It is desired to separate a mixture that contains 75 mol% methanol and 25 mol% water. The distilled product must contain 95% mol of methanol and the residual product 5% mol. The reflux ratio at the top is 1.5 and the reflux is at bubble temperature.

a) For a value of q equal to 0, calculate the minimum number of stages required, the minimum reflux ratio, and the number of theoretical stages or plates to achieve the separation. The equilibrium data are:

\begin{tabular}{cc} \hline XMeOH & YMeOH \\ \hline 0,0 & 0,000 \\ 0,1 & 0,417 \\ 0,2 & 0,579 \\ 0,3 & 0,669 \\ 0,4 & 0,729 \\ 0,5 & 0,780 \\ 0,6 & 0,825 \\ 0,7 & 0,871 \\ 0,8 & 0,915 \\ 0,9 & 0,959 \\ 1,0 & 1,000 \\ \hline \end{tabular}