Batch Distillation Column - Essay Example

The trays offer equilibrating surfaces, allowing for the vapor and liquid phases of the components of the mixture to equilibrate. The feed line is also used in this process. When the feed is introduced in the fourth stage, it coincides with the operating lines. In the event that this does not happen, it becomes evident that the liquid being used as a feed is not saturated. This experiment exemplifies this scenario. In such a case, the McCabe-Thiele diagram becomes a simple line graph. The McCabe-Thiele diagram is usually used in calculating the number of states that have been used in the procedure.

This is usually necessary when the efficiency of the system needs to be improved. Liquid concentration samples taken at the end of the distillation period are used to work out various other functions that will be required for subsequent calculations. This process normally goes on until such a time that the compositions of obtained samples do not show any changes. This point is known as the steady-state, and it is useful in the analysis of how efficient the distillation has been. Near-pure samples are obtained by this process.