SEPARATIONS ARE UBIQUITOUS IN CHEMICAL INDUSTRY

Desired
products

Raw material Desired and

Reactor undesired
Separators
products

Undesired
Recycle of unreacted reactants products

CHEMICAL PLANT
• Separations comprise 50-90% of capital and operating cost of chemical industry
• Separations are also called UNIT OPERATIONS where typically a physical separation occurs
• Good design and operation of separation equipment is paramount
• The tall columns in the figure are distillation columns
In the remaining semester, distillation is covered in this course
• Flash distillation
• Column distillation, binary and multicomponent systems
 AN EXAMPLE OF COMMERCIAL FLASH DISTILLATION

In the production of benzene by hydro-dealkylation of toluene, by the reaction shown below, the
reactor effluents emerge as vapour at 600 oC and 25 bar. They contain unreacted toluene and
unreacted hydrogen in addition to the products, benzene and methane. An undesirable by-product,
biphenyl, also forms in the reactor because of high temperature and pressure conditions. The
unreacted reactants, hydrogen and toluene, must be recycled to the reactor for improving their
overall conversion.
Hydrogen (H) Reactions are not carried out
Main Reaction + H2 + CH4 for 100% conversion

Toluene (T) Benzene (B) Methane (M)

Normal boiling points:

Side reaction 2 + H2 H2, −252.9 oC; toluene, 110.6 oC;
benzene 80.1 oC; CH4, −161.5 oC;
benzene Biphenyl (BP) diphenyl, 255 oC.
How could the separation of hydrogen
and methane from the rest of the
compounds be achieved?
 DRAW A SCHEME TO SEPARATE HYDROGEN AND METHANE FROM REACTOR EFFLUENTS
Constraint: pressure cannot be reduced

Cooler Heater

Throttle valve Flash chamber

(for reducing pressure) (separates liquid and vapour)

Vapour
Essentially H, M
Feed
T, B, BP, M, H

Liquid
Essentially T, B, BP

What are the goals of this separation? How are these goals to be achieved?
 ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF COMMERCIAL FLASH DISTILLATION
Aqueous mixtures of ethylene glycol are used as coolants in cars. Commercially ethylene glycol is made by
reacting ethylene oxide with water. Downstream processing of reactor effluent involves separation of
ethylene glycol and water. In one such separation, a stream flowing at 100 kmol/h consists of 60 mole%
water and 40 mole% ethylene glycol. Temperature and pressure of the stream are 40 oC and 1 atm,
respectively. Normal boiling points: water, 100 oC; glycol, 197.3 oC.
Cooler Heater

Throttle valve Flash chamber

(for reducing pressure) (separates liquid and vapour)

DRAW A SCHEME TO SEPARATE WATER AND ETHYLENE GLYCOL

Vapour
Essentially
Feed Water
Water, Ethylene glycol

Liquid
Essentially Ethylene glycol
 ALTERING TEMPERATURE ACHIEVES FLASH DISTILLATION
ALTERING PRESSURE ACHIEVES FLASH DISTILLATION
ALTERING TEMPERATURE OR PRESSURE ACHIEVES FLASH DISTILLATION

Vapour
Liquid mixtures

Feed Liquid mixtures are heated and/or expanded

Liquid

Vapour
Vapour mixtures

Feed Vapour mixtures are cooled and/or compressed

Liquid