Continuing the problem defined in Example 4.3, use a rigorous simulation to carry out tray sizing and estimate the required column diameter.

Data from example 4.3

This example provides more detail on the solution of the problem that was introduced as Example 1.1. The original problem  statement was to optimize the design of a distillation column to separate 225 metric tons per hour of an equimolar mixture  of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, paraxylene and orthoxylene with minimum total annualized cost. The feed is a saturated  liquid at 330 kPa. The recovery of toluene in the distillate should be greater than 99%, and the recovery of ethylbenzene in  the bottoms should be greater than 99%. In this example, a column simulation should be set up using a shortcut model. The shortcut model results will be used to  initialize a rigorous model in the example that follows. Determine:
i) The minimum reflux ratio.
ii) The minimum number of trays.
iii) The actual number of trays when the reflux is 1.15 R_min.
iv) The optimum feed tray.