Compulsory reading: Chapter 2 (sections 2.1 to 2.3, 2.4, 2.4.1, and 2.5) from the text book
Farooq/CN3132/Flash Distillation-1
Demister
Heat
Pdrum
Tdrum
Feed
A+B
Expand
Demister
prevents
liquid
droplet
entrained
in vapor
Pressurize
Degree of separation high if pA>pB
Mole
Mole
fraction fraction
ofA
ofB
Feed,F
zA
zB
Vapor,V
yA
yB
Liquid,L
xA
xB
L, XA, XB, TL
Farooq/CN3132/Flash Distillation-2
Estimated K values
Farooq/CN3132/Flash Distillation-3
Xw
1.0
0.981
0.9034
0.8339
0.7382
0.6035
0.4802
0.3237
0.2528
0
YEt
0
0.17
0.4375
0.5089
0.5580
0.6122
0.6599
0.7385
0.7815
1.0
Yw
1.0
0.83
0.5625
0.4911
0.4420
0.3878
0.3401
0.2615
0.2185
0
T, C
100
95.5
86.7
84.1
82.3
80.7
79.7
78.74
78.41
78.3
P, atm
x-y diagram
x-y diagram is widely used in binary vapor-liquid
separation
x-y diagram usually scales from 0-1 on both axes
The diagonal joins (0, 0) and (1,1) points and is an
important reference line
Farooq/CN3132/Flash Distillation-4
yi
K i ,whereK i f P, T , allxi
xi
y
For ideal systems : i K i ,whereK i f P, T
xi
In general:
The following identities apply for both ideal and nonideal systems
n
n
n
n y
yi 1; xi 1; K i xi 1; i 1
i 1
i 1
i 1
i 1K i
Raoults Law:
Dalton's Law:
pi pio xi
p
yi i
P
Antoine equation:
pio
Ki
P
ln pio Ai
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.
viii.
ix.
x.
xi.
xii.
(1)
Bi
T Ci
(2)
y A K A x A ; y B K B xB
Relative volatility,
AB
K A p oA
foridealsystem
K B pBo
AB means no separation
>1 or <1 necessary for vapor-liquid separation
K A f T ; K B f T ;
Agoodassumptionformany systems is AB f T
yA
AB
yA
KA
xA
xA
1 y A
K B yB
1 x A
xB
Uponrearrangement :
AB x A
(3)
yA
1 AB 1 x A
Short-cut to vapor-liquid
equilibrium data
Obtain KA and KB from Eq (1) and (2)
or from DePriester Chart at the desired
P and a representative T
Use
AB
KA
in Eq (3) to generate
KB
yA vs xA data
Useful for preliminary design
Cannot give the operating T
Multicomponent systems
2D plots cannot be used
Polynomial equations fitted to
DePriester chart are used
See eq (2-30) and Table 2-3 in text
book
Farooq/CN3132/Flash Distillation-7
F: degrees of freedom
C: number of components
P: number of phase
Farooq/CN3132/Flash Distillation-8
Loop 2
Given
Tdrum, Pdrum
x, y,
F, z
T1, P1
V
L
or
F
F
Calculate
V L
x, y, ,
F F
Tdrum, Pdrum
QH
Drum height
and diameter
QH
V, y, HV
F, z
TF, PF, hF
IDEAL
STAGE
TF and PF
TF,
PF, hF
Pumping
& Heating
How?
L, x, hL
Adiabatic process.
Pressure reduction from PF to Pdrum across the
valve causes part of the feed to flash from the
liquid to the vapor state. Internal enthalpy
supply causes Tdrum < TF
Farooq/CN3132/Flash Distillation-9
Numerical
General method including multi-component
Analytical
Equation for equilibrium data, e.g., eq (4)
Graphical simple and insightful
Loop 1
V, y, HV
F, z
TF, PF, hF
IDEAL
STAGE
L, x, hL
F V L
L
1 f
v
f
Eq (6a) intersects diagonal at x y z
Slope of eq (6a)
(5)
f=0
0.8
V
L
y x fy (1 f )x
F
F
V
L FV
where
f and therefore
1 f
F
F
F
or, z
yBenzene
Fz Vy Lx
(6)
1
0.4
0.2
Z = 0.5
0
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
xBenzene
0.8
Benzene-toluene equilibrium
Rearranging eq (6a):
1 f
z
x (Operating line)
f
f
(6a)
(7)
Diagonal
(x = y)
0.5
0.6
Feed Temperature, TF
Loop 1
V, y, HV
F, z
TF, PF, hF
hf
gc
2gc
IDEAL
STAGE
L, x, hL
(8)
(9a)
(9b)
(9c)
F, z
T1, P1
Loop 2
Pumping
& Heating
TF,
PF, hF
QH
where
Qflash 0 (adiabatic)
(9d)
Heat Load, QH
Energy balance around Loop: 2
QH Fh1 FhF
or, QH F hF h1
(10)
(11)
V L
, .
