1. Multistage Distillation Separation and VLE
Consider the VLE conditions for a binary mixture of 2-propanol and 2-butanol. This process has a feed flow rate of 600 mol/s, where the feed enters as a mixture of vapor (110 mol V in feed) and liquid (490 mol L in feed), and an initial feed concentration of 65% 2-propanol and 2-butanol. The reflux ratio is given as R = 1, and a target top concentration of 98% 2- propanol and a bottoms concentration of 12% 2-propanol.
a. Draw a PFD for this process. Construct xy-, Txy, and Pxy diagrams for this system, assuming either a constant T = 80 °C or a constant P = 760 mmHg. Reference Antoine's coefficients from the Table provided with HW2.
b. Solve for the distillate and bottoms flow rates.
c. Assume that the ratio of streams in the rectifying section of the column are defined by L/V = 0.5, while streams in the stripping section of the column are defined by L'/V' = 2.6, where the vapor returning to the column following the partial reboiler and V':B split is 50 mol/s (V"). Graphically determine the theoretical number of stages required by plotting this information on an x-y plot, including the q-line, TOL, and BOL
d. Calculate the heat duty for the condenser (total) and reboiler (partial), assuming no heat loss (Que="0). The heat of vaporization for 2-propanol is ~39.85 kJ/mol and for 2-butanol is ~40.8 kJ/mol.
