UNIVERSITY OF BABYLON

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

Mass transfer
Third stage
COLUMN DISTILLATION TYPES

Ayat Sameer Kasim

Supervisor

‫االستاذ ساطع عجام‬

1
Introduction
Distillation column is considered one of the most important unit
perations in chemical engineering, and also the most studied unit
operations in erms of control. A distillation column is used to separate a
mixture into its components by the application and removal of heat. It
consumes a huge amount of energy in both heating and cooling
operations.

There are many types of distillation columns based on different

classifications such as: batch, continuous, binary, multiproduct, tray,
packed:

In this paper we focus on continuous binary distillation columns

since continuous columns are dominant in industry and binary columns
are usually referred to as a foundation by the researchers when they
examine other types of distillation columns A simple two-product
continuous distillation column is shown in Fig. 1. The column has N
stages on which the vaporliquid equilibriums occur. The feed enters the
column on the stage NF.

This stage divides the column into a rectifying section and a

stripping section. Near the bottom of the column is a reboiler which
provides energy to the column. The mixture is heated to form a flow of
vapor rising up inside the column In the stripping section, the less volatile
component is enriched while in the rectifying section the more volatile
component is enriched. The top product is condensed by the condenser
from which there is a reflux flow back to the top of the column to
enhance the purity of the product.

2
3
Batch or differential distillation:

Heating an ideal mixture of two volatile substances, A and B,

with A having the higher volatility, or lower boiling point, in a batch
distillation setup (such as in an apparatus depicted in the opening figure)
until the mixture is boiling results in a vapor above the liquid that
contains a mixture of A and B. The ratio between A and B in the vapor
will be different from the ratio in the liquid. The ratio in the liquid will be
determined by how the original mixture was prepared, while the ratio in
the vapor will be enriched in the more volatile compound, A (due to
Raoult's Law). The vapor goes through the condenser and is removed
from the system. This, in turn, means that the ratio of compounds in the
remaining liquid is now different from the initial ratio (i.e., more enriched
in B than in the starting liquid.

The result is that the ratio in the liquid mixture is changing,

becoming richer in component B. This causes the boiling point of the
mixture to rise, which results in a rise in the temperature in the vapor,
which results in a changing ratio of A : B in the gas phase (as distillation
continues, there is an increasing proportion of B in the gas phase). This
results in a slowly changing ratio of A : B in the distillate.

If the difference in vapor pressure between the two components

A and B is large – generally expressed as the difference in boiling points
– the mixture in the beginning of the distillation is highly enriched in
component A, and when component A has distilled off, the boiling liquid
is enriched in component B

4
Continuous distillation:
Continuous distillation is an ongoing distillation in which a
liquid mixture is continuously (without interruption) fed into the process
and separated fractions are removed continuously as output streams occur
over time during the operation. Continuous distillation produces a
minimum of two output fractions, including at least one volatile distillate
fraction, which has boiled and been separately captured as a vapor and
then condensed to a liquid. There is always a bottoms (or residue)
fraction, which is the least volatile residue that has not been separately
captured as a condensed vapor.

Continuous distillation differs from batch distillation in the

respect that concentrations should not change over time. Continuous
distillation can be run at a steady state for an arbitrary amount of time.
For any source material of specific composition, the main variables that
affect the purity of products in continuous distillation are the reflux ratio
and the number of theoretical equilibrium stages, in practice determined
by the number of trays or the height of packing. Reflux is a flow from the
condenser back to the column, which generates a recycle that allows a
better separation with a given number of trays. Equilibrium stages are
ideal steps where compositions achieve vapor–liquid equilibrium,
repeating the separation process and allowing better separation given a
reflux ratio. A column with a high reflux ratio may have fewer stages, but

5
it refluxes a large amount of liquid, giving a wide column with a large
holdup. Conversely, a column with a low reflux ratio must have a large
number of stages, thus requiring a taller column

An alternative to continuous distillation is batch distillation,

where the mixture is added to the unit at the start of the distillation,
distillate fractions are taken out sequentially in time (one after another)
during the distillation, and the remaining bottoms fraction is removed at
the end. Because each of the distillate fractions are taken out at different
times, only one distillate exit point (location) is needed for a batch
distillation and the distillate can just be switched to a different receiver, a
fraction-collecting container. Batch distillation is often used when smaller
quantities are distilled. In a continuous distillation, each of the fraction
streams is taken simultaneously throughout operation; therefore, a
separate exit point is needed for each fraction. In practice when there are
multiple distillate fractions, the distillate exit points are located at
different heights on a fractionating column. The bottoms fraction can be
taken from the bottom of the distillation column or unit, but is often taken
from a reboiler connected to the bottom of the column.

