DEPARTMENT:CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

QUALIFICATION:DIPLOMA: ENGINEERING: CHEMICAL

 
 

Mrs N. Ndlovu
November 2020
 DISTILLATION: MCCABE THIELE METHOD

Distillation is defined as:

o A process in which a liquid or vapour mixture of two or more substances is
separated into its component fractions of desired purity, by the application
and removal of heat.

o OR The separation of a liquid mixture of two or more substances of different

boiling points by the processes of partial vapourisation and condensation

Facts about distillation :

 
o Distillation is the most common separation technique
it consumes enormous amounts of energy, both in terms of cooling and
heating requirements.

o It can contribute to more than 50% of plant operating costs

The best way to reduce operating costs of existing units, is to improve their
efficiency and operation.
To achieve this improvement, a thorough understanding of distillation principles
and how distillation systems are designed is essential.
 A simple binary system of 50% water and 50% methanol.
Pure water has a boiling point of 100 0C and pure methanol has a
boiling point of 65 0C.
 But the 50-50 mixture of methanol and water has a boiling point of 84 0C.
At mixture boiling point of 84 0C pure methanol has a vapour pressure
of 200 kPa and pure water has a vapour pressure of 60kPa.

 Based on the above physical properties, we say that methanol is the MORE
VOLATILE COMPONENT, because it has the lower boiling point OR because
it has a higher vapour pressure, and water is the LESS VOLATILE
COMPONENT, because it has a higher boiling point OR because it has a
lower vapour pressure.

 BOILING POINT of a liquid is the TEMPERATURE at which the VAPOUR

PRESSURE of the liquid is equal to the EXTERNAL PRESSURE, and
VAPOUR PRESSURE is the pressure that is exerted by the vapours of a
liquid that is vapourizing.
 
 Distillation equipment
 Distillation columns are made up of several components, each of which is used
either to transfer heat energy or enhance material transfer.
 A typical distillation contains several major components:

 A vertical shell (Column) where the separation of liquid components is carried

out.

 Column internals such as trays/plates and/or packings which are used to

enhance component separations.

 A reboiler to provide the necessary vaporisation for the distillation process.

 A condenser to cool and condense the vapour leaving the top of the column.

 A reflux drum to hold the condensed vapour from the top of the column so that
liquid (reflux) can be recycled back to the column.

The vertical shell houses the column internals and together with the condenser and
reboiler, constitute a distillation column.
 Distillation equipment
A schematic of a typical distillation unit with a single feed and two product
streams is shown below:

A Typical Distillation Column

 Operation of a typical Distillation Column
 The fractionating column is usually a cylindrical structure which is divided
into sections by trays.

 The trays are perforated (sieve trays) and the vapour rises from the
bottom of the column through each tray to the top.

 The liquid flows down from the top, across the trays, guided by
downcomers to the bottom.

 At each tray an equilibrium of mass transfer and heat transfer is

established.
 The distillate is drawn off as a vapour at the top, and condensed, either
fully or partially.
 Depending on the reflux ratio, after the condenser, an amount of liquid is
put back at the top of the column to flow back down either by gravity or
pumped from a holding drum to the top of the column. This is done to
ensure continuous vapour-liquid contact above the feed tray. We will
define reflux ratio in the next section.
 
 McCabe-Thiele Method

accomplish a definite concentration difference in either the rectifying or

the stripping section
 The design procedure is simple. Given the
VLE diagram of the binary mixture, operating
lines are drawn first. The operating lines
define the mass balance relationships
between the liquid and vapour phases in the
column.
 There is one operating line for the bottom
(stripping) section of the column, and on for
the top (rectification or enriching) section of
the column. Use of the constant molar
overflow assumption also ensures the
operating lines are straight lines.
 McCabe Thiele Graphical
The McCabe-Thiele approach is a graphical one, and uses
the VLE plot to determine the theoretical number of stages
required to effect the separation of a binary mixture.
It assumes constant molar overflow and this implies
that:
Overall Mass Balance: Volatile component

 Mass Balance around the column gives

Operating Lines
Feed plate: McCabe-Thiele Method
Graphical construction of the top plate:
McCabe-Thiele Method
Graphical construction of bottom plate:
McCabe-Thiele Method
Plotting the feed line
McCabe-Thiele Method

Mol % volatile component in vapour

Mol% volatile component in liquid

Example: McCabe-Thiele Method
The effect of feed condition on feed line

𝑥𝐷
  − 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑝𝑡 =
𝑌
𝑅 +1
Energy Requirements of a Distillation column
Example 1 : McCabe-Thiele Method

Mole fraction
Benzene in
liquid 0,00 0,20 0,40 0,60 0,80 1,00

Mole fraction
Benzene in
vapour 0,00 0,38 0,63 0,78 0,91 1,00
 Example 2: McCabe-Thiele Method
A distillation column is fed with a mixture of Acetone and Ethyl alcohol in which
the mole fraction of acetone is 0.40.The column is to yield a product in which the
mole fraction of acetone is 0.90 when working with a reflux ratio of 4. The waste
from the column is not to exceed 0.10 fraction of acetone. The feed is at its
boiling point. Estimate the number of plates required and its position of the feed
point. Mole Mole
Fraction Fraction of
of Liquid Vapor
X – axis Liquid Ethanol Ethanol
Y – axis Vapour 0 0
0.03 0.11
0.20 0.41
0.32 0.53
0.41 0.61
0.53 0.70
0.85 0.90
1.00 1.00