Module 9003

Assignment 1

Distillation Group Project

Group 3 – Ethanal-Toluene System

Background

PA Pharma produces an ethanal/toluene waste in its production processes. It has been suggested by senior management that rather than dispose of this liquid waste the ethanal and toluene should be separated and recycled in the process providing the materials meet certain specifications. Distillation and liquid-liquid extraction processes have been proposed and it has been decided to investigate the use of distillation for the separation.

The waste contains 5% by wt. ethanal and 95% by wt. toluene and the flowrate is 1000kg/hr.

Task

You are required to investigate the following:

· Should continuous or batch distillation be used? Choose one option, justify the decision, and proceed with the rest of the assignment on this basis.

· What size will the distillation column be? (Height and footprint)

· What will be the composition of the bottom and distillate streams?

· How will the feed be supplied to the distillation unit?

· What will be the capital cost? (A rough estimate).

· What will be the operating cost?

· What is the approximate payback time on capital cost?

Your report should include the following:

· Details on the column internals.

· A process flow diagram for the system.

· For the batch option, how long will a distillation take.

· An energy balance.

· Details on the reboiler and condenser (size, material of construction, etc.).

· Operating conditions (stream temperatures and pressures, reflux ratio, etc.)

Prepare a report to address all of the above issues. State clearly any assumptions made and reference all information sources used.