CH EN 5253

Process Design II
Lecture 09
Separations: Distillation Columns and Trains
January 27, 2020
 Books

Product and Process Design Principles: Synthesis, Analysis and Evaluation

by J. D Seader, and Warren D. Seider and Daniel R. Lewin,
• Chapter 9

2
Distillation
Distillation Column Internal

4
 Plate Types
Bubble Cap Tray Sieve Tray
 Packed Towers
• Random Packing

• Structured Packing

Note: Importance of Distributor plate

 Equilibrium Equation

• Relative Volatility α=KL/KH

• Equilibrium Line
 Operating and Feed Lines

• Rectifying Section
– R = reflux ratio
– V = vapor flow rate

• Stripping Section
– VB = Boil-up ratio

• Feed Line
Minimum Reflux Ratio
McCabe-Thiele
Step Off Equilibrium Trays
Short cut to Selecting a Column Design

• Minimum Cost for Distillation Column will

occur when you have a
– Minimum of Total Vapor Flow Rate for column
– Occurs at
• R = 1.2 Rmin @ N/Nmin= 2
• Nmin= log[(dLK/bLK)(bHK/dHK)]/log[αLK,HK]
• Rmin ≈ (F/D)/(α-1)
– V = D(R+1)
• V = Vapor Flow Rate
• D = Distillate Flow Rate (Production Rate)
• R = Reflux Ratio
How To Determine the Column Pressure

• Cooling Water Available at 90°F

• Distillate Can be cooled to 120°F min.
• Calculate the Bubble Pt. Pressure of Distillate
Composition at 120°F
– equals Distillate pressure
– Bottoms pressure = Distillate pressure + 10 psia ΔP
• Compute the Bubble Pt. Temp for an estimate of the
Bottoms Composition at Distillate Pressure
– Give Bottoms temperature
• Not Near Critical Point for mixture
 Design Issues
• Packing vs Trays
• Column Diameter from flooding consideration
– Relations in Ch 17 of Towler (Design I)
• Column Height
– Relatiopns in Ch 17 of Towler
– N=Nmin/ε (or 2 Nmin/ ε)
• Column Height = N*Htray
• Tray Height = typically 1 ft (or larger)
• Packed Height = Neq*HETP (or 2 Neq*HETP)
– HETP(height equivalent of theoretical plate)
– HETPrandom = 1.5 ft/in*Dp Rule of thumb
• Tray Efficiency, ε = f(viscosityliquid * αLK,HK)
• Pressure Drop
• Tray, ΔP=ρLg hL-wier N
• Packed, ΔP=Packed bed (weeping)
 Column Operating Window
Excessive
Vapor rate entrainment
Jet flooding

Area of satisfactory
Coning
operation
Downcomer flooding

Weeping

Liquid rate
• Plate design must ensure good contacting between phases
– Coning: vapor bypasses liquid
– Weeping: liquid drains through to tray below
• Usually design to operate near (~ 70 to 80% of) flooding limits
so as to allow for turn-down
 Column Costs
• Column – Material of Construction gives ρmetal
– Pressure Vessel Cp= FMCv(W)+CPlatform
– Height may include the reboiler accumulator tank
– Tray Cost = N*Ctray(DT)
– Packing Cost = VpackingCpacking + Cdistributors
• Reboiler CB α AreaHX
• Condenser CB α AreaHX
• Pumping Costs – feed, reflux, reboiler
– Work = Q*ΔP
• Tanks
– Surge tank before column, reboiler accumulator, condensate accumulator
– Pressure Vessel Cp= FMCv(W)+CPlatform
Use of Separation Units
 Example

Reaction
Hydrodealkylation of Toluene

Toluene + H2 ⟷ Benzene + CH4

2 Benzene ⟷ Biphenyl + H2

Reactor Effluent
T = 1,350 °F
P = 500 psia
 Reactor Effluent

Component kmole/hr
Hydrogen 1292
Reaction Conditions Methane 1167
T = 1,350 °F Benzene 280
P = 500 psia
Toluene 117
Biphenyl 3
Total 2859
After Flash to 100F @ 500 psia

Effluent Vapor Liquid

Component kmole/hr kmole/hr kmole/hr
Hydrogen 1292 1290 2
Methane 1167 1149 18
Benzene 280 16 264
Toluene 117 2 115
Biphenyl 3 0 3
Total 2859 2457 402

Recycled Reactants
 Further Separation
What separation units should be used?

