Expected Outcomes Effect of different reflux ratio on the overhead and bottom compositions The reflux (L) is the

distillate that is recycled back into the column. Therefore, the reflux ratio, R is the ratio of the recycled portion to the distillate, D (overhead product recovered), as shown in the expression below.

As the reflux ratio is increased, an intimate contact between the down flowing liquid and the up flowing vapor occurs on the trays or in the packing surface. The exchange of mass that takes place between the vapor and the liquid phase will be increased. The more volatile components move from the liquid to the vapor phase and the less volatiles move in the reverse directionfrom vapor to the liquid phase. As a result the concentrations of the more volatiles in the vapor gradually increase as it goes up(overhead), and the concentration of the less volatiles increase in the liquid phase as it flows down the column(bottom) (Dutta 2007, 319). Therefore the reflux ratio controls the purity of the distillate by controlling the overhead product recycled back into the column. Therefore it can be concluded that at higher reflux ratio the distillate and product, will have a higher purity, and will be composed of mainly the more volatile compounds. Purity can be considered as the mass fraction of the desired product in the distillate. This means that reflux ratio is directly proportional to the concentration of the product. A desired purity of a product is achieved by altering the reflux ratio (McCabe, 2008), when the reflux ratio reaches its optimum value, the purity remains constant, even though there is further increase in reflux ratio. In this sort of situation, increasing the number of trays of the column might be introduced in order to further improve the purity.

Effect of reflux ratio on the condenser and reboiler duties The condenser is used to cool down the overhead vapor from the distillation column, to liquid with the use of cooling water. So as the Reflux ratio (L/D) increases more amount of cooling water is required by the condenser to cool down the increased amount of distillate (L), therefore increasing the duty of the condenser. As the liquid recycled back into the column is increased due to increased reflux ratio, more steam is required by the reboiler to vaporize the recycled liquid, thereby increasing the reboiler duty. It can be concluded that as the reflux ration increases the condenser and reboiler duties increases. For higher purity, a higher reflux ratio is required but less number of trays in the column, thereby reducing the capital cost, but increasing the operating cost, because at higher reflux ratio more cooling water and steam would be required. (McCabe, 2008).

Reference List Binary K. Dutta. 2007. Principles of mass transfer and separation processes, 1st ed.,319-421, PHI learning private ltd, New Delhi, 2007. Hsi-Jen Chen, Yeh-Chin Lin.2001 Case Studies on Optimum Reflux Ratio of Distillation Towers in Petroleum Refining Processes Tamkang Journal of Science and Engineering, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 105-110. McCabe, W.L., Smith, J.C., and Harriot, P., Unit Operations of Chemical Engineering, 7th ed., 663 - 723, McGraw Hill, Singapore, 2008.