Page : 1 of 62

KLM Technology
Group Rev: 05

Practical Engineering Prepared: Feb 2007

Guidelines for Processing Updated : April
Plant Solutions www.klmtechgroup.com 2008

KLM Technology Group Author:

#03-12 Chew Yin Hoon &
Block Aronia, Riverria Distillation Column Selection and Ai L Ling
Condovilla,
Taman Tampoi Utama
Sizing
Checked by:
Jalan Sri Perkasa 2 (ENGINEERING DESIGN Karl Kolmetz
81200 Johor Bahru.
GUIDELINES)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Scope 5

Distillation 6

Distillation History 6

Types of Distillation Processes 8

Mode of Operation 9

Column Internals 10

General Design Consideration 13

The Selection of Column Internals 16

DEFINITIONS 19

NOMENCLATURES 21

THEORY

(A) Vapor-Liquid Equilibrium (VLE) 23

(I) Ideal Behavior in Both Phases 23

(II) Liquid Phase Non-Idealities 24

This design guideline are believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 KLM Technology Page 2 of 62
Group
Distillation Column Selection and Sizing Rev: 05
Practical Engineering
Guidelines for Processing Plant
Solutions (ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES) Feb 2007 & April
2008

(a) Local composition equations 25

(b) Activity coefficient estimation methods 25

(III) High-Pressure Systems 26

(a) Vapor fugacity coefficient, liquid activity coefficient 26

(b) Vapor and liquid fugacity coefficients 27

(B) Phase Distribution 27

(I) Incompressible liquid 28

(II) Negligible Poynting correction 28

(III) Vapor obeying the ideal gas law 28

(IV) Ideal liquid solution 29

(V) Other methods to determine K-values 29

(C) Distillation Calculations 30

(I) Product specifications 30

(II) Column operating pressure 30

(III) Operating Reflux Ratio and Number of Stages 32

(a) Minimum reflux ratio 33

(b) Minimum stages 35

(c) Number of actual theoretical stages 36

(IV) Tower Diameter 43

(a) Trayed columns 43

(b) Packed columns 46

This design guideline are believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 KLM Technology Page 3 of 62
Group
Distillation Column Selection and Sizing Rev: 05
Practical Engineering
Guidelines for Processing Plant
Solutions (ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES) Feb 2007 & April
2008

APPLICATION

Example 1: Determination of Theoretical Stages and Reflux Ratio 51

Example 2: Trayed Column Diameter Determination 55

Example 3: Packed Column Diameter Determination 56

REFEREENCES 58

SPECIFICATION DATA SHEET

Metric Unit 59

British Unit 60

CALCULATION SPREADSHEET

Tower Diameter Sizing- Trayed Column Spreadsheet.xls 61

Tower Diameter Sizing- Packed Column Spreadsheet.xls 62

LIST OF TABLE

Table 1: Pressure drop in difference services 18

Table 2: Common temperature differences for difference types of medium

in condenser and Reboiler. 32

Table 3: Packing Factors (Fp) 50

This design guideline are believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 KLM Technology Page 4 of 62
Group
Distillation Column Selection and Sizing Rev: 05
Practical Engineering
Guidelines for Processing Plant
Solutions (ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES) Feb 2007 & April
2008

LIST OF FIGURE

Figure 1: Batch Still Distillation Process 7

Figure 2: Still Distillation in Series 7

Figure 3: Extractive Distillation Column 8

Figure 4: Catalyst Distillation Column 9

Figure 5: Schematic Diagram of Distillation Column/ Fractionator. 10

Figure 6: Total Condenser 12

Figure 7: Partial Condenser 12

Figure 8: Relationship between Reflux Ratio and Number of Stages 33

Figure 9: Application of McCabe-Thiele to VLE Diagram 37

Figure 10: Constructing of Operating Line for Stripping Section 38

Figure 11: Example of a Seven Stage Distillation 40

Figure 12: Erbar-Maddox Correlation of Stage Vs Reflux 42

Figure 13: Internal of Bubble-caps Trays Column 43

Figure 14: Souders-Brown Correlation for Approximation Tower Sizing 45

Figure 15: Valve Tray Column Diameter 47

Figure 16: Packed Column Pressure Drop Correlation 48

Figure 17: Internal of Packing Column 49

This design guideline are believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 KLM Technology Page 5 of 62
Group
Distillation Column Selection and Sizing Rev: 05
Practical Engineering
Guidelines for Processing Plant
Solutions (ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES) Feb 2007 & April
2008

INTRODUCTION

Scope

This design guideline covers the basic element in designing a typical distillation column,
which includes column selection and sizing.

