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Structure of Distillation Regions for Multicomponent Azeotropic Mixtures
Author(s) -
Rooks Raymond E.,
Julka Vivek,
Doherty Michael F.,
Malone Michael F.
Publication year - 1998
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.690440616
Subject(s) - distillation , azeotropic distillation , component (thermodynamics) , generalization , homogeneous , azeotrope , process (computing) , chemistry , process engineering , thermodynamics , computer science , chromatography , mathematics , engineering , physics , mathematical analysis , operating system
Geometric methods for the conceptual design of nonideal and azeotropic distillation systems have focused primarily on three‐ and four‐component mixtures. A generalization of geometric methods that does not rely on visualization and gives a completely equation‐based approach to determine the structure of distillation regions for homogeneous mixtures is described. This method is useful for mixtures with a large number of components, provided a vapor–liquid equilibrium model is available. The approach is applied to assess feasibility and alternative separations in several examples, including a five‐component mixture with nine azeotropes and a six‐component mixture with seven azeotropes. These methods can be used to rapidly generate process alternatives, and the examples demonstrate that there can be a surprising number of these alternatives for the distillation of azeotropic mixtures.