Chapter 4

Equations for stripping section The distillation tower section below the feed is shown schematically in Figure 4.4-3 with a partial reboiler.

Lm, xm

m m+1

Vm +1, ym+1

N LN QR

VB , yB B, xB = 0.02

Figure 4.4-3 Schematic of the stripping section with a partial reboiler. Making a mole balance on component A gives ym+1V m+1 + xBB = xmL m (4.4-6)

Again, since CMO is assumed, L m = L = constant and V m+1 = V = constant. The strippingsection operating line is a straight line when plotted as y versus x in Figure 4.4-4, with a slope of L / V , L B ym+1 = xm xB (4.4-7) V V Given xB, xF, L / V , B/ V , and the equilibrium data, the equilibrium stages can be determined by successively solving the equilibrium relation and the material balance. Starting at xB, yB is evaluated from the equilibrium relation. The liquid composition leaving tray N, xN, is then solved from the operating line,
yB =

L B xN xB V V

We then determine yN from the equilibrium curve and xN-1 is determined from
yN =

L B xN-1 xB V V
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Equilibrium curve

yN Operating line with slope = L/V

yB

xB

xN

xN-1

Figure 4.4-4 Operating line and equilibrium data (curve). The process continues until xm > xF. The number of equilibrium stages in the stripping section is equal to the number of equilibrium calculations during the process. Example 4.4-2 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------A distillation column receives a feed that is 40 mole % n-pentane and 60 mole % n-hexane. Feed is saturated liquid at 2,500 lbmol/hr. The column is at 1 atm. A distillate that is 97 mole % n-pentane is desired. A total condenser is used. Reflux is a saturated liquid. The external reflux ratio is L0/D = 3. Bottoms from the partial reboiler is 98 mole % n-hexane. Determine the number of equilibrium trays and their compositions for the stripping section. Data: Vapor pressure, Psat, data: ln Psat = A B/(T + C), where Psat is in kPa and T is in K. Compound A n-pentane (1) 13.9778 n-hexane (2) 14.0568
B 2554.6 2825.42 C 36.2529 42.7089

Solution -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Overall material balance over the entire tower gives

D + B = 2,500

Material balance for n-pentane over the entire tower gives 0.97D + 0.02B = (0.4)(2,500) = 1,000 0.97(2,500 B) + 0.02B = 1,000 4-24

Solving for B and D from the above equations we have B = 1,500 lbmoles/hr and D = 1000 lbmoles/hr.

v1

QC D, x= L0 D 0.999 L/D =3 0

F = 2,500 lbmol/hr o T = 30C F, xF P = 1 atm

feed plate

QR

B, x= B 0.02

Since the column has a partial reboiler, the vapor composition yB is determine from the equilibrium curve at xB = 0.02. The equilibrium curve y versus x for n-pentane and n-hexane system is plotted in Figure E-2 where x and y are the mole fraction of n-pentane in the liquid and vapor phase, respectively. At x = xB = 0.02, y = yB = 0.053. We can also perform a bubble point temperature calculation with x = xB = 0.02. We start with the equation
y1 + y2 = 1

(E-1)

Substituting yi = xiPisat/P into equation (E-1) yields

x1P1sat + x2P2sat = P

(E-2)

With the numerical values for mole fractions and pressure, equation (E-2) becomes .02exp(13.9778 2554.6/(T 36.2529)) + 0.98exp(14.0568 2825.42/(T 42.7089)) = 101.325

(E-3)

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Figure E-2: Equilibrium curve for n-pentane and n-hexane system. The buble point temperature should be between the boiling points of n-pentane and n-hexane given by
T1boil =

2554.6 + 36.2529 = 309.20 K 13.9778 ln(101.325) 2825.42 + 42.7089 = 342.06 K 14.0568 ln(101.325)

T2boil =

The solution of the nonlinear algebraic equation (E-3) can be determined using Matlab function fsolve with inline function as follows:

>>fun=inline('.02*exp(13.9778-2554.6/(T-36.2529))+ 0.98*exp(14.0568 -2825.42/(T42.7089))- 101.325'); >> T=fsolve(fun,340,optimset('Display','off')) T = 340.9753

The bubble point temperature of the n-pentane and n-hexane mixture is 340.9753 K. At this temperature, the vapor pressure of n-pentane is
P1sat = exp(13.9778 - 2554.6/( 340.9753 - 36.2529)) = 268.9249 kPa

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The mole fraction of n-pentane in the vapor stream leaving the reboiler is then
yB =
sat xB P (0.02)(268.9249) 1 = = 0.0531 P 101.325