In designing a distillation column, the thermodynamics of the vapor and liquid phases
must be understood. The vapor-liquid equilibrium (VLE) determines the minimum number
of stages required to achieve the degree of separation needed. The minimum reflux ratio
also depends on the VLE data of the mixture.

A few equations that are commonly used in the industry are illustrated in this guideline to
estimate the minimum number of stages and the minimum reflux ratio of a column based
on the VLE data, such as the Fenske-Underwood equation. Some design heuristics are
also highlighted. These rules are based on design experiences and take into account both
the safety and economical factors.

The selection of column internals is very critical in distillation column design. There is a
wide variety of trays and packing in the market. Each design has its strengths and
weaknesses. However, the quotations from vendors are sometimes contradictory and
confusing. This could lead to a wrong choice of column internal. Therefore, some general
considerations are depicted to aid engineers in making the right choice of column
internals.

A distillation column is sized by determining the diameter of the tower. An initial

estimation of the tower diameter can be done based on the vapor and liquid loadings in
the column.

Included in this guideline is an example of the data sheet used in the industry and a
calculation spreadsheet for the engineering design.

This design guideline are believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 KLM Technology Page 6 of 62
Group
Distillation Column Selection and Sizing Rev: 05
Practical Engineering
Guidelines for Processing Plant
Solutions (ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES) Feb 2007 & April
2008

Distillation

Distillation is by far the most important separation process in the petroleum and chemical
industries. It is the separation of key components in a mixture by the difference in their
relative volatility, or boiling points. It is also known as fractional distillation or fractionation.

In most cases, distillation is the most economical separating method for liquid mixtures.
However, it can be energy intensive. Distillation can consume more than 50% of a plant’s
operating energy cost. There are alternatives to distillation process such as solvent
extraction, membrane separation or adsorption process. On the other hand, these
processes often have higher investment costs. Therefore, distillation remains the main
choice in the industry, especially in large-scale applications.

Distillation History

The history of distillation dated back to centuries ago. Forbes has chronicled the full
history of distillation in 19481. Reputedly, it was the Chinese who discovered it during the
middle of the Chou dynasty. It was later introduced to India, Arabia, Britain and the rest of
the world.

Early distillation consisted of simple batch stills to produce ethanol. Crude ethanol was
placed in a still and heated, and the vapor drawn from the still was condensed for
consumption. Lamp oil was later produced using the same method, with crude oil heated
in batch stills.

The next progression in the history of distillation was to continually feed the still and
recover the light product. Further advancements include placing the stills in series and
interchanging the vapor and liquid from each still to improve recovery. This was the first
type of counter-current distillation column that we have today.

This design guideline are believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 KLM Technology Page 7 of 62
Group
Distillation Column Selection and Sizing Rev: 05
Practical Engineering
Guidelines for Processing Plant
Solutions (ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES) Feb 2007 & April
2008

Furnace Condenser

Figure 1: Batch Still Distillation Process

CONDENSATE
63% PENTANE VAPORS VAPORS
37% HEXANE 49% PENTANE 35% PENTANE
51% HEXANE 65% HEXANE

STILL 1 STILL 2 STILL 3

o
o
126 F 135oF 143 F

FEED
50% PENTANE
50% HEXANE LIQUID LIQUID Heat
37% PENTANE 25% PENTANE
63% HEXANE 75% HEXANE LIQUID
15% PENTANE
85% HEXANE

Figure 2: Still Distillation in Series

This design guideline are believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 KLM Technology Page 8 of 62
Group
Distillation Column Selection and Sizing Rev: 05
Practical Engineering
Guidelines for Processing Plant
Solutions (ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES) Feb 2007 & April
2008

Types of Distillation Processes

There are many types of distillation processes. Each type has its own characteristics and
is designed to perform specific types of separations. These variations appear due to
difficulty in separation when the physical properties of the components in a mixture are
very close to one another, such as an azeotropic mixture.

