Simultaneous Heat and Mass

Transfer (SHMT)
CHE-402
Date: 22/09/2021
Lecture No. 2
Today’s Topic
 Multi-component Distillation
 Chapter 15 from Binny K Dutta
 Chapter 19 from McCabe & Smith 6th Ed
 Chapter 11 from Coulson and Richardson, Vol. 2

 Degree of Freedom

 Example of Multi-component distillation

 Methods to Solve solutions in Multi-component distillation

 The Lewis- Matheson Method

 MULTI-COMPONENT DISTILLATION
Majority of fluid mixtures in industries involve more
than two components.
 Single column is not enough to separate multi-
component mixtures.
 If we have C number of components
 We need C-1 number of columns to separate them
 For tertiary system, most volatile component is
separated initially
 Then the remaining two components are separated in
next column.
 The stream are not 100% pure.
 MULTI-COMPONENT DISTILLATION
Degree of Freedom
 Degree of freedom needs to be understood in order to
solve problems in this area.

 Definition:
The difference between the number of variables and
the number of independent equations is called the
Degree of freedom.
 Usually, No. of variables >No. of Independent equations
Degree of Freedom
Degree of Freedom
Degree of Freedom

No of variables (Unknown)= ?

No of Equations = ?

Degree of Freedom = ?
 MULTI-COMPONENT DISTILLATION
Degree of Freedom
 All of the relevant variables in distillation problem are
related by the set of independent equations.
 The terminology of MESH is often used to describe
the various equations involved to solve distillation
problems.
 M– Material Balance equation
 E– Equilibrium relations
 S– Summation of Mole fractions
 H– Heat (Enthalpy) balance
MULTI-COMPONENT DISTILLATION
Degree of Freedom
MULTI-COMPONENT DISTILLATION
Degree of Freedom
 MULTI-COMPONENT DISTILLATION
Key Components
 Def:
Those two components of the feed whose
concentrations are specified in the distillate and in the
bottom product are called Key Components.
Light Key Component (LK) More volatile of two
comp.
Heavy Key Component (HK) Less volatile of two
comp.
 MULTI-COMPONENT DISTILLATION
Non-Key Components
 Def:
All of the other components which get distributed
automatically between the distillate and the bottom
are the non keys.
Light Non-Key (LNK), Non-Key more volatile than
the light key.
Heavy Non-Key (HNK), Non-Key less volatile than
the heavy key.
Intermediate Keys (Volatilities between LK & HK)
also known as Distributed keys.
 MULTI-COMPONENT DISTILLATION
Methods to Solve Problems in Multi-component
Distillation
 Fenske Equation for Minimum no. of trays
 Underwood Equation for Minimum reflux
 Gilliland Correlation for The Number of Trays
 FUG Technique
 The Lewis-Matheson Method
 The Rigorous Methods
 MULTI-COMPONENT DISTILLATION
The Lewis-Matheson Method
 The method proposed by Lewis Matheson is
essentially the application of Lewis-Sorel method
to the solution of multi-component problems
(general method).
 Constant molar overflow is assumed and
 The material balance and equilibrium
relationship equations are solved stage by stage
starting at the top or bottom of the column.
 In this method we must specify the following
variables:-
 MULTI-COMPONENT DISTILLATION
The Lewis-Matheson Method
1)Feed composition, flow rate, reflux ratio and condition (q).
2)Distribution of key-components.
3)Products flow rates.
4)Column pressure.
5)Assumed values for the distribution of non-key
components.
The usual procedure is to start the calculations at the
top and bottom of the column and proceed toward
the feed point.
The initial estimates of the component V
y1
distributions in the products are then
revised and the calculations repeated until
L D
the compositions calculated from the top Xoi xDi
and bottom match at the feed point.
V L

Lewis Matheson Method:- F

1-Similar to Lewis method. xFi

2-Tray to tray calculations are done with the

assumption of constant molar flow rates of
V’ L’
liquid and vapour in each section.
3-Top section tray to tray calculations are done V’
yri
till xi ≤ xFi W
xWi
4-Bottom section tray to tray calculations are
L’
done till yi ≥ xFi x’1i
Top section:-
L1 = L2 = L3 = --------- = L
V1 = V2 = V3 = -------- = V
Bottom section:-
L’1 = L’2 = L’3 = --------- = L’
V’1 = V’2 = V’3 = -------- = V’
(where molal latent heats are mainly the same)
• Reflux ratio = R = L/ D
• V = ( L + D ) = D ( L/D + 1) = D ( R + 1 )
• From overall (M.B) on the column , calculate D ,W.
• Then calculate L & V.
• From feed conditions ( q )calculate L’ & V’.
• q = L’ – L / F → calculate L’ .
• q – 1 = V’ – V / F → calculate V ’.
Calculation steps:-
Top section:-
1- Assume total condenser
conditions
i.e y1i = x Di = x oi
2-Knowing key components
compositions assume xDi ′s
3-Calculate x1i ′s from y1i = K1i x1i
( assume T1 , calculate Ki1 = P◦1i / PT then check T1 at
∑ x1i = 1 if not repeat )
Substitute in the overall material balance equation
of the top section:-
L D
y n+1 i = x n i + x D i
V V
 for n = 1  first stage or plate
L D
y 2 i = x1 i + x D i  cal. y 2 i 's
V V
 for n = 2  second stage or plate
L D
y3 i = x 2 i + x D i  cal. y 3 i 's
V V
y2 i
(knowing x 2 i = from the previous step )
k2 i
Repeat your calculations till reaching x n i  x F i
Bottom section:-
First start with the reboiler (partial
vaporizer is considered as one
theoretical stage)
L' W
ym i = x m+1 i - xw i
V' V'
 for m = 0  Reboiler
L' W
yr i = x1i  x w i  cal. x1i's
V' V'
( after calculating  y r i = k r i x w i )
 for n = 1  first stage or plate
L' W
y1i = x2 i  x D i  cal. x 2 i 's
V' V'
(knowing y1i = k1i x1i from the previous step )
Repeat your calculations till reaching y m i  x F i
At feed entrance we make matching between top and
bottom and feed streams to check whether the
assumption of xDi’s is correct or not.
If not repeat your assumption, but if it match calculate
the number of stages.
 To perform these calculations we must know the
equilibrium relations (calculate K=f(T,P)) and the
operating pressure .
BUT operating temperature varies from tray to another,
so each tray calculations will be done by assuming T and
checking it from Sx or Sy.
Relations to Be Utilized
Relation of relative volatilities
3-Short-cut methods for stage and
reflux requirement:-
Most of the short-cut methods were developed
for the design of separation columns for hydrocarbon
Systems in the petroleum and petrochemical system
industries. They usually depend on the assumption for
severely non-ideal systems.
From these methods:-
1- Pseudo-Binary system method = Hengstebeck’s
method
2-Gilliland, Fenske , Underwood Method.
Gilliland, Fenske , Underwood Method:-

1- Gilliland Equation for calculation the number of

stages at operating reflux:-

A simple empirical method is used for preliminary

Estimates. The correlation requires knowledge only of
the minimum reflux ratio. This is shown in the following
figure, where the group :-
(N - N min)/(N + 1) is plotted against
( R – R min ) / ( R + 1 ) .
Where N = no. of plates. R = reflux ratio.
N min=minimum no. of plates. R min= minimum reflux
ratio.
2-Fenske equation for calculation minimum
number of plates :-
3- Minimum reflux ratio(R min):- Underwood equation:-