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Unsteady state behavior of multicomponent distillation columns: Part II: Experimental results and comparison with simulation during start‐up at total reflux
Author(s) -
Howard G. Michael
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.690160628
Subject(s) - column (typography) , ethylbenzene , toluene , plate column , benzene , distillation , steady state (chemistry) , chemistry , fractional distillation , fractionating column , reflux , component (thermodynamics) , simulation , analytical chemistry (journal) , mechanics , chromatography , thermodynamics , engineering , structural engineering , organic chemistry , physics , connection (principal bundle) , medicine , disease , pathology
Experimental concentration profiles throughout a fourteen plate column approaching steady state at total reflux were obtained for mixtures of benzene, toluene, and ethylbenzene. The concentration profiles are characterized by a large movement of the middle component, toluene, through the column so that its maximum concentration shifts from plate to plate until steady state is reached. Computer runs were made in which the column variables were specified to be, as nearly as possible, those observed or calculated for the experimental runs. The computer results indicated the same behavior as the experimental runs, and the concentration profiles were in fair agreement. Thus, the computer model and calculation procedure used could replace the real column for many purposes. Inaccuracies in the computer simulation are due more to inadequate information about the characteristics of the real column than to deficiencies of the computer model.