ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Bimal Das,
Assistant Professor, National Institute of Technology, Durgapur who undertook the laborious
task of enlightening us with the concepts and procedures of designing a distillation column.
As final year students, it has indeed been a very wonderful experience for us. This is our third
and final course in the field of Process Equipment design, spread over three semesters.
During this time period, we have become familiar with the design of vertical and horizontal
pressure vessels, multiple effect evaporators, shell and tube heat exchangers and distillation
columns. All these courses were highly interesting and have prepared us thoroughly well for
the actual industrial experience. As we crusade into the final semester of our B.Tech
programme within a few months from now, we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to
our beloved teachers, who have always been a source of inspiration for us. Last, but not the
least, we would also like to thank our friends and our parents for believing in us and standing
as a pillar of support during all times.
 PROCESS EQUIPMENT DESIGN – 3

PROBLEM:

Design a sieve tray column for separation of 23.92Kgmole/hr (99.9% (m+p)-Xylene) into
overhead product and 7.4Kgmole/hr (99.9% o-Xylene) into bottom product from a
mixture of 31.31Kgmole/hr (78% (m+p)-Xylene) and rest o-Xylene. The feed enters as
saturated liquid.

Given:

Operating Pressure : 3Kg/cm2

Overhead product = 23.92Kgmole/hr (99.9% (m+p)-Xylene)
Bottom product = 7.4Kgmole/hr (99.9% o-Xylene)

Vapor-liquid equilibrium data for feed are as follows:

X 0 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.0

Y* 0 0.12 0.231 0.34 0.45 0.55 0.64 0.74 0.83 0.92 1.0
References
[1]. Robert E. Treybal, Mass Transfer Operations, McGraw-Hill,Inc., 3rd ed.

[2]. Perry’s Chemical Engineers’ Handbook, McGraw-Hill, Inc., 8th ed. 1997.

[3]. R. K. Sinnott, Coulson & Richardson’s Chemical Engineering: Chemical

Engineering Design (vol. 6), Butterworth-Heinemann, 3rd ed. 1999.

[4]. Perry’s Chemical Engineers’ Handbook, McGraw-Hill Companies, 7th ed.

[5]. Henry Z. Kister, Distillation Design, McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1st ed. 1992
 CONCLUSION

The design of the distillation column for the separation of (m+p)-xylene – o-xylene
mixture was satisfactorily completed, taking into consideration both the process
design as well as the mechanical design components. Using the McCabe-Thiele
diagram for methanol water system, the theoretical number of trays was found to be
55, including one reboiler. With an overall efficiency of 60%, the actual number of
trays was calculated to be 92 trays. The diameter of the column was calculated and
an inner diameter of 1.3 m and outer diameter of 1.5 m as per IS 2844-1964 code
was selected. The height of the distillation column was found out to be 38.3 m. The
column was checked for the conditions of weeping and entrainment, and was found
to satisfy the design condition safely for both cases. For the mechanical design
portion, the distillation column was found to comply with the design constraints for
bearing the dynamic loads like wind and seismic forces, static loads like weight of the
distillation column along with its accessories. Under standard operating conditions, a
shell thickness of 4.3795 mm was considered to be safe for use. A higher standard
value of the shell thickness of 5 mm can be used easily under the given set of
operating conditions. Design is in accordance with IS: UPV Code for Class-II Vessels
neglecting the seismic Forces. Thus, the design of the distillation column was
successfully and satisfactorily completed.