J ournal of Applied and I ndustrial Sciences, 2013, 1 (3): 44-48, I SSN: 2328-4595 (PRI NT), I SSN: 2328-4609 (ONLI

NE) 44
Research Article

Abstract Fractionation of multicomponent mixtures into top
and side stream products depends on the relative volatility of the
cut. As the cut consists of more than one component with specific
true boiling point (TBP), its relative volatility can be calculated.
In this method the component with the lowest relative volatility at
the top above the feed tray is designated as a light key component
(lk), all non-light keys,(nlk) are more volatile with volatilities
greater than that of the light key. On the other hand the
components with highest volatility at the bottom below the feed
plate is designated as the heavy key component (hk), all non-
heavy keys (nhk), are less volatile with relative volatilities less
than that of the heavy key. Based on these facts, the designated
light and heavy components will be taken as binary and the
column will be designed accordingly. In this study a
multicomponent fractionation column is designed by both the
rigorous multicomponent design method and that of a simple
binary M
c
cabe Thiele method for the system C
2
to C
7
feed
mixture. The results of the design parameters are considered to
be good and in agreement.

I ndex Terms Design, Multicomponent, Binary systems.
I. INTRODUCTION
ulticomponent hydrocarbons need to be separated into
top and side streams products in a fractionation column
[1]. These streams are separated in cuts depending on their
true boiling point temperature and their relative volatilities.
The design of such columns is tedious and requires
compositions, and physical properties of the top and bottom
products [2]. The important parameter in the design is the
number of theoretical stages which requires the application of
Underwood and Gilly land correlations, the data therefore
require on-line sampling on pilot scale with subsequent scale-
up.




A new technique is developed taking into consideration the
more volatile component or cut as the (lk) component and the
less volatile component or cut as the heavy key (hk). The (nlk)
are those which are more volatile than the (lk), while the non-
heavy keys (nhk) are those which are less volatile than heavy
keys [2]. The light and heavy are taken to be a binary system
of the two components and the number of theoretical plates are
determined by M
c
cabe Thiele graphical method, and so are the
other design parameters. The design parameters determined by
both methods are to be compared and analyzed.
II. MATERIALS AND METHODS
A mixture of hydrocarbons C
2
to C
7
is taken as a
multicomponent feed entering the fractionators as saturated
liquid at a temperature of 120
o
C and a pressure of 13 bars. The
equilibrium data are obtained using Antoine equation. The
minimum number of theoretical stages is calculated by Fenske
equation [3]. Compositions of the feed, distillate, bottom, and
relative volatilities are specified and tabulated.

The minimum reflux ratio is determined by Underwood
equation [4] taking q-value equal to one as the feed is
saturated liquid. The flow factor is calculated as well as the
tray space and the column is operated at 85% of the flooding
capacity, the number of theoretical trays is then calculated by
Gilly land equation [6], the overall efficiency is calculated by
Onell equation[5], and hence the number of actual stages and
the column height. The column down-comer, net, and active
areas are specified as well as the diameter of the column at
85% of the flooding velocity. But as for the new technique, the
equilibrium data are determined for the binary consisting of lk
and hk, and M
c
cabe Thiele plot is used to determine the
number of the theoretical plates, other design parameters are
calculated normally [6].
A short-Cut Method for Designing Multi-Component
Fractionation Column
Rawia. S.Hassan
1
, Gurashi.A. Gasmelseed
2
, B. A. Karama
3
,
and A.E Musa
4

(1)
Faculty of graduate studies, University of Karary, Khartoum Sudan
Email : rawia.siddig@yahoo.com
(3)
Faculty of graduate studies, University of Karary, Khartoum Sudan
(2)
Department of Leather Technology, College of Applied and Industrial Sciences, University of Bahri, Khartoum
Sudan, P.O.Box 1660
Email : gurashigar@hotmail.com
Telephone: +249919634134
(4)
Department of Leather Technology, College of Applied and Industrial Sciences, University of Bahri, Khartoum
Sudan, P.O.Box 1660
E mail: ali206w@hotmail.com
(Received: June 11, 2013; Accepted: August 14, 2013)
M
J ournal of Applied and I ndustrial Sciences, 2013, 1 (3): 44-48, I SSN: 2328-4595 (PRI NT), I SSN: 2328-4609 (ONLI NE) 45


