Question: A steady-state, countercurrent, staged distillation column is to be used to separate ethanol from water. The feed is a 50 mol % ethanol, 50 mol%

A steady-state, countercurrent, staged distillation column is to be used to separate ethanol from water. The feed is a 50 mol % ethanol, 50 mol% water mixture at a pressure of 1 atm. The feed is also 20% vaporized resulting in a respective value for q. Flow rate of feed is 100 kmol/h. The column also operates at a pressure of 1 atm. The reflux is returned as a saturated liquid. A reflux ratio of L/D = 2.025 is being used. We desire a bottoms composition of xB = 0.03 (mol fraction ethanol) and a distillate composition of xD = 0.90 (mol fraction ethanol). The system has a total condenser and a partial reboiler. a = = = Find D and B using overall and component mole balance. (2 marks) Find ho, ho, H1 from Ponchon-Savarit diagram (provided for Ethanol- Water system) and definition of q find hf (assume Constant Molal Overflow). (4 marks) Finally, using Enriching section and Overall energy balance for the column find Qc, and QR. (2 marks)
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