Each fraction may contain one or more components (types of

chemical compounds). When distilling crude oil or a similar feedstock,
each fraction contains many components of similar volatility and other
properties. Although it is possible to run a small-scale or laboratory
continuous distillation, most often continuous distillation is used in a
large-scale industrial process

6
Industrial application:
Distillation is one of the unit operations of chemical engineering
Continuous distillation is used widely in the chemical process industries
where large quantities of liquids have to be distilled Such industries are
the natural gas processing, petrochemical production, coal tar processing,
liquor production, liquified air separation, hydrocarbon solvents
production, cannabinoid separation and similar industries, but it finds its
widest application in petroleum refineries. In such refineries, the crude oil
feedstock is a very complex multicomponent mixture that must be
separated and yields of pure chemical compounds are not expected, only
groups of compounds within a relatively small range of boiling points,
which are called fractions. These fractions are the origin of the term
fractional distillation or fractionation. It is often not worthwhile
separating the components in these fractions any further based on product
requirements and economics.

Industrial distillation is typically performed in large, vertical

cylindrical columns (as shown in images 1 and 2) known as "distillation
towers" or "distillation columns" with diameters ranging from about 65
centimeters to 11 meters and heights ranging from about 6 meters to 60
meters or more.

Principle:
Chemical engineering schematic of Continuous Binary
Fractional Distillation tower. A binary distillation separates a feed
mixture stream into two fractions: one distillate and one bottoms
fractions.

7
 The principle for continuous distillation is the same as for
normal distillation: when a liquid mixture is heated so that it boils, the
composition of the vapor above the liquid differs from the liquid
composition. If this vapor is then separated and condensed into a liquid, it
becomes richer in the lower boiling point component(s) of the original
mixture.

This is what happens in a continuous distillation column. A

mixture is heated up, and routed into the distillation column. On entering
the column, the feed starts flowing down but part of it, the component(s)
with lower boiling point(s), vaporizes and rises. However, as it rises, it
cools and while part of it continues up as vapor, some of it (enriched in
the less volatile component) begins to descend again.

depicts a simple continuous fractional distillation tower for

separating a feed stream into two fractions, an overhead distillate product
and a bottoms product. The "lightest" products (those with the lowest
boiling point or highest volatility) exit from the top of the columns and
the "heaviest" products (the bottoms, those with the highest boiling point)
exit from the bottom of the column. The overhead stream may be cooled
and condensed using a water-cooled or air-cooled condenser. The
bottoms reboiler may be a steam-heated or hot oil-heated heat exchanger,
or even a gas or oil-fired furnace.

In a continuous distillation, the system is kept in a steady state

or approximate steady state. Steady state means that quantities related to
the process do not change as time passes during operation. Such constant
quantities include feed input rate, output stream rates, heating and cooling
rates, reflux ratio, and temperatures, pressures, and compositions at every
point (location). Unless the process is disturbed due to changes in feed,
heating, ambient temperature, or condensing, steady state is normally
maintained. This is also the main attraction of continuous distillation,
apart from the minimum amount of (easily instrumentable) surveillance;
if the feed rate and feed composition are kept constant, product rate and

8
quality are also constant. Even when a variation in conditions occurs,
modern process control methods are commonly able to gradually return
the continuous process to another steady state again.

Since a continuous distillation unit is fed constantly with a feed

mixture and not filled all at once like a batch distillation, a continuous
distillation unit does not need a sizable distillation pot, vessel, or
reservoir for a batch fill. Instead, the mixture can be fed directly into the
column, where the actual separation occurs. The height of the feed point
along the column can vary on the situation and is designed so as to
provide optimal results. See McCabe–Thiele method. A continuous
distillation is often a fractional distillation and can be a vacuum
distillation or a steam distillation.

9
Examples:
Continuous distillation of crude oil

Petroleum crude oils contain hundreds of different hydrocarbon

compounds: paraffins, naphthenes and aromatics as well as organic sulfur
compounds, organic nitrogen compounds and some oxygen-containing
hydrocarbons such as phenols. Although crude oils generally do not
contain olefins, they are formed in many of the processes used in a
petroleum refinery.

The crude oil fractionator does not produce products having a

single boiling point; rather, it produces fractions having boiling ranges.
For example, the crude oil fractionator produces an overhead fraction
called "naphtha" which becomes a gasoline component after it is further
processed through a catalytic hydrodesulfurizer to remove sulfur and a
catalytic reformer to reform its hydrocarbon molecules into more
complex molecules with a higher octane rating value.

