Conceptual process design azeotropic distillation

Azeotropic distillation and extractive distillation have been used for many decades. There is a rich literature of the subject with many hundreds of papers and several books published on the subject. The recent textbooks that contain discussions of azeotropic and extractive distillation are Doherty and Malone and Stichlmair and Fair. The authors provide an excellent treatment of conceptual design of azeotropic systems. Both of these books give examples of azeotropic separation phase equilibrium and flowsheets in both binary and ternary systems. The chapter by Doherty and Knapp Azeotropes in the Kirk—Othmer Encylcopedia of Chemical Processes also provides an excellent discussion of vapor-liquid-liquid equilibrium (VLLE) fundamentals and conceptual design of a number of azeotropic systems. 

Azeotropes in Ternary Systems. In binary systems, the McCabe-Thiele method provides a conceptual representation of the distillation process. In ternary systems, there is a method that provides a similar conceptual representation. It is called the boundary value design method (BVDM), and it is particularly useful for conceptualizing azeotropic distillation in ternary systems. This method is introduced here however, the reader seeking a more in-depth treatment of this method and all aspects of azeotropic distillation should consult the definitive reference in the field [IZ]. 

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