DISTILLATION

REVIEW QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS

1. The difference between stage operation (A) and a continuous phase contact
operation (B) is that
a. (A) is co-current flow while (B) is counter-current flow
b. (A) yields discreet concentration changes while (B) yields infinitesimal
concentration changes
c. (B) yields discreet concentration changes while (A) yields infinitesimal
concentration changes
d. an ideal (B) yields equilibrium concentration while (A) does not

2. One hundred moles per hour of solution containing 80 moles of A, the rest B a
subjected to a simple continuous distillation. D moles of distillate containing 72 mote A
is obtained. If A is five times more volatile than B, the concentration of A in the distillate
is
a. 0.85 c. 0.533
b. 0.80 d. none of these

3. The temperature of the solution in Problem 2 as distillation progresses at constant

rating pressure is
a. increasing b. decreasing C. constant

4. If the enthalpy of saturated vapor at 200°F referred to 32°F is 1300 BTU/lb while the
enthalpy of saturated liquid (Cp = 1) referred to 0°F is 400 BTU/lb, then the latent heat of
vaporization of the component at 200°F is
a. 900 BTU/lb
b. 932 BTU/lb
c. 868 BTU/lb
d. none of these

5. Desorption is another term for

a. dephlegmation
b. stripping
c. flash distillation
d. rectification

6. In a simple batch distillation, the boiling point of the distillate product compared to
the residue is
a. the same b. lower c. higher
7. When the feed to the rectifying column is a saturated liquid, the feed line is
a. vertical c. inclined to the left
b. horizontal d. inclined to the right

8.. The distillation process involves

a. momentum transfer
b. mass transfer
c. heat transfer
d. heat and mass transfer

9. A liquid mixture containing 45% benzene and 55% toluene by weight is to be fed to
a fractionating column at a rate of 5000 kg/hr. The feed rate in kg mols/hr is
a. 58.74 c. 48.80
b. 58.80 d. 28.846

10. A binary solution, where A is a low boiler, exhibiting a maximum boiling point, is
subjected to flash distillation. If the feed has a concentration in A less than the
azeotropic point, the concentration of the distillate will be
a. higher in A b. higher in B c. same

11. The unit operation by which miscible liquids are separated from one another
through heat and mass transfer is
a. extraction c. distillation
b. sedimentation d. filtration

12. When the relative volatility of two miscible components is close to 1.00, the
components can be separated by
a. simple fractionation c. extractive distillation
b. batch distillation d. low pressure distillation

13. The degrees of freedom associated with a ternary distillation process, according to
the Gibbs' phase rule, is
a. 2 c. 4
b. 3 d. 5

14. Vacuum distillation is resorted to in order to

a. reduce the number of trays in the column
b. use thinner shell plates for the column
c. avoid high feed and reboiler temperatures
 d. obtain more bottom products

15. To improve the degree of separation of the more volatile component from the le=:
volatile component through distillation, the chemical engineer may, without changing
the other variables,
a. increase the feed temperature . .
b. reduce the column pressure
c. increase the reboiler temperature
d. increase the column pressure

16. Increasing the operating pressure of a distillation column

a. does not make a difference in components separation
b. makes separation difficult
c. sharpens separation
d. requires less heat in the feed heater

17. A reboiler provides heat to the

a. top
b. the intermediate reflux
c. the feed
d. the bottom of a distillation column

18. When the molal latent heat of vaporization of the binary system is very nr
dependent on concentration, the most appropriate method to use to determine n
number of ideal stages is
a. Fenske-Underwood Method c. Ponchon-Savarit Method
b. McCabe-Thiele Method Lv-L-c d. Lewis-Matheson Method

19. Open steam binary rectification may be applied with success if the less volatile
component is
a. water c. benzene
b. alcohol d. acetone

20. At minimum reflux ratio, the number of plates is

a. minimum c. maximum
b. infinite d. between minimum and max'

21. In a vacuum distillation column the vacuum is usually created by a

a. steam ejector c. compressor
b. vacuum pump d. centrifugal pump
22. The relative volatility of the mixture at the azeotropic point where the solution evi
minimum boiling point is
a. less than b. equal to 1 c. greater than 1

23. The ease or difficulty of separating components by distillation is determined b> r

a. relative volatility c. mole-fraction
b. viscosity d. weight fraction of the compass

24. A debutanizer is a
a. heat transfer equipment c. fluid transfer equipment
b. mass transfer equipment d. size reduction equipment

25. In disstillation, the cooled liquid stream returned to the column to cool a plate or
stage is called
a. reboil c. feed
b. reflux d. bottoms

