1.0 Introduction
Distillers is a process of vapourizing a liquid mixer by the application of heat in which two distinct or different phases and created namely the vapour phase and the liquid phase and the liquid phase and it is expected that the more volatile component will be found more the gaseous phase while the less volatile will be found in the liquid phase. This separation is achieved because there is usually a difference in the composition between a liquid mixer and the vapour in equilibrium above it. Hence, by careful management of repeated vaporization and condensation from a liquid mixer, pure component fractions can be achieved.
Distillation is thus based on the difference in equilibrium composition between vapour and liquid phases of a mixer. The characteristics and reason for the equilibrium should be understood. The ways in which these equilibrium data can be recorded for later use in distillation design and possible ways of predicting such data are natural pre-requisites for any course on distillation design.
An example of distillation with condenser and reflux divide is applied in the separation of alcohol from water. By the application of heat we can practically vaporize the solution, there by create a gas phase consisting of nothing but alcohol and water since the gas will be richer in alcohol than the residual liquid, a contain amount of separation have taken place. By repeater vaporization and condensations it is then possible to make as complete a separation as may be desired, recovering both components of the mixture in as pure a state as we wish.
The advantages of distillation method are as follows:
In distillation, the new phase differs from the original due to it's heat content, but heat is really added or removed. Although the cost of doing this must inevitable be considered.
Therefore, in turn certain limitation to distillation as a separation process. The gas which can be created from a liquid by application of heat inevitable consists only to the components consisting the liquid, the change in composition resulting from the distribution of the components between the two phases is ordinary not very great. In some cases the change in composition is so small that the process becomes impractical, it may even happen that there is no change in composition whatsoever.
Nevertheless the direct separation which is ordinarily possible by distillation, into pure product requiring no further processing has made this, perhaps the most important of the mass transfer operation.
…
