Underwood minimum reflux binary multicomponent

The Underwood and Fenske equations may be used to find the minimum number of plates and the minimum reflux ratio for a binary system. For a multicomponent system nm may be found by using the two key components in place of the binary system and the relative volatility between those components in equation 11.56 enables the minimum reflux ratio Rm to be found. Using the feed and top compositions of component A ... 

An analytical approach for the estimation of minimum reflux ratio has been published by Underwood and is useful for multicomponent as well as binary systems. There are three buic assumptions made by Underwood ... 

Occasionally there is a need to perform some preliminary but rapid estimates for a specific separation without resorting to the tedious graphical or plate by plate calculations. In such instances one can turn to some of the short-cut methods that have been developed specifically for multicomponent separations in the chemical process industry but which also work reasonably well with binary and multicomponent separations at low temperatures. These are the Fenske-Underwood method for obtaining the minimum number of plates at total reflux, the Underwood method for obtaining the minimum reflux, and the Gilliland correlation to determine the theoretical number of plates based on the information provided by the two prior methods. 

The basic assumption of the Fenske-Underwood relation is that the ratio of the equilibrium constants or the relative volatility, as defined by Eq. (6.19), in a binary mixture or the two key components present in a multicomponent mixture remain constant over the temperatures encountered in the distillation column. If this can be assumed without the introduction of excessive error, the minimum number of plates at total reflux can be determined from... 

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