Distillation - Part 5 - 2

LECTURE 5
Distillation Efficiencies
Multicomponent Distillation
Multi – component Distillation
INTRODUCTION OF MULTI – COMP. DISTILLATION
EQUILIBRIUM DATA IN MULTI. DISTILLATION
BOILING POINT, DEW POINT AND FLASH DISTILLATION
LIGHT AND HEAVY KEY COMPONENT

INTRODUCTION OF MULTI – COMP. DISTILLATION
Separation of more than two components (ternary mixture).
In binary mixture, one tower was used to separate two components A and B with A in the overhead and B
in the bottoms.
In multicomponent mixture of n components, n-1 fractionators will be required.
Example: For three component A,B,C where A is the most volatile and C the least volatile, two columns
will be needed.
Figure 11.7-1. Separation of a ternary system of A, B, and C.

Geankoplis, C.J. (2014). Transport Processes and Unit Operations to Transport Processes and Separation Process Principles (Includes Unit Operations), Fourth
Edition. Pearson New International Edition
Consider as ideal mixture, we can apply Raoult’s Law to determine the

composition of vapor in equilibrium with liquid.
Consider a four – component (A,B,C,D) mixture:
p A = x A PA pB = xB PB pC = xC PC pD = xD PD
p A PA PB PC PD
yA = = xA yB = xB yC = xC yD = xD
P P P P P
In hydrocarbon system, because nonidealities, the equilibrium data are often
represented by:
yA = K A xA y B = K B xB yC = K C xC y D = K D xD
KA is the vapor – liquid equilibrium constant or distribution coefficient for
component A.
Pi for component i individual component.
Ki =
P
K value is easily determined (refer K-chart) for hydrocarbons system but need
to be calculated for other system.
The relative volatility, αi for each individual component in a multi component

mixture can be defined in a similar manner to that of a binary mixture.
Need to select a base component, say component C:
Ki K KB KC KD
αi = , hence α A = A αB = αC = = 1.0 αD =
KC KC KC KC KC
The values of Ki depend strongly on T.
Boiling Point.
At a specified pressure, the boiling point or bubble point of a given multi –
component mixture satisfy the relation Σ yi = 1.0. For a mixture A, B, C, and D,
with C as the base component,
∑ yi = ∑ K i xi = K C ∑ αi xi = 1.0
The calculation is a trial – and – error process where:

T is assumed.
Values of αi are then calculated using K values at the assume T.
Then calculate value of KC where
1.0
KC =
∑ αi xi
Find the T that corresponds to the calculated value of KC

Compare with T value read from table that corresponds to the KC
(calculated)
Boiling Point.
If values is differ, the calculated T is used for next iteration.

After the final T is known, the vapor composition is calculated from:
αi xi
yi =
∑ αi xi
Dew Point.
yi  1   yi 
Also based on the trial and error method: ∑ xi = ∑ =  
Ki  KC 
∑ 
 αi
 = 1.0

yi
The values of KC is calculated from: KC = ∑α
i
y i αi
After the final T is known, the liquid composition is calculated from: xi =
∑ y i αi
Example 11.7-1
A liquid feed to a distillation tower at 405.3 kPa abs is fed to a distillation

tower. The composition in mol fractions is as follows:
n – butane (xA = 0.40) n –pentane (xB = 0.25)

n – hexane (xC = 0.20) n – heptane (xD = 0.15)
Calculate the boiling point and the vapor in equilibrium with liquid.
Solution
Assume first trial and error temperature, let say T=65OC. Find the values of
K from Figure 11.7-2.
Using component C (n – hexane) as base component, the following values

are calculated for the first trial:
Figure 11.7-2. : Equilibrium K values for light hydrocarbon system at 405.3 kPa absolute.
Assume first trial and error temperature, let say T=65OC.
Set n-hexane as base component. Initial Kc = Ki (hexane) = 0.245

