INTRODUCTION AND THEORY

Distillation is a process of separating the liquid into a different product by difference of

purity nor temperature through conversion of a liquid into vapor that is subsequently condensed
back into liquid. Distillation is widely used for separating mixtures or product in industries.
Distillation is used to separate liquids from nonvolatile solids, as in the separation of alcoholic
liquors from fermented materials, or in the separation of two or more liquids having different
boiling points, as in the separation of gasoline, kerosene, and lubricating oil from crude oil.
Other industrial applications include the processing of such chemical products as formaldehyde
and phenol and the desalination of seawater. (Benneth and Myers, 1982)
If the difference in boiling points between two substances is great, complete separation
may be easily accomplished by a single-stage distillation. If the boiling points differ only
slightly, many re distillations may be required. If a water and alcohol distillate is returned from
the condenser and made to drip down through a long column onto a series of plates, and if the
vapor, as it rises to the condenser, is made to bubble through this liquid at each plate, the vapor
and liquid will interact so that some of the water in the vapor condenses and some of the alcohol
in the liquid vaporizes.
The feed tray divides the column into a top (enriching or rectification) section and a
bottom (stripping) section. The feed flows down the column where it is collected at the bottom in
the re boiler. Heat is supplied to the re boiler to generate vapor. The source of heat input can be
any suitable fluid, although in most chemical plants this is normally steam. In refineries, the
heating source may be the output streams of other columns. The vapor raised in the re boiler is
re-introduced into the unit at the bottom of the column. The liquid removed from the re boiler is
known as the bottoms product or simply, the bottoms. The vapor travels up the column, and as it
exits the top of the unit, it is cooled by a condenser. The condensed liquid is stored in a holding
vessel known as the reflux drum. Some of this liquid is recycled back to the top of the column
and this is called the reflux. The condensed liquid that is removed from the system is known as
the distillate or top product. Figure 1: Basic Operation of Distillation Edwin and Clark (1950)

stated that most methods of distillation used by industry and in laboratory research are variations
of simple distillation. But still there are a few method of distillation such as fractional
distillation, vacuum distillation and Azeotropic distillation. (Geankoplis, 1993)

But each distillation column will used different type of packing. Examples of common packing
that were used in industries are packed column and bubble cap.
Bubble cap trays
A bubble cap tray has riser or chimney fitted over each hole, and a cap that covers the
riser. The cap is mounted so that there is a space between riser and cap to allow the passage of
vapour. Vapour rises through the chimney and is directed downward by the cap, finally
discharging through slots in the cap, and finally bubbling through the liquid on the tray.
(Hengsteback, 1998)

Figure:Bubble cap trays

THEORY
The separation dynamics are most heavily dependent on the vapor pressures of the
species in the column. The more volatile component is also known as the light key, the less
volatile component is also known as the heavy key. For a two-component separation:
=KL/KH.

(1)

KL= PL/P.

(2)

KH= PH/P.

(3)

By Raoults law, this means that relative volatility can be described in terms of mole fractions in
the liquid and vapor phases.
yL / x
yH / x

L
H

y L (1 x L )
.
x L (1 y L )

(4)

This can be rearranged to give

y

(xL)
.
1 x L ( 1)

(5)

The traditional approach to modeling distillation processes is known as the McCabeThiele approach. These equations to be derived relating flow rates to molar compositions in each
stage of the column. The column is divided into a stripping section, in which the more volatile
component is selectively driven into the vapor phase, and the rectification section, in which the
less volatile component is selectively condensed. In each section, the liquid and vapor
compositions can be related to flow rates. (McCabe and etc, 2001)
Rectification section:
Vn+1yn+1=Lnxn+DxD.

(6)

yn+1=(Ln/ Vn+1)+(D/ Vn+1) xD.

(7)

Where the stages are numbered consecutively, beginning with the top stage.
L/V=R/(R+1).
R
1
xn
x
R 1
R 1

(8)

yn

(9)

Stripping section:
yn=(Ln/Vn)xn-(Bn/Vn)xB.

(10)

VB=V/B

(11)

L
V B
VB 1

.
V
V
VB

yn

1
x
VB

xn

(12)

(13)

Figure: Sample McCabe-Thiele diagram. Each step indicates a theoretical stage

going to complete equilibrium
(Perry, 1997)

References
1. Bennett and Myers (1982): Momentum, Heat, and Mass Transfer, 3rdEd,
McGraw-Hill, New York, NY, Chapters 4 and 6.
2. Geankoplis (1993): Transprot Processes and Unit Operations, 3rd Ed.,
Prentice Hall, New Jersey.
3. Hengsteback (1998) Distillation Principles and Design Procedures,
Reinhold Publishing Corp., New York.
4. McCabe, Smith and Harriott (2001): Unit Operations of Chemical
Engineering, 6 Ed., McGraw-Hill Publishing Co., New York, NY).
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5. Perry (1997): Chemical Engineers Handbook, 7 Ed., McGraw-Hill, New

York, NY.
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