The liquid composition leaving tray N, xN, is then solved from the operating line, yB =

L B xN xB V V

We need to determine the liquid and vapor flow rates L and V , respectively, for the operating line. Since the external reflux ratio R is 3, we have L = 3D = (3)(1000) = 3000 lbmoles/hr The vapor flow rate in the rectifying section is then V = L + D = 3000 + 1000 = 4000 lbmoles/hr

L Feed plate L

F Saturated liquid feed

Making materials balance over the feed plate gives

V = V = 4000 lbmoles/hr
L = L + F = 3000 + 2500 = 5500 lbmoles/hr
The mole fraction of n-pentane in the liquid stream leaving plate N is then

L B xN xB V V V 4000 B 1500 xN = yB + xB = 0.0531 + 0.02 = 0.0441 L L 5500 5500

yB = Next yN is determined from the equilibrium curve and xN-1 is determine from the operating line

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yN =

L B xN-1 xB V V

This process continues until xm > xF. The following Matlab program alternately solves the equilibrium relation and material balance for the mole fraction of n-pentane leaving each equilibrium stage in the stripping section:

------------------------ Table 4.4-2: Matlab program e2d4d2 -----------------------------% Example 4.4-2 % A=[13.9778 14.0568];B =[2554.6 2825.42];C=[-36.2529 -42.7089]; xd=.97;xb=.02;xf=.4;R=3; am=R/(R+1);bm=xd/(R+1); P=101.325;pl=log(P); Tb=B./(A-pl)-C; F=2500; DB=[1 1;xd xb]\[F;xf*F]; D=DB(1);Bot=DB(2); L=R*D; Vbar=(R+1)*D;Lbar=L+F; dT=.01;xi=xb; for i=0:20; % Assume a temperature for the dew point calculation T=xi*Tb(1)+(1-xi)*Tb(2); % Solve for the bubble point temperature using Newton's method for n=1:20; f=xi*exp(A(1)-B(1)/(T+C(1)))+(1-xi)*exp(A(2)-B(2)/(T+C(2)))-P; T1=T+dT;f1=xi*exp(A(1)-B(1)/(T1+C(1)))+(1-xi)*exp(A(2)-B(2)/(T1+C(2)))-P; fp=(f1-f)/dT;eT=f/fp;T=T-eT; if abs(eT)<0.001,break, end end % Solve for the mole fraction in the vapor phase using equilibrium relation for ideal system yi=xi*exp(A(1)-B(1)/(T+C(1)))/P; fprintf('Stage #N-%g x = %8.5f , y = %8.5f\n',i,xi,yi) % Solve for the mole fraction in the liquid stream leaving a stage xi=(Vbar*yi+Bot*xb)/Lbar; if xi>xf, break, end end -------------------------------------------------------------------->> e2d4d2 Stage #N-0 x = Stage #N-1 x = Stage #N-2 x = Stage #N-3 x = Stage #N-4 x = Stage #N-5 x =

0.02000 , y = 0.04406 , y = 0.08757 , y = 0.15898 , y = 0.25890 , y = 0.37046 , y =

0.05308 0.11291 0.21110 0.34848 0.50188 0.63380

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Effect of feed conditions

Liquid F HF

hL L

HV V (1-q)F

Vapor

qF Feed plate L hL V HV

Figure 4.4-5 Relationships between flows above and below the feed entrance.
The condition of the feed stream F determines the relation between the flow rates in the stripping and enriching sections. Let q be the ratio of the moles of saturated liquid in the feed to the total amount of feed then F = qF + (1 q)F (4.4-8) (4.4-9) (4.4-10)

L = L + qF L L = qF
V = V + (1 q)F V V = (q 1)F

The magnitude of q is related to the thermal condition of the feed. Making enthalpy and material balance around the feed plate in Figure 4.4-5, we obtain HFF + HV V + hLL = hL L + HVV F+V +L= L +V Assuming HV = HV and hL = hL, Eq. (4.4-11) can be rearranged to HFF + HV( V V) = hL( L L) Substituting V V = (q 1)F and L L = qF into Eq. (4.4-13) we obtain HFF + HV(q 1)F = hL qF Solving for q gives q= (4.4-14) (4.4-13) (4.4-11) (4.4-12)

HV H F , where HV hL

(4.4-15)

HV = specific enthalpy of the feed at the dew point (saturated vapor) HF = specific enthalpy of the feed at its entrance conditions
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hL = specific enthalpy of the feed at the bubble point (saturated liquid) HV HF = heat needed to vaporize 1 mole of feed at its entrance conditions HV hL = molar latent heat of vaporization of feed
From equation (4.4-15) q is the ratio of the heat needed to vaporize 1 mole of feed at its entrance conditions to the molar latent heat of vaporization of feed. From this definition, q can be negative when the feed is superheated vapor or it can be greater than 1 when the feed is sub-cooled liquid. The feed-line or q-line equation, which is the locus of the intersection of the enriching and stripping operating-line equations, can be derived as follow:

yn+1V = xnL + xDD ym+1 V = xm L xBB

At the intersection of the two operating lines y = yn+1 = ym+1 and x = xn = xm.

