A problem with distillation
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There is a component, with the proportions of light component, intermediate component, and heavy component being 15:80:5. What is the best way to separate these three components?
The ideal approach would be to be able to separate the three components within a single column by using side streams.
I am also familiar with the methods for opening a side line; it is possible to extract from the liquid phase in the distillation section or from the gas phase in the rectification section, but I am not sure which method is better.
It depends on the separation precision; if a high level of purity is not required, side sampling can be used. To achieve high purity, two distillation towers are required, which results in higher energy consumption and investment costs.
The requirement for resolution is not very high; it’s only necessary to ensure that the recombined components are completely separated. Are there any specific methods for this?
Is the feed pressure at the front end high? If so, it is possible to use flash evaporation to remove the light components before proceeding with distillation. Or consider whether it’s possible to use just one column, with the heavy components collected at the bottom of the column and the light and intermediate components collected at the top. Or two distillation towers. Since the physical properties and boiling point are unknown, I can only offer some suggestions.