PROC 2085

Transfer Processes

Associate Professor Nhol Kao

Office: 51.5.05
Email: nhol.kao@rmit.edu.au
Phone: 9925 3257

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Course Introduction

Assessment
• Class Activities (4 x 5% each = 20%)
• Test (30%)
• Exam (50%)
No prescribed text
Test and Exam are closed book

Analysis of Separation Processes

Diffusional separations are governed by

TRANSPORT and EQUILIBRIUM

Thermodynamic limits on the Mass transfer limits the rate of

extent of separation separation

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 SEPARATIONS

Mechanical Diffusional
Depends on: Depends on:
•Size •Vapour pressure
•Density •Solubility
•Velocity, etc.. •Diffusivity, etc…

Examples: Examples:
•Screening •Evaporation
•Filtration •Distillation
•Sedimentation •Gas Absorption
•Centrifugation, etc… •Humidification, etc…

All separation problems require you to

develop and solve:

1. Mass balances (total and components)

2. Energy balances
3. Equilibrium expressions (phase and chemical)
4. Transport expressions

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Major Topics in this Course

1.Distillation
2.Humidification
3.Drying
4.Liquid-Liquid Extraction

Distillation
• Distillation separates chemically different species
by exploiting the fact that the compositions of
coexisting vapour and liquid phases are generally
different.
• The goal is to achieve a
– DISTILLATE rich in the LIGHT KEY (ie. more
volatile component), and a
– BOTTOMS rich in the HEAVY KEY (ie. less
volatile component)

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 A
Light Key (LK)
A, B, C, D

Heavy Key (HK)

B, C, D

A, B A, B, C

A, B, C, D A, B, C, D

C, D D

[Note: These LK and HK are used in Multi-Component Distillation only]

The separation requires that

1. A 2nd phase be formed so that both liquid and

vapour phases are present and can contact
each other.
2. Components have different volatilities so that
they will partition between the two phases to
different extents.
3. The two phases can be separated by gravity or
other mechanical means.

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 11

Packings versus Trays

• A tray column that is facing throughput problems may be

de-bottlenecked by replacing a section of trays with
packings. This is because:
–packings provide extra inter-facial area for liquid-vapour
contact
–efficiency of separation is increased for the same
column height as packed columns are shorter than tray
columns
• Packed columns are called continuous-contact columns
while tray columns are called staged-contact columns
because of the manner in which vapour and liquid are
contacted.

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6
 Acknowledgment

The following Powerpoint slides have been kindly

provided to me by Prof Charles Musgrave of
Stanford University

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McCabe-Thiele Method for Trayed Towers

Absorption and stripping are common methods for separating vapor and liquid mixtures. A more
complete separation can be achieved by combining these processes into a binary distillation column.
L0 (absorbent) V1 LN+1 (liquid to be separated) VN

1 N
2 N–1
Absorption Stripping

N–1 2
N 1
VN+1 (vapor to be
LN separated) L1 V0 (stripper)

Distillation Total condenser

Overhead vapor Reflux drum

1 Reflux Distillate
Rectifying section stages
2
Feed
f Feed Stage

Stripping section stages Boilup

N
Partial reboiler

Bottoms
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7
 McCabe-Thiele Method for Trayed Towers
The general countercurrent-flow, multistage, binary distillation column shown below consists of
• A column of N theoretical stages
• A total condenser to produce a reflux liquid to act as an absorbent and a liquid distillate
• A partial reboiler to produce boilup vapor to act as a stripping agent and a bottoms product
• An intermediate feed stage.

This configuration allows one to achieve a sharp separation, except in cases where an
azeotrope exists where one of the products will approach the azeotropic concentration.

Distillation Total condenser

The goal of distillation
is to achieve a distillate Overhead vapor Reflux drum
rich in the light key and 1 Distillate
Reflux
a bottoms rich in the Rectifying section stages
2
heavy key. Feed
f Feed Stage

Stripping section stages Boilup

N
Partial reboiler

Bottoms

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McCabe-Thiele Method for Trayed Towers

The feed contains a more volatile component (the light key, LK) and a less volatile component (the heavy key, HK).
At the feed temperature and pressure it may consist of a liquid, vapor or mixture of vapor and liquid. The feed
composition is given by the light key mole fraction ZF. The bottoms composition is given by the LK mole fraction
XB, whereas the distillate composition is given by the LK mole fraction XD.

