Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
A fractionating column or fractional column is equipment used in the distillation of liquid mixtures to separate the mixture into its component parts, or fractions, based on their differences in volatility. Fractionating columns are used in small-scale laboratory distillations as well as large-scale industrial distillations.
The calculations involved in the design of petroleum fractionation columns require in the usual practice the use of numerable charts, tables, and complex empirical equations. In recent years, however, a considerable amount of work has been done to develop efficient and reliable computer-aided design procedures for fractional distillation.
Fractionation at total reflux. The Fenske equation in continuous fractional distillation is an equation used for calculating the minimum number of theoretical plates required for the separation of a binary feed stream by a fractionation column that is being operated at total reflux (i.e., which means that no overhead product distillate is being withdrawn from the column).
[1] [2] Fractions are collected based on differences in a specific property of the individual components. A common trait in fractionations is the need to find an optimum between the amount of fractions collected and the desired purity in each fraction. Fractionation makes it possible to isolate more than two components in a mixture in a single run.
The McCabe–Thiele method is a technique that is commonly employed in the field of chemical engineering to model the separation of two substances by a distillation column. [1] [2] [3] It uses the fact that the composition at each theoretical tray is completely determined by the mole fraction of one of the two components.
Distillation column in a cryogenic air separation plant The cryogenic separation process [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 6 ] requires a very tight integration of heat exchangers and separation columns to obtain a good efficiency and all the energy for refrigeration is provided by the compression of the air at the inlet of the unit.
Another example of vapor and liquid contact devices are the spikes in laboratory Vigreux fractionating columns. The trays or plates used in industrial distillation columns are fabricated of circular steel plates and usually installed inside the column at intervals of about 60 to 75 cm (24 to 30 inches) up the height of the column.
A Raschig ring is a piece of tube, approximately equal in length and diameter, used in large numbers as a packed bed within columns for distillations and other chemical engineering processes. They are usually ceramic, metal, or glass and provide a large surface area within the volume of the column for interaction between liquid and gas vapours.