Procedure
Vapor -liquid equilibrium is calculated by Antoine equation:


..1

Where: P
vap
= vapor pressure of the component
A, B, C = Antoine constants
T = absolute temperature in Kelvin
For saturation feed at 120C and 13 bar

Table1
Antoine constants for the system C
2
C
7

Component name Symbol A B C
Ethane C
2
H
6
15.9 1580 -13.8
Propane C
3
H
8
15.7 1870 -25.1
Iso butane C
4
H
10
15.9 2200 -29.9
Cis butane C
4
H
8
15.8 2210 -36.2
i-pentane C
5
H12 15.6 2350 -40.2
Iso prene C
5
H
8
15.9 2470 -39.6
Cyclo hexane C
6
H
12
15.8 2660 -47.2
Toluene C
7
H
8
16.3 3240 -47.2

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The following data are obtained:

Table 2
Equilibrium relationship
Component
Name
Symbol Vapor
Pressure
P
vi

Distribution
Coefficient Ki
Component
Feed Rate
Kmol/h
Ethane C
2
H
6
123292.7 12.64 0.93
Propane C
3
H
8
40256.2 4.13 17.09
Iso butane C
4
H
10
18477.9 1.89 14.06
Cis butane C
4
H
8
14598.1 1.5 18.05
i-pentane C
5
H12 7480.6 0.767 14.93
Iso prene C
5
H
8
7265.7 0.745 1.62
Cyclo hexane C
6
H
12
3246.7 0.333 12.29
Toluene C
7
H
8
995.5 0.102 30

Calculate from equilibrium relationship: Ki= P
vi
/P
t

Where:
P
vi
= vapour pressure of component i
P
t
= total pressure
Minimum number of stages
Fenske equation

.2



Where:
Nm = minimum number of stages, x
D
=composition of the top product
= relative volatility, x
w
=composition of the bottom product

Table 3
Composition of components C
2
C
7

Component
name
Feed
mole
fraction
D ,mole fraction W, mole fraction
Ethane 0.0093 0.0475 0
Propane 0.1709 0.4196 0
Iso butane 0.1406 0.3462 0
Cis butane 0.085 0.1967 0.00105
i-pentane 0.1439 0.0004 0.2530
Iso prene 0.0162 0 0.28
Cyclo hexane 0.1229 0 0.2695
Toluene 0.3 0 0.5107
Where: D= distillate product, W= bottom product
C
2
= Ethane; C
3
= Propane; C
4
= Iso butane, Cis butane; C
5
=
i-pentane, Iso prene;
C
6
= CYCLO HEXANE; C
7
= TOLUENE

Table 4
Calculation of Relative volatility of C
2
C
7

Component Name i = Pi/Pj

Ethane 16.48
Propane 5.38
Iso butane 1.95
Cis butane 2.74
i-pentane 1
Iso prene 0.97
Cyclo hexane 0.43
Toluene 0.13
P
vi
= vapour pressure of component i P
j
= vapour pressure of
component j
lk = 2.74 , where lk is the relative volatility of the light
key
Table 5
Composition of light (cis-butane) and heavy (i-pentane) keys
in top and bottom:
Lk Hk
x
D
,mole fraction 0.1967 0.0004
x
B
, mole fraction 0.0015 0.253
The mole fraction of X
D
and X
B
are experimental data
Determination of minimum number of stages (N
m
):
N
m
= 12.8 = 13 stages
Minimum Reflux Ratio R
m

Using Underwood equation:

3




For saturation feed condition, q=1, = 1.3 by trial and error
Where:
i
= relative volatility of component (i), X
iF
=
composition of component ( i) in feed.
J ournal of Applied and I ndustrial Sciences, 2013, 1 (3): 44-48, I SSN: 2328-4595 (PRI NT), I SSN: 2328-4609 (ONLI NE) 46

Table 6
Calculation of R
m
for separation of C
2
C
7

Component name

Component name

Ethane 0.052 i-pentane -0.0013
Propane 0.553 Iso prene 0
Iso butane 1.03 Cyclo hexane 0
Cis butane 0.37 Toluene 0
TOTAL 1.78

