When is flash distillation used?

flash distillation a single equilibrium stage

1. when very crude separation is needed
e.g., oil/water separation in crude oil refining

2. when volatilities of components in the
mixture are very different
e.g., water desalination (4000 plants worldwide,
producing 3.4 billion gallons potable H
2
O daily)
http://www.edwardsmoving.com/Flash%20Drum.html
Flash drum 126' x 12' @ 179,000 lbs.,
being moved into position on 4 self propelled steerable dollies at a major oil refinery.
10 x 5.9 MIGD MSF units in Saudi Arabia DESALINATION OF SEA WATER BY MULTISTAGE FLASH DISTILLATION

There are several consecutive stages (flash drums) maintained at decreasing pressures from the first
stage (hot) to the last stage (cold). Sea-water flows through the tubes of the heat exchangers,
where it is warmed by condensation of the vapor produced in each stage. Its temperature increases
from sea temperature to inlet temperature of the brine heater. The sea water then flows through
the brine heater where it receives the heat necessary for the process (generally by condensing
steam). At the outlet of the brine heater, when entering the first flash drum, sea water is
overheated compared to the temperature and pressure of stage 1. Thus it will immediately "flash,
i.e., release heat, and thus vapor, to reach equilibrium with stage conditions. The vapor is
condensed into fresh water on the tubular exchanger at the top of the stage. The process takes
place again when the water is introduced into the following stage, and so on until the last and
coldest stage. The fresh water accumulates as the distillate, which is extracted from the last
(coldest) stage. Sea water becomes slightly concentrated from stage to stage and becomes the
brine flow, which is also extracted from the last stage.
http://www.sidem-desalination.com/en/process/MSF/
BIODIESEL MANUFACTURING

Biodiesel is made by transesterification of triglycerides
with methanol, using NaOH as the catalyst:









The products are glycerol and fatty acid methyl esters
(FAMEs). The latter are biodiesel.

The glycerol is much denser than the biodiesel, and
separates by gravity in a settler.

The biodiesel is purified by separating it from
methanol/water using simple flash distillation.

http://www.enerclean.biz/Equipment/Biodiesel/BiodieselFlash/BiodieselFlash.html
GLYCOL DEHYDRATION UNIT

The DPS Delta glycol dehydration unit removes water vapor from a gas stream to allow further
treatment and transportation without risk of hydrate formation or corrosion in the presence of
H
2
S or CO
2
, using ethylene glycol as a liquid desiccant.
http://www.dps-delta.com/portfolio/glycol.htm
GLYCOL DEHYDRATION PROCESS

Wet gas containing HC droplets enters the integral scrubber section of the contactor tower where free liquid is removed.
Saturated gas flows up through the mass transfer section of the tower mixing with the downward flowing lean glycol. Dry
gas will exit the tower via a demister pad and the rich glycol goes to a coil within the still column mounted on the reboiler.
The condensing vapors provide reflux for the still column.

The warmed rich glycol flows via the lean/ rich glycol exchanger to the Flash Drum to remove entrained gas and separate
HC liquid from the rich glycol. The rich glycol then passes through a solids filter to remove particulates and a carbon filter to
remove traces of aromatic compounds. After filtering the rich glycol is heated by the lean glycol from the Surge Vessel .Lean
glycol flows from an integral gas stripping column via the Surge Drum to the Lean/ Rich Glycol Exchanger before flowing to
the Lean Glycol Pump which sends the glycol under high pressure to the Glycol Contactor via the Lean Glycol Cooler.
Flash drum schematic
feed easiest to pump if liquid
if necessary, increase pressure to keep it liquid (T
F
< T
bp
)
to make feed partially vaporize, need T
drum
> T
bp
, and P
drum
< P
F
flash is usually adiabatic (no heat transfer across the system boundary)
partial condensor operates in the same way, with hot vapor feed which partially
condenses when cooled.
Case 1: specified T
drum
, P
drum
TMB: F = L + V
CMB: F z
i
= L x
i
+ V y
i

VLE: K
i
= y
i
/ x
i

solve for x
i
:

x
i

Fz
i
L+VK
i

Fz
i
(F V) +VK
i

z
i
1+(K
i
1)
V
F
can also express in terms of y
i
:
knowns: z
i
, K
i
(T
drum
)

unknowns: x
i
(or y
i
), V/F

x
i
i
1 y
i
i
1
or
also need to use:
where V/F is the fraction of feed vaporized, 0 V/F 1
y
i

K
i
z
i
1+(K
i
1)
V
F
Rachford-Rice Solution
trial-and-error method (except binary); easy to program
x
i
i
1
iterate until convergence
then calculate x
i
, y
i
values
then use TMB to calculate V, L
possible solution:
faster convergence:
Rachford-Rice equation
and
x
i

z
i
1+(K
i
1)
V
F
z
i
1+(K
i
1)
V
F
i
1
y
i
i
x
i

i
K
i
z
i
1+(K
i
1)
V
F
i

z
i
1+(K
i
1)
V
F
i
0
(K
i
1)z
i
1+(K
i
1)
V
F
i
0
Finding V/F
f
V
F
( )

(K
i
1)z
i
1+(K
i
1)
V
F
i
0
algorithm for Newtonian convergence (Wankat, p. 37-8):

pick a value for V/F
evaluate f(V/F)
if f(V/F) 0, choose a new value for V/F
V
F
( )
next