(4.4-16) (4.4-17)

yV = xL + xDD y V = x L xBB
Subtracting Eq. (4.4-18) from (4.4-19) we obtain

(4.4-18) (4.4-19)

y( V V) = x( L L) (xBB + xDD)

(4.4-20)

Substituting V V = (q 1)F, L L = qF, and (xBB + xDD) = xFF into Eq. (4.4-20) and rearranging we obtain

y=

q x x F q 1 q 1

(4.4-21)

There are five possible feed conditions listed below and illustrated in Figure 4.4-6 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Feed is a saturated liquid: HF = hL q = 1, q-line is vertical Feed is a saturated vapor: HF = HV q = 0, q-line is horizontal Feed is a mixture of saturated vapor and liquid: hL < HF < HV 0 < q < 1 Feed is a superheated vapor: HF > HV q < 0 Feed is a sub-cooled liquid: HF < hL q > 1

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q=1 Equilibrium curve 0<q<1 y q=0 q>1

q<0

x Figure 4.4-6 Slope of the q-line for various feed conditions.

Usual Specified Variables for Binary Distillation In design problems, the desired separation is set and a column is designed to achieve this separation. The following five conditions are usually specified: 1) Column pressure 2) Feed flow rate 3) Feed composition 4) Feed temperature or enthalpy or quality 5) Reflux temperature or enthalpy (usually saturated liquid) In addition to the above conditions, four more variables must be set. Two cases are listed in Table 4.4-3 with the calculation results.

Table 4.4-3
Specified Variables Case A 1. xD 2. xB 3. External reflux ratio L0/D 4. Use optimum feed plate Case B 1. (FRA)dist 2. (FRB)bot 3. External reflux ratio L0/D 4. Use optimum feed plate Designer Calculates D, B: distillate and bottoms flow rates QR, QC: heating and cooling loads N: number of stages, Nfeed: optimum feed plate DC: column diameter

xD, xB, D, B: distillate and bottoms flow rates QR, QC: heating and cooling loads N: number of stages, Nfeed: optimum feed plate DC: column diameter

xD = mole fraction of more volatile component A in distillate xB = mole fraction of more volatile component A in bottoms (FRA)dist = fractional recovery of component A in distillate (FRB)bot = fractional recovery of component B in bottoms

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V1, H1

QC L0 D, hD, xD

F, hF, xF

QR

B, hB, xB

Figure 4.4-7 Specified variables for binary distillation column.

To determine the distillation process completely, the description rule procedure provided by Hanson et al1 can be applied. This rule states that to determine a separation process completely, the number of independent variables that must be set (by the designer) will equal the number that are set in the construction of the column or that can be controlled by external means in operation. Therefore the designer should consider the column in operation and list the number of variables fixed by the column construction as well as the variables fixed by the process and those that have to be controlled for the column to operate steadily and produce product within specification. Figure 4.4-7 shows a conventional distillation column with a total condenser and a partial reboiler. The designer will fix the number of stages above and below the feed point (two variables). The total enthalpy and the feed composition will be fixed by the processes upstream [{1 + (C 1)} variables, where C is the number of components]. Four more variables will be controlled: feed rate, column pressure, cooling water flow for condenser, and steam flow for reboiler. The total number of variables need to be specified is then [2 + 1 + (C 1) + 4 = C + 6]. This is also F, the degree of freedom for a distillation column. With binary distillation, the degree of freedom is then F = 2 + 6 = 8. For a design problem we can specify feed rate F, feed composition xF, feed quality q, distillate composition xD, distillate temperature (saturated liquid at the specified pressure), bottoms composition xB, external reflux ratio L0/D, and optimum feed plate. With these variables defined, D and B can be obtained from the external mass balances and QR and QC can be solved from the energy balances. Then the number of equilibrium stages can be solved from the stage-by-stage calculations or internal balances. A stage-by-stage calculation involves the successive solutions of the equilibrium relations and the material balance. The procedure is straight forward with no iteration.

Hanson, D. N. et al Computation of Multistage Separation Processes , Reihnold, 1962

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