One type of variation of the distillation processes is extractive distillation. In this type of
process, an external solvent is added to the system to increase the separation. The
external solvent changes the relative volatility between two ‘close’ components by
extracting one of the components, forming a ternary mixture with different properties. The
solvent is recycled into the system after the extracted component is separated from it.

A distillation column may also have a catalyst bed and reaction occurring in it. This type of
column is called a reactive distillation column. The targeted component reacts when it is
in contact with the catalyst, thereby separated from the rest of the components in the
mixture.

Reflux
Bed 1
Bed 2
Lean Solvent

Bed 3

Bed 4

Feed

Figure 3: Extractive Distillation Column

This design guideline are believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 KLM Technology Page 9 of 62
Group
Distillation Column Selection and Sizing Rev: 05
Practical Engineering
Guidelines for Processing Plant
Solutions (ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES) Feb 2007 & April
2008

Hydrogen
Vent

Reflux + Heat of Rx
Hydrogen
Net
Catalyst Overhead
Tower
Feed Zone

Net
Bottoms

Figure 4: Catalyst Distillation Column

Mode of Operation

Distillation towers can be classified into two main categories, based on their mode of
operation. The two classes are batch distillation and continuous distillation.

In batch distillation, the feed to the column is introduced batch-wise. The column is first
charged with a ‘batch’ and then the distillation process is carried out. When the desired
task is achieved, the next batch of feed is introduced. Batch distillation is usually preferred
in the pharmaceutical industries and for the production of seasonal products.

On the other hand, continuous distillation handles a continuous feed stream. No

interruption occurs during the operation of a continuous distillation column unless there is
a problem with the column or surrounding unit operations. Continuous columns are
capable of handling high throughputs. Besides, additional variations can be utilized in a
continuous distillation column, such as multiple feed points and multiple product drawing
points. Therefore, continuous columns are the more common of the two modes,
especially in the petroleum and chemical industries.

This design guideline are believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 KLM Technology Page 10 of 62
Group
Distillation Column Selection and Sizing Rev: 05
Practical Engineering
Guidelines for Processing Plant
Solutions (ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES) Feb 2007 & April
2008

Column Internals

Column internals are being equipped into distillation columns to provide better mass and
heat transfers between the liquid and vapor phases in the column. These include trays,
packings, distributors and redistributors, baffles and etc. They promote an intimate
contact between both phases. The type of internals selected would determine the height
and diameter of a column for a specified duty because different designs have various
capacities and efficiencies. The two main types of column internals discussed in this
guideline are trays and packing.
There are many types of trays or plates, such as sieve, bubble-cap and valve trays.
Packing, on the other hand, can be categorized into random and structured packing. In
random packing, rings and saddles are dumped into the column randomly while
structured packing is stacked in a regular pattern in the column.

Condenser
Overhead
Receiver
Overhead
Product

R
Feed

Reboiler
Bottom
Product

Figure 5: Schematic Diagram of Distillation Column/ Fractionator.

This design guideline are believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 KLM Technology Page 11 of 62
Group
Distillation Column Selection and Sizing Rev: 05
Practical Engineering
Guidelines for Processing Plant
Solutions (ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES) Feb 2007 & April
2008

Figure 5 shows a schematic diagram of an example distillation column or fractionator. The

feed enters the column as liquid, vapor or a mixture of vapor-liquid. The vapor phase that
travels up the column is in contact with the liquid phase that travels down. The process
above the feed tray is known as rectification (where the vapor phase is continually
enriched in the light components which will finally make up the overhead product) while
the process below the feed tray is known as stripping (as the heavier components are
being stripped off and concentrated in the liquid phase to form the bottom product). At the
top of the column, vapor enters the condenser where heat is removed. Some liquid is
returned to the column as reflux to limit the loss of heavy components overhead.
At each separation stage (each tray or a theoretical stage in the packing), the vapor
enters from the stage below at a higher temperature while the liquid stream enters from
the stage above at a lower temperature. Heat and mass transfer occur such that the
exiting streams (bubble point liquid and dew point vapor at the same temperature and
pressure) are in equilibrium with each other.