• Liquid Separation
– Toluene, BP = 111°C
– Benzene, BP = 80°C

– What happens to the Methane (BP = –162 °C) and

Biphenyl (BP = 256°C) impurities?

• Gas Separation
– Hydrogen
– Methane

– What happens to the Toluene and Benzene impurities?

Direct Distillation Sequence
 Column Sequences

• Number of Columns
– Nc = P – 1
• P = Number of Products
• No. of Possible Column Sequences
– Ns = [2(P–1)]! / [P!(P–1)!]
• P = Number of Products

P = 3, Nc = 2, Ns = 2 Number of possible
P = 4, Nc = 3, Ns = 5 column sequences
P = 5, Nc = 4, Ns = 14 becomes very large
P = 6, Nc = 5, Ns = 42 very quickly!
P = 7, Nc = 6, Ns = 132
 Example

• P = Number of Products = 4 ( A, B, C, D)
• Number of Columns
– Nc = P – 1= 4-1=3
• No. of Possible Column Sequences
– Ns = [2(P–1)]! / [P!(P–1)!]
= [2(4–1)]! / [4!(4–1)!] )
= [2X3]! / [4!X3!]
= 6! / [4!X3!]
= 720 / [24X6]
= 720 / 144
=5
24
 Example
5 Possible Column Sequences

25
 Example

How do I evaluate which is the best

sequence of separation columns?

( 1 Problem in HW #4)

26
 Example

Marginal Vapor Rate Method

27
 Marginal Vapor Rate

• Marginal Annualized Cost ~ Marginal Vapor Rate

• Marginal Annualized Cost proportional to
– Reboiler Duty (Operating Cost)
– Reboiler Area (Capital Cost)
– Condenser Duty (Operating Cost)
– Condenser Area (Capital Cost)
– Diameter of Column (Capital Cost)
• Vapor Rate is proportional to all of the above
Selecting Multiple Column Separation Trains

• Minimum Cost for Separation Train will occur

when you have a minimum of Total Vapor
Flow Rate for all columns
R = 1.2 Rmin
V = D(R+1)
V = Vapor Flow Rate
D = Distillate Flow Rate
R = Recycle Ratio
After Quench to 100F @ 500 psia

Effluent Vapor Liquid

Component kmole/hr kmole/hr kmole/hr
Hydrogen 1292 1290 2
Methane 1167 1149 18
Benzene 280 16 264
Toluene 117 2 115
Biphenyl 3 0 3
Total 2859 2457 402

Recycled Reactants
 Simplified Marginal Vapor Flow Analysis
(First two columns only)
Direct Sequence Indirect Sequence
Distillate Flow Distillate Flow Distillate Flow Distillate Flow
Liquid Column 1 Column 2 Column 1 Column 2
kmole/hr
Hydrogen 2 x x x
Methane 18 x x x
Benzene 264 x x x
Toluene 115 x x
Biphenyl 3
Total 402 D= 284 115 399 284
Sequence Total 399 683
R assumed to be similar for all columns and R > 1
 Separation Train Heuristics

1. Remove thermally unstable, corrosive, or chemically reactive

components early in the sequence.
2. Remove final products one by one as distillates (the direct
sequence).
3. Sequence separation points to remove, early in the sequence,
those components of greatest molar percentage in the feed.
4. Sequence separation points in the order of decreasing relative
volatility so that the most difficult splits are made in the
absence of the other components.
5. Sequence separation points to leave last those separations
that give the highest-purity products.
6. Sequence separation points that favor near equimolar
amounts of distillate and bottoms in each column.