26. A binary mixture of 2 moles benzene and 8 moles toluene will boil at
a. 110°C c. 105°C
b. 110°F d. 102°C

27. McCabe-Thiele method to determine the theoretical number of stages may be

applied with acceptable result if
a. the components have different boiling points
b. the system follows Trouton's Rule
c. the components have high relative volatility
d. heat losses and heat of solution are negligible

28. The distribution coefficient of n-hexane at 10 atm abs and 200°C is

a. 2.6 c. 0.9
b. 1.4 d. none of these

29. The theoretical minimum reflux ratio in a distillation column is reached if the
column
a. 1 plate c. 100 plates
b. 10 plates d. an infinite number of plates

30. The physical separation of components in a miscible mixture by simultaneous

evaporation and condensation is
 a. absorption c. drying
b. extraction d. distillation

31. In batch open steam distillation, the solution to be open steam distilled should be
a. miscible in water
b. completely immiscible in water
c. slightly miscible in water
d. containing large non-volatile impurities

32. In a distilling column, the highest pressure will be at

a. the top c. the bottom
b. the feed plate d. between the feed plate and the top

33. The unit operations by which the lighter components in a multicomponent solution
of volatile liquids are separated from the heavier components is called
a. absorption b. drying c. distillation

34. In distillation where there are two components and both components are found in
both phases, only one variable such as liquid phase concentration can be changed
independently if the pressure is fixed and the temperature and vapor phase
concentration will follow. This statement is________
a. true b. false

35. A heat transfer equipment to convert vapor to liquid is an/a

a. evaporator c. condenser
b. reboiler d. still

36. For a mass transfer to take place, there must be

a. concentration gradient c. heat present
b. more than two components involved d. enthalpy change

37. A 50% by weight benzene-toluene mixture is fed to a column at 180°F and 1 arm.
The condition of this feed is
a. saturated liquid c. sub cooled liquid
b. saturated vapor d. mixture of liquid and vapor

38. A distillation column with a partial condenser is composed of 7 theoretical stages r

the rectifying section and 8 theoretical stages in the stripping section. If the oven. plate
efficiency is 60%, then the actual feed plate is the
a. 11th c. 12th
 b. 13th d. 8th from the top

39. Using the Antoine's Equation, the vapor pressure of tetrahydrofuran at 80CC
estimated to be_____ torrs.
a. 2000 c. 1173
b. 1518 d 2562

40. The total actual number of plates of the distillation column of Problem 38 is
a. 13 c. 26
b. 22 d. 15

41. Strictly speaking, the relative volatility of most ideal binary solution is
a. not affected by temperature c. slightly affected by temperature
b. greatly affected by temperature d. greatly affected by pressure

42. The temperature in a distilling column, from bottom to top

a. increases c. maximum
b. decreases d. between minimum and maximum

43. The primary reason why close steam is used in an open batch steam distillation is
a. increase the number of degrees of freedom
b. increase the operating temperature
c. supply the heat needed by vaporizing liquid
d. increase the operating pressure

44. In a two-component flash distillation process, when the operating pressure is

specified, the concentration of the distillate may be improved in the more volatile
component if
a. the operating temperature is decreased
b. the operating temperature is increased
c. the amount of distillate is increased
d. none of these

45. If the HETP of the column of Problem 38 is 2 ft then the height of the packed
column is
a. 30 ft c. 26 ft
b. 43 ft d. none of these

46. The percentage change in the boiling point of a 20-mole benzene-toluene solution
when the pressure is increased from 1 atm to 2 arm is
 a. 10.5% increase c. 25.5% decrease
b. 25.5% increase d. none of these

47. The recent availability of digital computers resulted in the development of many
analytical expressions for the evaluation of K-values. Which of the items below is a
source of analytical method for K-values?
a. NRTL c. UNIQUAC
b. Wilson Equation d. all of these

48. The activity coefficient of a component in a non-ideal liquid solution at low pressure
is approximated to be equal to
a. one
b. vapor pressure multiplied by the composition in the liquid phase in mole
fraction
c. vapor pressure divided by the total pressure
d. none of these

49. The approximate minimum number of stages for a binary system with relative
volatility of 2.35, fractionally distilled to yield compositions of 0.98 in the distillate and
0.045 in the bottoms is
a. 4.8 c. 8.1
b. 7 d. 12

50. For nearly pure products in a stage operations, the theoretical number of plates may
be estimated using the
a. Rayleigh Equation c. Tiller-Tour Equation
b. Fenske Equation d. Murphree Equation