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iam stuck with this problem .. so i guessed maybe you guys can help .. i am just finidng diffculty labeling the information written into actual mathmatical relation .. so i hope u guys can clarify it to me ...

i was asked to do a material balance for a benzoic acid plant , consisting many heat exchanged a decanter , reactor and flash vacum distillation column ...

so when i came to the distillation column unit , i was stuck .. heres the description of the unit ... " note : i dont want you guys to solve the material balance , i just need some 1 to explain me what he means with such process description "


so , when i made the calculation .. the feed to the distillation column consisted of :
n(feed) = 58.43 kmol
y(toluene) = 0.7263 mol T / mol
y(benzoic) = 0.2571 mol b / mole
y(water) = 0.0733 mol w / mol

desciption :
the crude oil product from the reactor passes to a distilation column operated at 1 atm . the reduction in pressure caused one third of the feed to be vaporised and the feed enters at 120 degrees celsius . the distillate contains toluene and water in the same molar proportions as those in the feed togather with small amount of benzoic acid . 99% of the toluene is recovered in the distillate which then flows to the decanter.

i attached the flow sheet of the distillation unit .

Thank you for your time

Attached Files

•  1.png   44.38KB   4 downloads

Edited by waka11, 04 November 2011 - 11:34 AM.

[kkala]

Attached "balance.xls" contains interpretation and comments to my understanding, hopefully helpful to some extent.

Attached Files

•  balance.xls   22.5KB   10 downloads

Edited by kkala, 13 November 2011 - 05:37 AM.