Design and Operation
Design and operation of a distillation column depends on the feed and desired products. Given a simple, binary component feed, analytical methods such as the McCabe-Thiele method or the Fenske equation can be used to assist in the design. For a multi-component feed, computerized simulation models are used both for design and subsequently in operation of the column as well. Modeling is also used to optimize already erected columns for the distillation of mixtures other than those the distillation equipment was originally designed for.
When a continuous distillation column is in operation, it has to be closely monitored for changes in feed composition, operating temperature and product composition. Many of these tasks are performed using advanced computer control equipment.
Read more about this topic: Continuous Distillation
Famous quotes containing the words design and/or operation:
“Joe ... you remember I said you wouldn’t be cheated?... Nobody is really. Eventually all things work out. There’s a design in everything.”
—Sidney Buchman (1902–1975)
“You may read any quantity of books, and you may almost as ignorant as you were at starting, if you don’t have, at the back of your minds, the change for words in definite images which can only be acquired through the operation of your observing faculties on the phenomena of nature.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)