Calculations and Graphs
Calculations and Graphs
Tables and figures show the relationship between composition of ethanol and refractive index in
tabulated form and graphically, respectively. The later graphs include the T-x-y diagram of
ethanol, and the mole fraction data obtained for top and bottom product.
1.35
1.34
1.33
1.32
1.31
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Composition of ethanol, (x)
Figure 1: Graph of RI vs x
T-x-y Graph
105
100
95
T (oC)
90
85
80
75
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Composition (x)
Sample Calculations
5 litres of ethanol-water mixture: 1.5L of ethanol and 3.5L of water
For the Feed: Refractive index (RI):1.3495
Compositions: At the top: xD = 0.752
At the feed: xF = 0.30
At the bottom: xB = 0.0396
Using the feed line equation for subcooled liquid,
C❑ p , L (T b−T F )
q=1+ (Eq. 1)
λ
0.143(78.4−60)
q=1+ =1
39× 103
Feed line equation,
Slope ¿−q /(1−q) = ∞
R xD
y n+ 1= xn +
R+1 R+1
2 0.752
y n+ 1= x +
2+1 n 2+1
y n+ 1=0.667 x n+ 0.251
Using the results from the above calculations, a graph was plotted to determine the number of
theoretical trays required for an ethanol-water mixture according to the McCabe-Thiele graphical
method.
1
McCabe Thiele Diagram for Ethanol/Water mixture
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Sample Calculations
At 95.5°C, the vapor pressures of ethanol and water are calculated using the Antoine equation
B 1554.3
For ethanol, Psat 1=10( A− T +C ) =10(8.04494− 95.5+222.65 )=1443.805 mmHg
B 1668.21
For water, Psat 2=10( A− T +C ) =10(7.96681− 95.5+228 )=645.737 mmHg
The sample calculations were repeated at different temperatures to obtain vapor pressures at
other temperatures.
Using modified Raoult’s law: Ptot =x 1 γ 1 Psat 1+ x2 γ 2 P sat2 (1)
Using equations for two parameter Margules Model:
Combining (2) and (3) into (1) with data at 95.5°C gives,
2 2
x 1 (0.3781+0.6134 (1− x1 ) )
760=1 443.805 x 1 e( 1−x ) (0.6848−0.6134 x )¿ ¿+645.737 ( 1−x 1 ) e
1 1
Same calculations were carried out at other temperatures to give x and y data in table 3.
Using the results from the above calculations, a graph was plotted to determine the actual
number of trays required for a real ethanol-water mixture according to the McCabe-Thiele
graphical method.
1
McCabe Thiele Diagram for real mixture
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Figure 4: Graph for determining the number of actual trays required for real mixture
From Figure 4,
Number of actual trays required: 5.8 trays + 1 reboiler
5.8
Overall Efficiency of the distillation column: ×100=5 8 %
10