F F
(c) What should be the drum temperature if we want 50% of the feed to evaporate in the flash drum? Find the corresponding
changes in x and y.
(b)
(c)
(a)
Farooq/CN3132/Flash Distillation-12
Hints
(a) Draw the operating quadrant of a flash unit (see page 2-10, if in doubt)
Now locate the vapor product leaving the unit. Remember, Vapor and liquid products leaving a flash unit are
assumed to be in equilibrium. Hence, vapor/liquid product composition is a point on the vapor-liquid equilibrium
line. Knowing any one composition is sufficient to locate the point.
(b) You can read x and y directly from the T vs. x or y plot. This (x, y) is a point on the vapor-liquid equilibrium line.
You know the feed composition and therefore you have another point on the diagonal. The line joining these
two points is the operating line. From the slope of this line you should be able to find
V
L
and .
F
F
(c) In part (b), you went from T vs. x or y plot to x vs. y plot. Now you do the reverse. Since the feed composition is
known, the point you had identified on the diagonal remains unchanged. You now find the slope of the
operating line corresponding to
V
=0.5. This line will give you the composition of the vapor and liquid products.
F
Use this information in the T vs. x or y plot to find required flash drum temperature.
Farooq/CN3132/Flash Distillation-13
To be solved in class
180
T ( C)
Vapor
160
140
120
Liquid
100
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
xT or yT
Figure: 2
Farooq/CN3132/Flash Distillation-14
2. Two flash distillation chambers are hooked together as shown in the diagram. Both are at 1 atm pressure. The feed to the
first drum is a binary mixture of methanol and water that is 55 mole % methanol. Feed flowrate is 10,000 kg moles/hr. The
V
0.7 and the liquid product composition is 25 mole % methanol. Equilibrium data at 1
F 2
Table 1
Mole % Methanol
Liquid
Vapour
Temp C
100
2.0
13.4
96.4
4.0
23.0
93.5
6.0
30.4
91.2
8.0
36.5
89.3
10.0
41.8
87.7
15.0
51.7
84.4
20.0
57.9
81.7
30.0
66.5
78.0
40.0
72.9
75.3
50.0
77.9
73.1
60.0
82.5
71.2
70.0
87.0
69.3
80.0
91.5
67.6
90.0
95.8
66.0
95.0
97.9
65.0
100.0
100.0
64.5
Farooq/CN3132/Flash Distillation-15
Farooq/CN3132/Flash Distillation-16
Fresh air
Hexane saturated
outlet air
10 moles/hr
Paint
formulation
chamber
Nearly pure
K values of hexane.
Pressure Temp
K
1 atm
25 oC
0.2
200 kPa 0 oC 0.035
(i) Find the flow rate of the hexane stream leaving the bottom of the flash unit assuming 90% removal.
(ii) Do you agree with the recommendation of the consultant? Show the calculations in support of your answer.
Farooq/CN3132/Flash Distillation-18
2. The process flow diagram for an ethyl benzene manufacturing process is shown in Figure Q1. The separation processes,
consisting of a flash unit (V-302) and two multi-stage distillation units (T-301 and T-302), are shown in Block 1 of the figure.
The temperatures, pressures and compositions of the streams entering and exiting these units are given in Table Q1.
i) What is the composition (in mole fractions) of the stream entering the flash unit (V-302)?
ii) According to Table Q1, the flash unit (V-302) operates at 73.6oC and 110kPa. Calculate the partition coefficients (K values)
of all the components in this unit.
Table Q1: Information on the streams entering and exiting the separation units.
Stream Number
Temperature
(oC)
Pressure
(kPa)
Ethylene
Ethane
Propylene
Benzene
Ethylbenzene
1,4Diethylbenzene
15
16
17
18
19
20
73.6
73.6
81.4
145.4
139.0
191.1
110.0
110.0
105.0
120.0
110.0
140.0
0.54
7.0
2.0
8.38
0.71
0.013
0.0
0.0
0.0
169.46
91.54
10.35
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.17
89.72
0.0001
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.91
10.35
Farooq/CN3132/Flash Distillation-19
Block 1
Figure Q1: Process flow diagram for an ethyl benzene manufacturing process.
Farooq/CN3132/Flash Distillation-20
3. Natural gas is considered as the cleanest among the fossil fuels. In many natural gas fields, the gas contains N2, CO2,
C2H6, C3H8 and C4H10 in addition to CH4. A representative composition of natural gas found in the Middle East is given in
Table Q3 below. Design a flash unit to recover 99% of C2H6.Clearly state your assumptions and verify them after completing
the design.
Table Q3: Composition of natural gas from a gas field in the Middle East.
Component
H2 S
CO2
CH4
C2 H6
C3 H8
C4H10
Mole %
5
10
75
5
3
2
Farooq/CN3132/Flash Distillation-21