(Worksheet ) solved examples ch-4
1. To vaporize 60% of the feed, a liquid combination containing 50% of each of benzene and
toluene at 40°C has to be constantly flash vaporized. Three-quarters( 0.35)of the leftover
liquid product is made up of benzene. If the liquid product and the vapor product have
enthalpies of 2, 5 and 30 kJ/mole, respectively.
Determine the amount of heat added (in kJ) for each mole of vapor product.
Data:
Basis: 100 mole of feed
Feed composition, mole fraction of more volatile component (zF) = 0.5
Feed (F) = 100 mole
Since 60% of the feed is vaporized,
Vapor (D) = 60 mole
Liquid (W) = 40 mole
Mole fraction of more volatile component in the liquid (xW) = 0.35
Formulae:
F=D+W →1
FxF = DxD + WxW →2
FHF + Q = DHD + WHW →3
Calculations:
From equations, 1 and 2
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100 x 0.5 = 60xD + 40 x 0.35
Therefore, xD = 0.6
From equation 3,
100 x 2 + Q = 60 x 30 + 40 x 5
Therefore, Q = 1800 kJ
Heat to be added per mole of vapor product = Q/D = 1800/60 = 300 kJ
2. 10,000 kg of a liquid combination comprising 40 mole percent methanol and 60 mole percent
water has to be separated into an overhead product with 97 mole percent methanol and a bottom
product with 98 mole percent water per hour using a continuous fractionating column. Three moles
of reflux ratio are being used. Determine the following: (i) the number of ideal plates and the feed
plate's location if the feed is at its bubble point; (ii) the moles of overhead product collected per
hour.
Equilibrium data:
x 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9
y 0.417 0.579 0.669 0.729 0.78 0.825 0.871 0.915 0.959
Where x = mole fraction of methanol in liquid
And y = mole fraction of methanol in vapor
Data:
Feed rate = 10,000 kg/hr
2
xF = 0.4
xD = 0.97
xW = 0.02
R=3
Calculations:
(i) Moles of overhead product:
Average molecular weight of feed = 0.4 x 32 + 0.6 x 18 = 23.6
Molal flow rate of feed = 10000/23.6 = 423.73 kmol/hr
Material balance equations:
F=D+W
F xF = D xD + W xW
Where F = feed; D = distillate; W = residue
Substituting for the known quantities,
423.73 = D + W
423.73 x 0.4 = 0.97 D + 0.02 W
0.97 D - 0.02 D = 169.492 - 8.4746
D = 169.492 kmol/hr
Overhead product obtained = 169.492 kmol/hr
(ii) Number of ideal plates:
3
Slope of 'q - line' = ∞
R = L/D = 3
Number of theoretical plates are estimated from the McCabe-Thiele graphical construction
method and found to be equal to 6.8
And the location of feed plate is 5th plate (counting from the top)
3. A saturated liquid combination with 60% benzene and 40% toluene has to be continually
distilled to produce a distillate product with 90% benzene and a bottom product with 5%
benzene. Operating pressure for the fractional distillation column will be roughly constant
at 1 atm. Reflux to ratio is two. If the feed is inserted into the eighth plate, how many
theoretical plates does the column need to have? The following are equilibrium data:
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x 0 0.017 0.075 0.13 0.211 0.288 0.37 0.411 0.581 0.78 1
y 0 0.039 0.161 0.261 0.393 0.496 0.591 0.632 0.777 0.9 1
Data:
zF = 0.6
xD = 0.9
xW = 0.05
R=2
xD/(R + 1) = 0.9/(2 + 1) = 0.3
Feed is saturated liquid
Calculations:
For saturated liquid feed, slope of 'q-line' is ∞.
The equilibrium data are plotted and by McCabe-Thiele method, number of theoretical plates is
found to be = 11 for feed introduced at 8th plate.
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