KIL2008 / KKEK2158 Semester 2, 2017/2018

Assignment 1 (7.5%)

Deadline: 23 March 2018 (Friday), 4.30 p.m.

Question 1 (25 marks)

The feed to a distillation column contains 35 mol% n-pentane and 65 mol% n-hexane. The feed
flow rate is 92 000 kg/h and the feed temperature is 30°C. The column operates at 1 atm pressure.
It is desired to have 97 mol% of n-pentane in the top product. A total condenser is used, and the
reflux is returned to the column as saturated liquid. The reflux ratio used is 3. The bottom
products from the partial reboiler contains 98 mol% n-hexane.

Determine

a) The molar flow rate of both top and bottom products.

b) The reboiler heating load and condenser cooling load.
c) The number of theoretical equilibrium stages.
d) The actual number of equilibrium stages if the Murphree efficiency of the column is 70%.

Find the necessary thermodynamic data (e.g. Antoine equation constants, heat of
vaporization, heat capacity) from reliable sources. List down the references.

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KIL2008 / KKEK2158 Semester 2, 2017/2018

Question 2 (25 marks)

A 100-mole mixture of ethanol and water is to be separated using batch distillation at 1 atm
pressure. The feed with 0.55 mole fraction of alcohol is distilled to give a top product of 0.75
mole fraction of alcohol by varying the reflux ratio. The batch still has four ideal plates (excluding
the still) and the distillation is stopped when the reflux ratio has reached 4.0.
a) Determine the amount of distillate obtained (in mole), and the concentration of alcohol
left in the batch still (in mole fraction).
b) If the same batch sample is distilled with a constant reflux ratio of 2.1, what will be the
average composition of the distillate if the distillation is stopped when the composition
in the batch still has fallen to 0.105 mole fraction of alcohol?
Equilibrium data for ethanol-water system at 1 atm pressure:

Mole percent Mole percent

T (°C) ethanol in liquid ethanol in vapor
phase phase
100 0.00 0.00
95.5 1.90 17.00
89.0 7.21 38.91
86.7 9.66 43.75
85.3 12.38 47.04
84.1 16.61 50.89
82.7 23.37 54.45
82.3 26.08 55.80
81.5 32.73 58.26
80.7 39.65 61.22
79.8 50.79 65.64
79.7 51.98 65.99
79.3 57.32 68.41
78.7 67.63 73.85
78.4 74.72 78.15
78.1 89.43 89.43

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