R
m
= 0.78
R actual = 1.5 * R
m
= 1.18
Where R actual = R
X = (R-R
m
) /(R+ 1) ..4 [7]
Y = 1- X
0.33
5

N = (N
min
+ Y)/(1-Y) = 21.5 = 22 stages
Column Efficiency
E
O
= 51 32.1 log (
i
*
i
) .6

i
= average viscosity=
i
x
i,

i =
relative volatility of light key
E
0
= 65.4 N
a
= 22/0.654= 34 stages
Height of the column
H
t
= (N
a
1 ) *C + (N
a
/10) * C + 0.1 Ht .7

Where: Ht = Height of the column.
C = tray Space = 0.6 [8]

Ht = 24 m
Flow Rates: Feed = 160 Ton/h.
Top Product = 20.94 T/h.
Bottom Product = 139.06 T/h
Vapor rate = D (1+R) = 41.9 T/h
L
T
= DR = 21.06 T/h
L
B
= F + L
T

L / V (top) = 0.5 L / V (bottom) = 2.5

Column diameter: The column diameter must be selected so
that flooding does not occur, however at the same time vapor
velocities that are high for greater plate are needed. In these
calculations, operation at 85% of flooding velocity is taken,
this velocity determined from equation



. (8)

Flow Factor

.9



Where:

v
= density of the vapor phase

l=
density of the liquid phase
Densities at the top of the distillation column

v
= 3.67 Kg/m
3

l
= 738 Kg/m
3

Densities at the bottom of distillation column

v
= 2.16 Kg/m
3

l
= 578 Kg/m
3

Taking tray spacing = 0.6 m
Flow factor at the top = 0.03
Flow factor at the bottom = 0.02
K
T
= 0.18 K
B
= 0.16

Where: K
T
and K
B
are constants at the top and bottom
respectively
Velocity at the top = 2.8 m/s
Velocity at the bottom = 2.3 m/s
Operation at 85% flooding rate
Velocity at the top = 2.38m/s
Velocity at the bottom = 1.9 m/s
Calculation of volumetric flow rates
At the top =41900/3.67/3600 = 3.17 m
3
/s
At the bottom 41900 /2.17 / 3600= 3.7 m
3
/s
Area of the column
Top = 3.17/ 2.38= 1.33 m
2
Bottom = 3.7/1.98 = 1.8 m
2
Column cross sectional area
TOP = 1.33 / 0.88 = 1.5 m
2
Bottom 1.8/0.88 =2.04 m
2
Diameter of column:
..10

D
T
= 1.38m, D
B
= 1.61 m
Where: D
T
= column diameter at the top, D
B
= column
diameter at the bottom
Column diameter = 1.61 m
Column area = 2 m
2

Down comer area (12 % Ac) = 0.24 m
2

Net Area = 2.5 0.3

= 1.8 m
2

Active area = Ac 2Ad = 1.56 m
2
Hole area (10% Aa) = 0.156 m
2
Hole diameter = 5 mm Plate thickness = 5 mm
Area of one hole = 1.96*10
-5
Number of holes = 7945 holes
Binary Design Method: this is Mc.Thiele Method
J ournal of Applied and I ndustrial Sciences, 2013, 1 (3): 44-48, I SSN: 2328-4595 (PRI NT), I SSN: 2328-4609 (ONLI NE) 47

Table 7
Identification of Light and Heavy component
Component name x
f
x
D
x
W
LK Cis- butane 0.085 0.1967 0.00105
HK I-pentane 0.1493 0.0004 0.2530

Where: x
f
= composition in feed
Data for vapor-liquid equilibrium curve in term of relative volatility
..................11

Relative volatility for light component = 2.74
x 0 0.05 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
Y 0 0.123 0.23 0.4 0.53 0.64 0.73 0.8 0.86 0.92 0.96 1




















Figure 1: M
c
cabe Thiele graphical method
Where y axis is the composition of light key in vapor phase and x axis is the composition of light key in liquid phase

