Thread Content
I have a project involving an aqueous methanol solution with a concentration of 90% (by mass); the production rate is 1 ton per hour. The required quality standard for the final product is 99.5%, with the residue in the reactor to be ≤0.5%. I need to decide whether to use continuous distillation or batch distillation for this process. In the case of continuous distillation, the flow rate of the residue in the reactor is very low, around 100 kg/h. To meet the thermal load of the entire column (including the product and the reflux), some liquid must be vaporized to provide the necessary heat, so as to maintain a vapor-liquid equilibrium in the column. But then, how should the liquid level in the reactor be determined? (As stated in the book,) can the calculation still be based on the flow rate of the residue? Should we increase the feed rate in order to maintain the liquid level in the tower bottom? (In other words, the heat of vaporization generated by the feed in the reboiler at the tower bottom must be sufficient to meet the overall thermal load of the tower.) If that’s the case, and given that the output volume is 1 t/h, the product quality is required to be 99.5% with a residual amount in the tower bottom of ≤0.5%, how should the feed rate be calculated? I really don’t understand it; I hope someone with more knowledge can help me. Thank you! ! ! !