The difficulty in achieving

Total condenser
the separation is determined Distillation
by the relative volatility, 
between the LK=1, and
the HK=2. Overhead vapor Reflux drum

 1,2  K1 / K2 Rectifying section stages

1 Reflux
Distillate
2 LK mole fraction xD

If the two components form an Feed (L/V)

f Feed Stage
ideal solution then Raoult’s LK mole fraction zF
Law applies and: Stripping section stages Boilup
N
Ki  Pi / P
s
Partial reboiler

The relative volatility is then Bottoms

just the ratio of the vapor LK mole fraction xB
pressures:

As T increases,  decreases until at some

 1,2  P1s / P2 s Only a function of T point it becomes equal to one and no
separation is possible.
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8
 McCabe-Thiele Method: Equilibrium Curve

We can rewrite the relative volatility in terms of the mole fractions of the light key in a binary mixture
as follows:
y1 / x1 y1 / x1 y 1  x1 
 1,2  K1 / K2    1
y2 / x2 1  y1  /1  x1  x11  y1 
For close boiling point components the temperature, and thus  will be nearly constant in the column. Solving for the
mole fraction of the LK in the vapor gives:
1,2 x1 Useful
y1 
1 x1 1,2 1 equation
For components which do not have close boiling points  will vary depending on composition. The equilibrium
curve will appear similar to that of fixed , but won’t fit the equation below for constant .

Equilibrium Increasing
curve Relative
volatility
y1
y1
45° line 45° line

x1 x1 17

Specifications for the McCabe-Thiele Method

Specifications
F Total Feed Rate
zF mole fraction composition of the feed
P Column operating pressure (assume uniform in column)
Phase condition of the feed @P
Vapor-liquid equilibrium curve for the binary @P
Type of overhead condenser (total or partial)
xD Mole fraction composition of the distillate
xB Mole fraction composition of the bottoms
R/Rmin Ratio of reflux to minimum reflux

Results
D Distillate flow rate
B Bottoms flow rate
Nmin Minimum number of equilibrium stages
Rmin Minimum reflux ratio, Lmin/D
R Reflux ratio, L/D
VB Boilup ratio, V/B
N Number of equilibrium stages
Optimal feed- stage location
Stage vapor and liquid compositions

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9
 McCabe-Thiele Method: Column Mass Balance

A mass balance in the LK component around the column gives:

FzF  x D D  x B B
A total mass balance around the column gives:
F  D B
So we know that the mole fraction of the light key of the feed is between that of the distillate and bottoms:

z  x 
D  F 

F B 

x D  x B 

1 Reflux Distillate
2
D, xD
If D, F, zF are specified, then Feed (L/V)
either xD or xB can be specified. f
F, zF
Boilup
N

Bottoms

B, xB

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McCabe-Thiele Method: Rectifying Section

The rectifying section extends from stage 1 to the stage just above the feed stage.

If we perform a material balance in the light key

around the n stages of the rectifying section
including the condenser:

Vn1y n1  Ln x n  DxD 1 Reflux Distillate

L, xD= x0 xD
n
Which we can rearrange to find: Feed (L/V)
f
ZF
L D Boilup
yn1  n x n  xD N
Vn1 Vn1
Bottoms

If L and V are constant in the column from xB

stage to stage, then this is a straight line.

1 Reflux Distillate
L0, xD= x0 xD
n

L V
xn yn+1
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 McCabe-Thiele Method: Constant Molar Overflow

Ln D
yn1  xn  xD
Vn1 Vn1

1 Reflux Distillate
L, xD= x0 xD
Feed (L/V) n
f
ZF
Boilup
If L and V are constant, then this is a straight line. This requires that N
•The two components have equal and constant enthalpies of vaporization
•The heat capacity changes are negligible compared to the heat of vaporization Bottoms
•The column is well insulated so heat loss is negligible
•The pressure in the column is uniform xB

These conditions lead to the condition of constant molar overflow.

For this condition the amount of vapor transferred to the liquid

stream in each stage is equal to the amount of liquid
transferred to the vapor stream. Thus the liquid and vapor
stream flow rates are constant in the entire section.

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McCabe-Thiele Method: Rectifying Section Operating Line

Ln D
yn1  xn  xD
Vn1 Vn1

In the case of constant molar overflow

we can then drop the stage subscripts:
1 Reflux Distillate
L D We define this equation as the L, xD= x0 xD
y  x  xD operating line of the rectifying
Feed (L/V) n
V V f
section. ZF
Boilup
N

The liquid entering stage one is the reflux L and its ratio to the distillate L/D Bottoms
is the reflux ratio R. If we have constant molar overflow, then R is a constant and
xB

L L L/ D R
  
V L  D L / D  D / D R 1

and

D D 1
 
V L  D R 1

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11
 McCabe-Thiele Method: Operating Line
We can then rewrite: L D
y x  xD
V V
Useful
as R 1
y x x equation
R 1 R 1 D 1 Reflux Distillate
xD= x0 xD
If R and XD are specified then we can graph the line shown in the n
following plot.
f
L, xn V, yn+1

y1
y2
Rectifying Section Operating line
Equilibrium Slope=L/V=R/(R+1)<1
y curve

1
y x
R 1 D
45° line

x x1 x0=xD
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McCabe-Thiele Method: Stripping Section

