Tutorial 1

Question 1

Operating conditions
T (C) 40
P (kPa) 500
T (F) 104
P (psia) 72.5
F (kmol/h) 100

Use K-values from Smith et al

component z K 1-K K-1
propane 0.3 2.5 -1.500 1.500
n-butane 0.5 0.78 0.220 -0.220
n-pentane 0.2 0.26 0.740 -0.740

Set up table for Newton's Method for finding Y, stop iteration when ARD < 0.0001
n Yn f(Yn) f'(Yn) Yn+1 ARD
check 0.0000 -0.1920
check 1.0000 0.5303
1 0.5000 0.1014 0.5269 0.3076 0.3848
2 0.3076 0.0017 0.5275 0.3044 0.0103
3 0.3044 0.0000 0.5284 0.3044 0.0000

Calculate vapour and liquid flowrates

V (kmol/h) 30.4
L (kmol/h) 69.6

Calculate vapour and liquid compositions

component x = z/[1 + Y(K-1)] y = Kx
propane 0.206 0.515
n-butane 0.536 0.418
n-pentane 0.258 0.067
sum 1.000 1.000

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Question 2

Part (a)

Y f(Y)
1.0
0 -0.1580
0.1 -0.0444 0.8
0.2 0.0378
0.6
0.3 0.1057
0.4 0.1675 0.4

f(Y)
0.5 0.2282
0.2
0.6 0.2915
0.7 0.3613 0.0
0.8 0.4426
-0.2
0.9 0.5422
1 0.6720 -0.4
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
K
K
C3
C4
4.3
1.8
Y = V/F
K C5 0.76
K C6 0.35

Part (b)

Y f(Y)
0.0
0 -1.4250
0.1 -1.0467
0.2 -0.8474
0.3 -0.7195
0.4 -0.6289
f(Y)

0.5 -0.5605 -1.0

0.6 -0.5068
0.7 -0.4632
0.8 -0.4270
0.9 -0.3964
1 -0.3701
-2.0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
K C3 7.3
K C4 3.7 Y = V/F
K C5 1.85
K C6 1

For T = 300F and P = 100 psia, f(Y) < 0 for all values of Y. Therefore, no valid root exists in the
range of 0  Y  1. The mixture exists as a single phase. In this case, the specified T is too high
and we have a superheated vapour rather than a mixture of saturated vapour and liquid.

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Part (c)

Y f(Y)
0 0.3070
0.1 0.3782
2.0
0.2 0.4483
0.3 0.5227
0.4 0.6065

f(Y)
0.5 0.7056
0.6 0.8290 1.0
0.7 0.9914
0.8 1.2208
0.9 1.5793
1 2.2424 0.0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
K C3 2.9
Y = V/F
K C4 1.05
K C5 0.41
K C6 0.175

For T = 150F and P = 100 psia, f(Y) > 0 for all values of Y. Therefore, no valid root exists in the
range of 0  Y  1. The mixture exists as a single phase. In this case, the specified T is too low and
we have a subcooled liquid rather than a mixture of saturated vapour and liquid.

Question 3

Part (a)

We are looking for the temperature at which Y = 0.5 for P = 500 kPa and the given mixture
composition. The vaporised fraction from Q1 is 0.304 at 40C (104F) and 500 kPa (72.5 psia). We
need to increase the temperature slightly to increase the vaporised fraction to 0.5. As a general
rule, if all K-values are > 1 the mixture exists as a superheated vapour (single phase). This is the
result obtained in Q2 part (b). If all K-values < 1, the mixture exists as a subcooled liquid (single
phase). So we are looking for a temperature in which there is a spread of K-values (K > 1 and K <
1). From the K-value chart we can prepare a table of K-values for various temperatures:

Operating conditions
P (kPa) 500
P (psia) 72.5

T (F) T (C) K C3 K nC4 K nC5

104 40.0 2.5 0.78 0.26
110 43.3 2.65 0.84 0.29
115 46.1 2.8 0.89 0.315
130 54.4 3.2 1.10 0.40
150 65.6 3.8 1.40 0.52
200 93.3 5.6 2.35 0.96

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From the data above, T > 150 is probably too high to achieve Y = 0.50. As a first attempt, try T =
130F (54.4C).

For this question we will use the Goal Seek function in Excel to solve for the value of Y that
satisfies the Rachford-Rice equation. First prepare a table in Excel that calculates the value of f(Y)
for a given value of Y and set of K-values. From the "Data" tab select Goal Seek from the drop-
down menu for "What-If Analysis". In the dialogue box that appears, you need to specify a cell
(Y= B7) whose value will be adjusted by Goal Seek so that another cell (f(Y) = F14) attains a
required value (f(Y) = 0):

Clicking the OK button, we get the required value of Y that satisfies f(Y) = 0:

Y = 0.90 for T = 130F so this temperature is too high.

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After a few more attempts we obtain the required temperature of 113F:

Vaporised fraction versus temperature

T (F) Y
104 0.30
130 0.90
120 0.66
115 0.55
113 0.50

Part (b)

The plot of f(Y) versus Y at T = 113C looks like:

Y f(Y)
0.6
0 -0.3192
0.1 -0.2311
0.4
0.2 -0.1611
0.3 -0.1020
0.4 -0.0492 0.2
f(Y)

0.5 0.0007
0.6 0.0508 0.0
0.7 0.1040
0.8 0.1646 -0.2
0.9 0.2386
1 0.3375 -0.4
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
K C3 2.73
K C4 0.88
Y
K C5 0.30