The condenser above the column can be either a total or partial condenser. In a total
condenser (Figure 6), all vapors leaving the top of the column is condensed to liquid so
that the reflux stream and overhead product have the same composition. In a partial
condenser (Figure 7), only a portion of the vapor entering the condenser is condensed to
liquid. In most cases, the condensed liquid is refluxed into the column and the overhead
product drawn is in the vapor form. On the other hand, there are some cases where only
part of the condensed liquid is refluxed. In these cases, there will be two overhead
products, one a liquid with the same composition as the reflux stream while the other is a
vapor product that is in equilibrium with the liquid reflux.

This design guideline are believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 KLM Technology Page 12 of 62
Group
Distillation Column Selection and Sizing Rev: 05
Practical Engineering
Guidelines for Processing Plant
Solutions (ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES) Feb 2007 & April
2008

Vent

Condensate
Liquid

Figure 6: Total Condenser

Vent

Vapor product

Condensate
Liquid

Figure 7: Partial Condenser

This design guideline are believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 KLM Technology Page 13 of 62
Group
Distillation Column Selection and Sizing Rev: 05
Practical Engineering
Guidelines for Processing Plant
Solutions (ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES) Feb 2007 & April
2008

General Design Consideration

A tower design is normally divided into two main steps, a process design followed by a
mechanical design. The purpose of the process design is to calculate the number of
required theoretical stages, column diameter and tower height. On the other hand, the
mechanical design focuses on the tower internals and heat exchanger arrangements.

Many factors have to be considered in designing a distillation column such as the safety
and environmental requirements, column performance, economics of the design and
other parameters, which may constrain the work.

The first step in distillation column design is to determine the separation sequences,
which depends on the relative volatility and concentration of each component in the feed.
King has outlined a few design rules as follows:

1) Direct sequences that remove the components one by one in the distillate are
generally favored.

2) Sequences that result in a more equal-molar division of the feed between distillate
and bottoms products should be favored.

3) Separations where the relative volatility of two adjacent components is close to

unity should be performed in the absence of other components; ie, reserve such a
separation until the last column in the sequence.

4) Separations involving high-specified recovery fractions should be reserved until last

in the sequence.

Once the separation sequence is decided, engineering calculations follow to determine

the number of theoretical stages, operating parameters and tower dimensions. In general,
the steps included in distillation calculations are summarized into the following:

1) Performing a material balance for the column

2) Determining the tower operating pressure (and/or temperature)

3) Calculating the minimum number of theoretical stages using the Fenske equation

4) Calculating the minimum reflux rate using the Underwood equations

This design guideline are believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 KLM Technology Page 14 of 62
Group
Distillation Column Selection and Sizing Rev: 05
Practical Engineering
Guidelines for Processing Plant
Solutions (ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES) Feb 2007 & April
2008

5) Determining the operating reflux rate and number of theoretical stages

6) Selection of column internals (tray or packings)

7) Calculating the tower diameter and height

The theoretical explanation and sample calculations of each step above are discussed in
detail in later sections.

Some general design rules (from Cheresources.com) that should be considered are as
follows:

1) Distillation is usually the most economical method of separating liquids.

2) For Ideal mixtures (low pressure, medium temperature, and non-polar), relative
volatility is the ratio of vapor pressures i.e. α = P2/P1

3) Tower operating pressure is determined most often by the temperature of the

available cooling medium in the condenser or by the maximum allowable reboiler
temperature.

4) Tower Sequencing

A. Easiest separation first – least trays and reflux

B. When neither relative volatility nor feed concentrations vary widely, remove
components one by one as overhead products.
C. When the adjacent ordered components in the feed vary widely in relative
volatility, sequence the splits in order of decreasing volatility.
D. When the concentration in the feed varies widely but the relative volatilities do
not, remove the components in the order of decreasing concentration in the
feed.

5) Economically optimum reflux ratio is about 120% to 150% of the minimum reflux
ratio.

6) The economically optimum number of stages is about 200% of the minimum value.

7) A safety factor of at least 10% above the number of stages by the best method is
advisable.

This design guideline are believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 KLM Technology Page 15 of 62
Group
Distillation Column Selection and Sizing Rev: 05
Practical Engineering
Guidelines for Processing Plant
Solutions (ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES) Feb 2007 & April
2008

8) A safety factor of at least 25% about the reflux should be utilized for the reflux
pumps.

9) Reflux drums are almost always horizontally mounted and designed for a 5 min
holdup at half of the drum's capacity.

