Finding the Minimum Reflux Ratio Using the Underwood Equations

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Consider a distillation column with a partial reboiler and a total condenser. This column is used to separate three hypothetical components ,
, and
with relative volatilities
and
(i.e., the reference component is
) to be determined by the user. The calculation assumes that the reference component is the intermediate-boiling component,
, and that the lightest and heaviest components are
and
, respectively. The feed to the column has a thermal quality,
, also determined by the user. The feed composition is 40 mole%
, 30 mole%
, and 30 mole%
. The fractional recoveries in the distillate of components
and
are 98% and 95%, respectively. The fractional recovery in the bottom of component
is 95%. The distillate rate,
, can be computed from the equations
and
for
, where
stands for fractional recovery. One can use as a basis a feed flow rate equal to 100 kmol/hr. In such a case, the distillate rate
kmol/hr. The Demonstration applies the Underwood equations [1] in order to determine the minimum reflux ratio,
.
Contributed by: Housam Binous (September 2012)
Open content licensed under CC BY-NC-SA
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Reference
[1] P. C. Wankat, Separation Process Engineering, 2nd ed., Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2007.
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