V
F
( )
prev

f
prev
df
prev
d
V
F
( )
where
df
d
V
F
( )

(K
i
1)
2
z
i
1+(K
i
1)
V
F

2
i
Case 2: specify P
drum
and V/F
Guess T
drum
Calculate K
i
values
Evaluate V/F using R-R equation
If f(V/F) 0, guess new T
drum
(recall T
bp
calculation)

Case 3: specify P
drum
and one x
i
(or y
i
) value
Guess T
drum
Calculate a K
i
value
Calculate V/F using

Evaluate f(V/F) for this T
drum
If f(V/F) 0, guess new T
drum

or x
i

z
i
1+(K
i
1)
V
F
y
i

K
i
z
i
1+(K
i
1)
V
F
Ready! To design the flash drum
meaning, how large?
Consider the flash drum as a vertical cylinder:
important size parameters:
diameter D
height h
placement of feed nozzle
materials issues:
high temperature?
high pressure?
corrosive feed?
D
h
F
V
L
If the flash drum is too small:
bubble entrainment in L
liquid entrainment in V (demister helps)
Separation is compromised

If the flash drum is too large:
- wasted expense
If the liquid volume is large:
Use a horizontal drum instead

Vertical drum size
1. Calculate maximum permissible vapor velocity, u
perm
(m/s)

u
perm
K
drum

L

V

V
where K
drum
is an empirical constant, typically 0.1 K
drum
0.35
2. Calculate cross-sectional area, A
c
(m)
A
c

V(MW
v
)
u
perm

V
where V is vapor flow rate and MW
V
is the vapor average molecular weight
3. Calculate drum diameter, D, and height, h

D
4A
c

rule-of-thumb: 3 h/D 5

Graphical solution
for binary mixtures
CMB: F z
i
= L x
i
+ V y
i

solve for y
i
: y
i
= -(L/V) x
i
+ (F/V) z
i

equation of a straight line
the operating line

slope = -(L/V)
solution to the flash drum problem must simultaneously
satisfy CMB (operating line) and VLE (equilibrium line)

for a binary mixture, we can represent both on a 2D graph
McCabe-Thiele diagram
From Separation Process Engineering, Third Edition by Phillip C. Wankat
(ISBN: 0131382276) Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Figure 2-2 McCabe-Thiele diagram for ethanol-water
y
E
= -(L/V) x
E
+ (F/V) z
E

y
E
x
E
Find T
drum
?

y
E
/x
E
= K
E
(T
drum
)
simultaneous
solution of
CMB and VLE

Drawing the operating line
From Separation Process Engineering, Third Edition by Phillip C. Wankat
(ISBN: 0131382276) Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Figure 2-2 McCabe-Thiele diagram for ethanol-water
y
i
= -(L/V) x
i
+ (F/V) z
i

y
int
= (F/V)z
E

for specified feed (z
i
), P
drum
and V/F:

y
int
= (F/V) z
i


-(L/V) = -(F-V)/V = 1 - (F/V)
when y
i
= x
i
,

y
i
= -(L/V) y
i
+ (F/V) z
i


y
i
(1 + L/V) = (F/V) z
i


y
i
(V + L)/V = (F/V) z
i


i.e., y
i
= x
i
= z
i

z
E
all operating lines must
pass through this point
Limits of separation
From Separation Process Engineering, Third Edition by Phillip C. Wankat
(ISBN: 0131382276) Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
y
i
= -(L/V) x
i
+ (F/V) z
i

for a given feed (z
i
), 0 (V/F) 1
(V/F) = 1 (vaporize all the feed)

(L/V) = (F-V)/V = (F/V) 1 = 0

operating line is horizontal
corresponds to x
min
V/F = 0
(V/F) = 0 (vaporize no feed)

(L/V) = (F/V) 1 =

operating line is vertical
corresponds to y
max
V/F = 1

x
E,min

y
E,max
z
E
Figure 2-2 McCabe-Thiele diagram for ethanol-water
as x x
min
, or y y
max
, product yield 0
to achieve finite yield, must have less separation
Energy balance (EB)
EB: Fh
F
+ Q
flash
= VH
v
+ Lh
L
where h
F
, h
L
are liquid enthalpies
H
V
is vapor enthalpy
all are functions of temperature, composition
0
assume flash drum is well-insulated, flash is adiabatic
for ideal mixtures and arbitrary T
ref
:
h
i
(T,x
i
) x
i
C
P
L,i
(T T
ref
)
i
H
i
(T,y
i
) y
i

i
+C
P
V,i
(T T
ref
)

i
for a particular component i,
C
P,L
is molar heat capacity of pure liquid
C
P,V
is molar heat capacity of pure vapor
l is latent heat of vaporization at T = T
ref
Feed temperature
EB: Fh
F
= VH
v
+ Lh
L
What temperature must the feed be to cause the flash?
Case 1: for specified T
F
, value of h
F
is known
this determines values of H
V
, h
L
necessary to satisfy
EB
i.e., T
drum
is determined

Case 2: for specified T
drum
, values of H
V
, h
L
are known
this determines value of h
F
necessary to satisfy
EB
i.e., T
F
is determined

Heating the feed
if the feed is not already at temperature T
F
, how much heat must
be supplied?
energy balance on heater:

F h
1
(T
1
) + Q
h
= F h
F
(T
F
)
Q
h
= F (h
F
h
1
)

(dictates size of heater required)
F, z
i
, T
1
F, z
i
, T
F