Unit Operations Lab Continuous Distillation

SOP Checklist
Date ____ Name _____________________

Start-up

 Fluid level in the reboiler = ___ in.

 Fluid level in the feed tank T5 = ___ in.
 Product tanks T2 and T3 are empty.
 The manual and control bottoms valves are closed.
 Reboiler recirculation lines are open.
 Reboiler mixing pump is turned on.
 Manual bypass valves on the distillate and reflux lines are closed.
Closed both pneumatic and manual bypass control valves for:
 Steam  Distillate  Bottoms  Feed
Closed manual bypass valves for
 Cooling water for condenser  Reflux
Fully opened pneumatic control valves for
 Cooling water for condenser  Reflux
 Measured concentration of the reboiler content; volume fraction of IPA = ___ %.
 Opened manual air valves on the 1st and 2nd floors.
 Opened main water valves on the 1st and 2nd floors.
 Opened steam control valve. Steam flow rate = ___ lb/hr.
 Distillate flow in the condenser standpipe is observed.
 A stable liquid level is attained in the standpipe.
 The system has reached a steady-state.
 Reflux flow rate = ___ kg/min; volume fraction of IPA in reflux = ___ %.
Preparation to Switch to Partial Reflux (Week 2)
Mist the feed tank T5 while waiting until the system reaches a steady-state at a total reflux:
 Manual valves are set to recirculate fluid in tank T5.
 3rd floor mixing pump is turned on using the manual switch.
 Tank T5 was mixed for ___minutes.
 Feed concentration = ___ % IPA
 Manual feed valve is open for tray #___.
 Manual valves are set to send distillate and bottoms to the corresponding product tanks.

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Unit Operations Lab Continuous Distillation

Switching to Partial Reflux (Week 2)

After the system has reached a steady state at total reflux:
 The manual valve on the feed line (3rd floor) is open.
 Recirculation line remains open and the feed pump is on.
 Feed, bottoms, and distillate control valves are open.
 Control valves are adjusted to achieve desired flow rates:

feed = ____ kg/min; reflux = ____ kg/min; distillate = ___ kg/min; bottoms = ___ kg/min

 Composition of the distillate and the bottoms are measured at regular time intervals.
 The reflux and distillate valves are periodically adjusted to maintain constant reflux ratio.

Shutting Down
 The steam control valve is fully closed using the manual mode in the control system.
 % open of the control valve = ____%
 The reboiler mixing pump is turned off.
 The system is at the total reflux.
 The reflux control valve is fully open.
 The feed, distillate, and bottoms control valves are fully closed.
 The mixing pump on the 3rd floor is turned off.
 Manual water and air valves on the 1st floor are closed.
 Liquid flow in the standpipe is negligible.
 Remaining standing fluid is drained from the standpipe using the reflux pump.
 The manual water and air valves on the 2nd floor are closed.
 Content of the product tanks is pumped back into the feed tank:
 Appropriate valves are open and closed to enable fluid flow along the paths
WC distillate tank → transfer pump → feed tank.
WC bottoms tank → transfer pump → feed tank.
 The transfer pump is turned on using the computer control system.
 The transfer pump is stopped when the flow has stopped (use the visual flow indicator).