Sample Problem #7:

When molasses is fermented to produce

a liquor containing ethyl alcohol, a CO2-rich
vapor containing a small amount of ethyl
alcohol is evolved. The alcohol can be
recovered by absorption with water in a
sieve-tray tower. For the following
conditions, determine the number of
equilibrium stages required for
countercurrent flow of liquid and gas,
assuming isothermal, isobaric conditions in
the tower and neglecting mass transfer of all
components except ethyl alcohol.
Entering gas: Entering liquid
180 kmol/h; absorbent:

98% CO2 100% water; 30oC,

2% Ethyl alcohol
110kPa
30oC, 110 kPa

 Required recovery
(absorption) of ethyl
alcohol: 97%
Solution:
The vapor pressure of ethyl alcohol at 30oC is 10.5,
the liquid-phase activity coefficient of ethyl alcohol is
taken as 6. Therefore,

K = (6)(10.5)/110 = 0.57
The minimum solute-free absorbent , where
solute-free gas rate. G’, is (0.98)(180) = 176.4 kmol/h.
Thus

L’min = (176.4)(0.57)(0.97)=97.5 kmol/h

 The actual solute-free absorbent rate, at 50%
above the minimum rate, is

L’ = 1.5(97.5)=146.2 kmol/h
The amount of ethyl alcohol transferred from the
gas to the liquid is 97% of the amount of alcohol in
the entering gas or

(0.97)(0.02)(180) = 3.49 kmol/h

The amount of ethyl alcohol remaining in the
exiting gas is

(1.00-0.97)(0.02)(180) = 0.11 kmol/h

 We now compute the alcohol mole ratios
at both ends of the operating line as follows

TOP
X0 = 0
Y1 = 0.11/176.4 = 0.0006

BOTTOM
YN+1 = (0.11+3.49)/176.4 =
0.0204
XN = 3.49/146.2 = 0.0239
 Xo = 0 Y1 = 0.0006
L’ G’
1

YN+1 = 0.0204 XN = 0.0239

G’ L’
 The equation for the operating line
with X0 = 0 is

YN+1 = (146.2/176.4) XN +
0.0006 (1)

= 0.829XN + 0.0006
It is clear that we are dealing with dilute
system. The equilibrium curve for ethyl
alcohol can be determined using K=0.57
computed above.

0.57 = Y/(1+Y)
X/(1+X)
Solving for Y , we obtain

Y = 0.57X
(2)
1+0.43X

To cover the entire column, the necessary

range of X for a plot of Y vs X is 0 to almost
0.025. From the Y-X equation, (2),
 Y X
0.00000 0.000
0.00284 0.005
0.00569 0.010
0.00850 0.015
0.01130 0.020
0.01410 0.025
For this dilute system in ethyl alcohol, the
maximum error in Y is 1.0% if Y is taken simply
as

Y= KX = 0.57X
 Accordingly, it is best to provide seven theoretical
stages.
M o le o f alch o l/m o le o f alch o l-free

0.045
0.04
0.035
0.03
g as, Y

0.025
0.02
0.015
0.01
0.005 N = 6.8
0
0 0.003 0.006 0.009 0.011 0.014
Moles of alcohol/mole of alcohol-free liquid, X