') HV + (L' - L) HL
F HF = (1 - q ) F HV + q F HL
HF = HV - q HV + q HL
q (HV - HL) = HV - HF
We now have the equation for calculating q:

Values of HF, HV and HL can be obtained from enthalpy-concentration diagram for the mixture

concerned.
A typical example is shown in the Figure below. Note the regions for vapour only, liquid only, and
vapour-liquid mixture.
Alternatives for calculating q
Not all mixtures have the enthalpy-concentration diagram conveniently available. Nor is such
information easily obtained. Thus, value of q cannot be calculated using the previous formula. The
equation for q can be re-written as:

Alternatively, from the formula, q can be interpreted as the heat required to convert 1 mole of feed
from its entering condition to a saturated vapour; divided by the molal latent heat of vaporization.
The above relationship can be illustrated using the temperature-enthalphy diagram shown in
the Figure below:

Based on this definition, we can derive the formula for the case whereby q > 1 (cold liquid feed)
and q < 0 (superheated vapour feed).
Thus, we have for cold liquid feed,

and for superheated vapour feed,

where Tbp is the bubble point, and Tdp is the dew point of the feed respectively.