CHE306

Stagewise Separations
Arsalan A. Raja, PhD
Assistant Professor

Arsalan A. Raja, PhD

 Multicomponent Distillation
Lewis Matheson Method

Stagewise Separations Arsalan A. Raja, PhD

 Equilibrium Data
➢ The equilibrium data can no longer be represented by a simple X-Y Diagram

➢ The relation between the conc. of component A in the liquid ‘x’ and into the vapor now depends on the
composition with regard to all other components also.

➢ For such systems, relative volatility “α” is very useful to calculate the equilibrium data

➢An alternate method, particularly useful for the

separation of multicomponent mixtures of
hydrocarbons is to use simple relation: 𝑦𝐴 = 𝐾𝑥𝐴
➢K values have been measured for a wide range of
hydrocarbons at various pressures, and some
values are shown in fig

Stagewise Separations Arsalan A. Raja, PhD

 MC Distillation
Light and Heavy Key components:

➢ In the distillation of multicomponent mixtures, the essential requirement is often the separation of
two components, called key components

➢ Consider a four component mixture A-B-C-D, in which ‘A’ is the most volatile and ‘D’ is the least
volatile.

➢ Separation of these components in distillation column occurs as given in the table:

Stagewise Separations Arsalan A. Raja, PhD

 MC Distillation

Light and Heavy Key components:

➢ ‘B’ is the lightest component appearing in the bottoms and is termed as “Light Key
Component”

➢ ‘C’ is the heaviest component appearing in the distillate and is known as “Heavy Key
Component”

➢ The main purpose of fractionation is the separation of ‘B’ from ‘C’ (light key component
from heavy key component)

Stagewise Separations Arsalan A. Raja, PhD

 MC Distillation
Calculation of No. of Plates:

➢ Lewis-Matheson method is the most successful one, based on the previously discussed Lewis-

Sorel method.

➢If the liquid composition on any plate is known, then the vapor composition in eq. is
calculated from a knowledge of the vap. pressures or relative volatilities of the individual
components

➢The composition of the liquid on the plate above is found by using an operating line equation,
as for binary mixtures, although in this case there will be separate equation for each
component

Stagewise Separations Arsalan A. Raja, PhD

 MC Distillation
Calculation of No. of Plates:

➢ Lewis-Matheson method is the most successful one, based on the previously discussed Lewis-

Sorel method.

➢If the liquid composition on any plate is known, then the vapor composition in eq. is
calculated from a knowledge of the vap. pressures or relative volatilities of the individual
components

➢The composition of the liquid on the plate above is found by using an operating line equation,
as for binary mixtures, although in this case there will be separate equation for each
component

Stagewise Separations Arsalan A. Raja, PhD

 MC Distillation
Calculation of No. of Plates:

➢If a mixture of components A-B-C-D and so on has mole fr xA, xB, xC, xD and so on in the liquid and
yA, yB, yC, yD, and so on in the vapor then:

Stagewise Separations Arsalan A. Raja, PhD

 Example 11.14
A mixture of ortho, meta, and para-mononitrotoluenes containing 60, 4, and 36 mole % respectively of the three isomers
is to be continuously distilled to give a top product of 98 mole% ortho, 0.6 mole% meta and the bottom is to contain 12.5
mole % ortho, 79.2 mole% para. The mixture is to be distilled at a temperature of 410 K requiring a pressure in the boiler
of about 6.0 kN/m2. If a reflux ratio of 5 is used, how many ideal plates will be required and what will be the
approximate compositions of the product streams? The volatility of ortho relative to the para isomer may be taken as
1.70 and of the meta as 1.16 over the temperature range of 380–415 K.
Solution

Stagewise Separations Arsalan A. Raja, PhD

 Example 11.14 Contd….

Stagewise Separations Arsalan A. Raja, PhD

 Example 11.14 Contd….

Stagewise Separations Arsalan A. Raja, PhD

 Example 11.14 Contd….

Stagewise Separations Arsalan A. Raja, PhD

 Example 11.14 Contd….

Stagewise Separations Arsalan A. Raja, PhD

 Example 11.14 Contd….

Stagewise Separations Arsalan A. Raja, PhD

 Example 11.14 Contd….

Stagewise Separations Arsalan A. Raja, PhD

 Example 11.14 Contd….

Stagewise Separations Arsalan A. Raja, PhD

 Example 11.14 Contd….

Stagewise Separations Arsalan A. Raja, PhD

 Example 11.14 Contd….

Stagewise Separations Arsalan A. Raja, PhD

 Example 11.15
A mixture of n-C4 to n-C7 hydrocarbons is to be distilled to give top and bottom products as follows:

The distillation is effected at 800 kN/m2 and the feed is at

372 K. The equilibrium values, K are shown in figure. It is
required to estimate the feed condition, distillate and still
temperature. No cooling occurs in the condenser

Stagewise Separations Arsalan A. Raja, PhD

 Example 11.15 Contd….

Stagewise Separations Arsalan A. Raja, PhD

 Example 11.15 Contd….

Stagewise Separations Arsalan A. Raja, PhD

 Example 11.15 Contd….

Stagewise Separations Arsalan A. Raja, PhD