The stripping section extends from the stage just below the feed stage to the bottom stage N.
If we perform a material balance in the light key around the bottom stages of the rectifying section
including the condenser we have that:
Lx m  Vym 1  Bx B
Which we can rearrange and use the constant molar overflow assumption to find:
L B 1
y x  xB Reflux Distillate
L, xD= x0 xD
V V n
Feed (L/V)
f
We define this equation as the operating line zF
of the stripping section. Boilup
N
Since: LV B Bottoms

xB
VB is called the boilup ratio.
L V  B VB 1
Then   V
V V VB VB  L V
B ym+1
xm

m+1 Boilup V, yB
V 1 1
and y B x xB This is also the operating line of N
VB VB the stripping section . Bottoms
L, xN
B, xB
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 McCabe-Thiele Method: Stripping Section

L V
VB  1 1 ym+1
y x xB xm
VB VB
m+1 Boilup V, yB
If VB and XB are specified then we can graph this as the line shown in the N
following plot. Bottoms
L, xN
B, xB

Ym+1

y Equilibrium
curve
yN

Stripping Section Operating Line

Slope=L/V=(VB+1)/VB
yB
45° line VB  1 1
y x xB
VB VB

x xN xm
B
x 25

Feed Stage Considerations

In determining the operating lines for the rectifying and stripping sections we needed the bottoms and
distillate compositions and reflux and reboil ratios. The compositions can be independently specified, but
R and VB are related to the vapor to liquid ratio in the feed.

Subcooled Liquid (q > 1) Bubble Point Liquid (q = 1) Partially Vaporized (0<q<1)

VV V  VF  V
L V V L
L

F F
F

L FL V V L  L  LF V
L F L

Dew Point Vapor (q = 0) Superheated Vapor (q<0)

V  F V V  F V
L L

F F

LL V LL V
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13
 Feed Conditions
Consider the cases where the feed is not a supercooled liquid or a superheated vapor:

Mass balance around the reboiler: L  B V

Mass balance around the condenser: V  D L
Mass balance around the column: VF  LF  D  B
Vapor entering the rectifying section: V  V  VF
Liquid entering the stripping section: L  L  LF
Substitute this into the column balance: VF  L  L  D  B In other words, the vapor
entering the rectifying section
Substitute in the reboiler balance: VF  L  L  D  L  V
is the vapor entering the condenser
V  L  D  VF minus the feed vapor flow rate.

So except in the cases where the feed is a supercooled liquid or superheated

V  L  D  VF
vapor the boilup is related to the reflux by the material balance:

Dividing by B gives V L  D  VF
the boilup ratio: VB  
B B

Distillation operations can be specified by the reflux ratio or boilup ratio

although the reflux ratio (or R/Rmin) is most often specified.

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The q-line
LL
First, we define the parameter q by: q
F

Subtracting the two operating lines:

yV  Lx  Dx D minus yV  Lx  BxB

Gives: yV  V   L  Lx  Dx D  Bx B

Using a material balance in the LK: Dx D  Bx B  FzF

yV  V   L  Lx  FzF

Using a material balance around the feed stage to elminate vapor flow rates:
F V  L  V  L
yF  L  L  L  Lx  Fz F
V V  F  L  L

Simplifying and using the definition of q results in the q-line:

 q   z  The q-line has slope q/(q-1)
y   x   F  x  zF  y  z F and intercepts the 45 degree
Useful q  1 q 1
line at y=zF
equation
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14
 Construction Lines for McCabe-Thiele Method

Rectifying Section:
Equilibrium Operating line
curve Slope=L/V=R/(R+1)<1
q-line L D
yN  q   z F  y x  xD
y   x    V V
q  1 q 1
Stripping Section:
yB Operating line
45° line Slope=L/V=(VB+1) /VB
L B
y x  xB
V V
xB x=zF xD

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Feed Stage Location Using McCabe-Thiele

Equilibrium Equilibrium
curve curve

1 1

y 2 y 2

3
yN 3 yN
4

4 5
yB yB

xB xD xB x=zF
x=zF xD

Feed stage located one tray too low. Feed stage located one tray too high.

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15
 Construction Lines for McCabe-Thiele Method
Equilibrium
curve

y 2

yN
3

yB

xB xD
x=zF

Note: To keep the number of trays to a minimum, the shift

from the enriching to the stripping operating line should be
made at the first opportunity after passing the operating line
intersection.
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Summary

The following slides are the main

points of binary distillation

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Minimum
reflux:

• Infinite
number of
trays
(stages)

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48

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50

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