Determination of Amount of Theoretical Zones and Feed Location in Multicomponent Distillation

Determination of tray location in multicomponent distillation is important for the designing of a distillation columns because it determines the vapour liquid flow rate, components purity, reflux ratio among other important parameters. This information is often calculated using theoretical methods taking into consideration initial conditions at the feed and final product concentration rather than experimental. In the present article, we analyze the case of multicomponent distillation in which a feed of 100 mol/h are added to a fractionating tower at the boiling point and 405.3 kPa pressure. The system consists of a mixture of CC4HH10, CC5HH12, CC6HH12 and CC7HH14. We aim to determine the characterization of light and heavy phase, component distribution, tower temperature, particularly at top and bottom. Accordingly, we approach the use of approximate methods to determine the minimum reflux ratio, amount of theoretical zones and feed location. Key-Words: multicomponent distillation, process design, minimum reflux ratio, approximate method, algorithm design, Underwood method, equilibrium stages