Table 8
Comparison of multicomponent and binary design methods
Design parameter Multi component method Mc Thiele method Percent deviation
N 22stages 19 stages -15.7
Eo 65.4% 62.3% -4.9
Na 34 stages 31 stages -9.7
Ht 24m 22 m -9.0
D 1.5 m
2
1.7 m
2
11.7
At 2 m
2
2.3 m
2
13
Ad 0.24 m
2
0.27 m
2
11.1
An 1.8 m
2
2.02 m
2
10.8
Aa 1.56m
2
1.76 m
2
11.3
Ah 0.156 0.176 m
2
11.3
Plate thickness 0.5mm 0.5mm 0
Hole diameter 0.5 mm 0.5 mm 0
Number of holes 7945 8963 11.3



J ournal of Applied and I ndustrial Sciences, 2013, 1 (3): 44-48, I SSN: 2328-4595 (PRI NT), I SSN: 2328-4609 (ONLI NE) 48


From figure 1
= 0.29

Number of theoretical stages = 19 stages
Column Efficiency
E
O
= 51 32.1 log (
i
*
i
)

i
= average viscosity
E
0
= 62.3%
N = 19/0.623 = 29 stages
Height of the column
H
t
= (N
a
I ) *C + (N
a
/10) * C + 0.1 H
t
Where: N
a
= Actual number of stages H
t
= Height of
the column
C = tray Space = 0.6 H
t
= 22 m
Flow Rates- Feed = 160 Ton/h
Top Product = 20.94 T/h Bottom Product = 139.06 T/h
Vapor rate = D (12+2.2) = 67 T/h.
L
T
= DR=46T/h, L
B
= F + L
T
= 206 T/h
L / V
T
= 0.69, L / V
B
= 2.8
Where: L
T,
L
B
= liquid rate at the top and bottom
V
T
,

V
B
= vapor rate at the top and bottom
Column diameter


Flow Factor


Densities at the top of distillation column

v
= 2.54Kg/m
3

l
= 641Kg/m
3

Densities at the bottom distillation

v
= 2.44 Kg/m
3

l
= 626 Kg/m
3

Taking tray spacing = 0.6 m
Flow factor at the top = 0.04.
Flow factor at the bottom = 0.17
K
T
= 0.19 K
B
= 0.17

Velocity at the top = 3.0 m/s
Velocity at the bottom = 2.7 m/s
For 85% flooding
Velocity at the top = 3.0 * 0.85 = 2.55 m/s
Velocity at the bottom=2.7* 0.85 = 2.3 m/s

Volumetric flow metric rates
At the top =41900/2.54 /3600 = 4.5 m
3
/s
At the bottom 41900/2.441/ 3600= 4.7 m
3
/s
Area of the column
Top = 4.5/2.55 = 1.76 m
2
Bottom = 4.7 / 2.3 = 2.04 m
2
Column cross sectional area
A
T
=1.76 / 0.88=2 m A
B
=2.04 /0.88 =2.3m
2
Diameter of the column
D
T
= 1.59 m D
B
= 1.7m
Column area = 2.3 m
2

Down comer area (12 % Ac) = 0.27 m
2

Net Area = 2.02 m
2

Active area = Ac 2Ad = 1.76 m
2
Hole area (10% Aa) = 0.176 m
2
Hole diameter = 5m Plate thickness = 5mm
Number of holes = 9677 holes

IV. CONCLUSIONS
The multicomponent method using the (lk) and (hk) as binaries
is comparatively similar to the method of M
c
cabe Thiele for
binary graphical method. It is observed that the maximum
deviations is 15% in the number of theoretical stages, other
deviations fall between 11.7% and 0.0% which is acceptable
for the design. The new method is simple, saves time and
accurate.
It is recommended that more case studies have to be designed
and compared to confirm and verify the new design technique.
Acknowledgement
The authors wish to thank the University of Karary, Faculty of
graduate studies for supporting this work for Ph.D Thesis in
chemical engineering.
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[4]. Underwood, A.J. (1948). Distillation, J.of chem.Eng.progress,
44,603.
[5]. O Connel, H.E. (1946). Separation Efficiency, Trans Am Inst
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[7]. Luyben, W.L. (2007). Process Modeling and Simulation and
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