Ki
αi =
KC
Ki 1.68
For n - butane, α = = = 6.857
K C 0.245
Do same calculation for n-pentane, n-hexane and n-heptane
For the first trial (T=65OC),
Component xi Ki (from chart) αi=Ki/KC αi x i

n-butane (xA) 0.40 1.68 6.857 2.743
n-pentane (xB) 0.25 0.63 2.571 0.643
n-hexane (xC) 0.20 0.245 1.000 0.200
n-heptane (xD) 0.15 0.093 0.380 0.057
1.00 Σαixi = 3.643
1 1
From table above, KC = = = 0.2745
∑ α i xi 3.643
From graph, for n-hexane at K = 0.275, T = 69OC
Using T = 69OC for trial 2, a temperature of 70OC is obtained.
Using T = 70OC for trial 3, the calculation shown final value of 70OC, which is
bubble point.
Values y is calculated from: yi=αixi/Σαixi
From trial 3,
Component xi Ki (from chart) αi=Ki/KC αi x i yi
n-butane (xA) 0.40 1.86 6.607 2.643 0.748
n-pentane (xB) 0.25 0.710 2.522 0.631 0.178
n-hexane (xC) 0.20 0.2815 1.000 0.200 0.057
n-heptane (xD) 0.15 0.110 0.391 0.059 0.017
1.00 Σαixi = 3.533 1.000
Flash Distillation
Defining f = V/F as the fraction of the feed vaporized and (1 – f) = L/F as the
fraction of feed remained as liquid.
For equilibrium, yi = Kixi = Kcαixi
f −1 x
yi =
f
xi + iF = K cα i xi
f
∑y i = 1.0 yi = composition of i in vapor
xiF
xi =
f ( K cα i − 1) + 1
∑x i
= 1.0 xi = composition of i in liquid
yi and xi were determined by trial and error by first assuming a

temperature if the fraction, f vaporization has been set.
REFERENCES
Geankoplis, C.J. (2014). Transport Processes and Unit

Operations to Transport Processes and Separation
Process Principles (Includes Unit Operations), Fourth
Edition. Pearson New International Edition.
Coulson, M. and Richardson, J.F. (1993).

Chemical Engineering: Unit Operations, Vol. 2,
4th Edition. Oxford: Pergamon Press

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LECTURE 5

INTRODUCTION OF MULTI – COMP. DISTILLATION

EQUILIBRIUM DATA IN MULTI. DISTILLATION

BOILING POINT, DEW POINT AND FLASH DISTILLATION

LIGHT AND HEAVY KEY COMPONENT

Separation of more than two components (ternary mixture).

In multicomponent mixture of n components, n-1 fractionators will be required.

Figure 11.7-1. Separation of a ternary system of A, B, and C.

Consider as ideal mixture, we can apply Raoult’s Law to determine the

Consider a four – component (A,B,C,D) mixture:

The relative volatility, αi for each individual component in a multi component

Need to select a base component, say component C:

The values of Ki depend strongly on T.

The calculation is a trial – and – error process where:

Find the T that corresponds to the calculated value of KC

If values is differ, the calculated T is used for next iteration.

A liquid feed to a distillation tower at 405.3 kPa abs is fed to a distillation

n – butane (xA = 0.40) n –pentane (xB = 0.25)

Using component C (n – hexane) as base component, the following values

Assume first trial and error temperature, let say T=65OC.

Set n-hexane as base component. Initial Kc = Ki (hexane) = 0.245

For the first trial (T=65OC),

Component xi Ki (from chart) αi=Ki/KC αi x i

From graph, for n-hexane at K = 0.275, T = 69OC

Using T = 69OC for trial 2, a temperature of 70OC is obtained.

Values y is calculated from: yi=αixi/Σαixi

For equilibrium, yi = Kixi = Kcαixi

yi and xi were determined by trial and error by first assuming a

Geankoplis, C.J. (2014). Transport Processes and Unit

Coulson, M. and Richardson, J.F. (1993).

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