COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING Chemical, Biological & Environmental Engineering

IMPROVED UNIT OPERATIONS

DISTILLATION COLUMN LAB

What is distillation? Conclusions

What do current senior chemical

engineers work with?

Improvement options

Column requirements

Key challenge – Fit the column

in Johnson Hall

New column progress

Future work

Acknowledgements

• Andy Brickman – design advice and oversight, column

assembly and machining

• John Cochran – reboiler system advice and oversight,

column assembly and cooling water connections

• Greyson Termini – Part machining and structural consult

• Bill Crocker – Written report on original column

operation

• Jason Lundy – Steam connection

• Dr. Phil Harding – project supervisor, column assembly

guidance and support

• Install feed and bottoms pumps with associated

plumbing

• Repair and reinstall large reboiler

• Boil water and collect temperature data for

steam inlets and outlets, feed, bottoms, and

distillate streams

• Modify column as needed, and record

adjustments for future operators

• Prepare column and inventory for move to

Johnson Hall

• Column scale-down was successful, will fit in

Johnson Hall and will provide an outstanding

experiential learning opportunity for students

• Large reboiler, when repaired, has a heat duty of

13.6 kW and will produce 0.1 L/min of 70 wt.%

ethanol distillate

• Estimated start-up time is 50 minutes

• Reflux ratio is electronically controllable

• Fits inside 11’4” x 2’4” x 8’4” space designated

in Johnson Hall

• Designed for students to operate safely with

regards to high temperature steam usage and

sample collection at elevated heights

• Start-up, operation, and shutdown take less

than 3 hour lab time

• Produces distillate at 0.1 L/min of 70 wt.% EtOH

• Various feed locations and controllable reflux

ratio

Figure 2. Current distillation column

for senior chemical engineers

Distillation is a chemical separation technique

prevalent throughout industry in processes such as:

• Acrylic acid production

• Petroleum manufacturing

• Pollution control

Chemical separation is achieved by vaporizing the

chemical with the highest volatility, that is, the

lowest boiling point, and leaving the other

chemical in the liquid phase. The more volatile

chemical will exit via the distillate, while the less

volatile will leave in the bottoms.

Matthew Bates, Mohammed Al-Yaarubi, Taylor Petersen

Figure 1. General distillation column with distillate and

bottoms streams containing the high and low volatility

chemicals, respectively.

• Column is 21” tall

with a 1” ID

• Two equilibrium

stages

• Limited separation

• Cannot control or

adjust reflux

Figure 4. Original column space (blue)

and Johnson Hall space (black)

Figure 5. Solid Works model of the new distillation

column design showing current progress and fluid flow

within the column.

Figure 6. Current distillation column progress with

medium sized reboiler (0.5 m2 area). The column will

move from Gleeson to Johnson Hall this fall.

Figure 7. Large reboiler

(1.5 m2 area) has the

heat duty to produce 0.1

L/min distillate

Figure 8. Condenser and reflux

sections condense the vapor

and split the flow between the

distillate and reflux

How do we reduce the column height from 20’ to

11’ and depth from 7’ to 28”?

• Cut from 9 ideal stages to 5

• Reconfigure feed and reboiler pots to sit at the

same height

Figure 3. Designated column space in

Johnson Hall outlined in blue. Space is

11’4” x 2’4” x 8’4”

One option for distillation column improvement was

to modify the column shown in Figure 2, another was

to purchase a new column. The last option was to

resurrect the Corning distillation column which

formerly stood in Gleeson Hall. The Corning column

uses tray based separation, has little cost, and will

make a great addition to the new lab space when

Johnson Hall opens in September, 2016.

Condenser

Reflux

Column

Reboiler