The naphtha cut, as that fraction is called, contains many different

hydrocarbon compounds. Therefore, it has an initial boiling point of
about 35 °C and a final boiling point of about 200 °C. Each cut produced
in the fractionating columns has a different boiling range. At some
distance below the overhead, the next cut is withdrawn from the side of
the column and it is usually the jet fuel cut, also known as a kerosene cut.
The boiling range of that cut is from an initial boiling point of about 150
°C to a final boiling point of about 270 °C, and it also contains many
different hydrocarbons. The next cut further down the tower is the diesel
oil cut with a boiling range from about 180 °C to about 315 °C. The
boiling ranges between any cut and the next cut overlap because the
distillation separations are not perfectly sharp. After these come the
heavy fuel oil cuts and finally the bottoms product, with very wide
boiling ranges. All these cuts are processed further in subsequent refining
processes.

11
Continuous distillation of cannabis concen trates

A typical application for distilling cannabis concentrates is butane

hash oil (BHO). Short path distillation is a popular method due to the
short residence time which allows for minimal thermal stress to the
concentrate. In other distillation methods such as circulation, falling film
and column distillation the concentrate would be damaged from the long
residence times and high temperatures that must be applied.

11
Conclusion:
TYPES OF DISTILLATION COLUMNS
There are many types of distillation columns, each designed to perform specific
types of separations, and each design differs in terms of complexity.

Batch and Continuous Columns

One way of classifying distillation column type is to look at how they are
operated. Thus we have:
batch and

continuous columns.

Batch Columns
In batch operation, the feed to the column is introduced batch-wise. That is, the
column is charged with a 'batch' and then the distillation process is carried out.
When the desired task is achieved, a next batch of feed is introduced.
Continuous Columns
In contrast, continuous columns process a continuous feed stream. No
interruptions occur unless there is a problem with the column or surrounding
process units. They are capable of handling high throughputs and are the most
common of the two types. We shall concentrate only on this class of columns.
Types of Continuous Columns
Continuous columns can be further classified according to:

the nature of the feed that they are processing,

binary column - feed contains only two components

multi-component column - feed contains more than two components

the number of product streams they have

multi-product column - column has more than two product streams

where the extra feed exits when it is used to help with the separation,
extractive distillation - where the extra feed appears in the bottom product
stream
azeotropic distillation - where the extra feed appears at the top product
stream

the type of column internals

tray column - where trays of various designs are used to hold up the liquid
to provide better contact between vapour and liquid, hence better
separation
packed column - where instead of trays, 'packings' are used to enhance
contact between vapour and liquid

12
References:
1. ^ Editors: Jacqueline I. Kroschwitz and Arza Seidel (2004). Kirk-
Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology (5th ed.). Hoboken,
New Jersey: Wiley-Interscience. ISBN 0-471-48810-0.
2. ^ McCabe, W., Smith, J. and Harriott, P. (2004). Unit Operations
of Chemical Engineering (7th ed.). McGraw Hill. ISBN 0-07-
284823-5.
3. ^ Jump up to:a b Kister, Henry Z. (1992). Distillation Design (1st
ed.). McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-034909-6.
4. ^ King, C.J. (1980). Separation Processes (2nd ed.). McGraw
Hill. ISBN 0-07-034612-7.
5. ^ Jump up to:a b c d Perry, Robert H.; Green, Don W.
(1984). Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook (6th ed.).
McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-049479-7.
6. ^ Beychok, Milton (May 1951). "Algebraic Solution of McCabe-
Thiele Diagram". Chemical Engineering Progress.
7. ^ Seader, J. D.; Henley, Ernest J. (1998). Separation Process
Principles. New York: Wiley. ISBN 0-471-58626-9.
8. ^ Photographs of bubble cap and other tray types (Website of
Raschig Gmbh)
9. ^ Random Packing, Vapor and Liquid Distribution: Liquid and
gas distribution in commercial packed towers, Moore, F.,
Rukovena, F., Chemical Plants & Processing, Edition Europe,
August 1987, p. 11-15
10. ^ Structured Packing, Liquid Distribution: A new method to assess
liquid distributor quality, Spiegel, L., Chemical Engineering and
Processing 45 (2006), p. 1011-1017
11. ^ Jump up to:a b Gary, J.H.; Handwerk, G.E. (1984). Petroleum
Refining Technology and Economics (2nd ed.). Marcel Dekker,
Inc. ISBN 0-8247-7150-8.
12. ^ Nelson, W.L. (1958). Petroleum Refinery Engineering (4th ed.).
McGraw Hill. LCCN 57010913.

13