10) For towers that are at least 3 ft (0.9 m) in diameter, 4 ft (1.2 m) should be added to
the top for vapor release and 6 ft (1.8 m) should be added to the bottom to account
for the liquid level and reboiler return.

11) Limit tower heights to 175 ft (53 m) due to wind load and foundation
considerations.

12) The Length/Diameter ratio of a tower should be no more than 30 and preferably
below 20.

13) A rough estimate of reboiler duty as a function of tower diameter is given by:

Q = 0.5 D2 for pressure distillation

Q = 0.3 D2 for atmospheric distillation
Q = 0.15 D2 for vacuum distillation

Where,
Q : Energy in Million Btu/hr
D : Tower diameter in feet.

This design guideline are believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 KLM Technology Page 16 of 62
Group
Distillation Column Selection and Sizing Rev: 05
Practical Engineering
Guidelines for Processing Plant
Solutions (ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES) Feb 2007 & April
2008

The Selection of Column Internals

The selection of column internals has a big impact on the column performance and the
maintenance cost of a distillation tower.

There are several choices of column internals and the two major categories are trays and
packing. The choice of which to utilize depends on the

1) pressure,
2) fouling potential,
3) liquid to vapor density ratio,
4) liquid loading, and
5) most importantly the life cycle cost.

Trays can be divided into many categories, such as baffle trays, dual flow trays,
conventional trays, high capacity trays, multiple downcomer trays and system limit trays.
According to some rules of thumb, trays should be selected if:

1) the compounds contain solids or foulants

2) there are many internal transitions
3) liquid loads are high
4) there is a lack of experience in the service
5) vessel wall needs periodic inspection
6) there are multiple liquid phases

On the other hand, packing divisions include grid packing, random packing, conventional
structured packing, and high capacity structured packing. The rules of thumb for selecting
packing are:

1) the compounds are temperature sensitive

2) pressure drop is important (vacuum service)
3) liquid loads are low
4) towers are small in diameter
5) highly corrosive service (use plastic or carbon)
6) the system is foaming
7) the ratio of tower diameter to random packing is greater than 10

This design guideline are believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 KLM Technology Page 17 of 62
Group
Distillation Column Selection and Sizing Rev: 05
Practical Engineering
Guidelines for Processing Plant
Solutions (ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES) Feb 2007 & April
2008

Some design guidelines should be considered when designing a tray tower, such as
follows:

1) Tray spacing should be from 18 to 24 inches, with accessibility in mind (Generally,

for a tower diameter of 4 feet and above, the most common tray spacing is 24
inches to allow easy access for maintenance. However, for a tower diameter below
4 feet, a tray spacing of 18 inches is adequate as the column wall can be reached
from the manway.)

2) Peak tray efficiencies usually occur at linear vapor velocities of 2 ft/s (0.6 m/s) at
moderate pressures, or 6 ft/s (1.8 m/s) under vacuum conditions.

3) A typical pressure drop per tray is 0.1 psi (0.007 bar)

4) Tray efficiencies for aqueous solutions are usually in the range of 60-90% while
gas absorption and stripping typically have efficiencies closer to 10-20%

5) Sieve tray holes are 0.25 to 0.50 in. diameter with the total hole area being about
10% of the total active tray area. Maximum efficiency is 0.5 in and 8%.

6) Valve trays typically have 1.5 in. diameter holes each with a lifting cap. 12-14
caps/square foot of tray is a good benchmark.

7) The most common weir heights are 2 and 3 in and the weir length is typically 75%
of the tray diameter.

The packed tower design concepts are listed below:

1) Packed towers almost always have lower pressure drop compared to tray towers.

2) Packing is often retrofitted into existing tray towers to increase capacity or

separation.

3) For gas flow rates of 500 ft3/min (14.2 m3/min), use 1 in (2.5 cm) packing, for gas
flows of 2000 ft3/min (56.6 m3/min) or more, use 2 in (5 cm) packing.

4) Ratio of tower diameter to packing diameter should usually be at least 15

This design guideline are believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 KLM Technology Page 18 of 62
Group
Distillation Column Selection and Sizing Rev: 05
Practical Engineering
Guidelines for Processing Plant
Solutions (ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES) Feb 2007 & April
2008

5) Due to the possibility of deformation, plastic packing should be limited to an

unsupported depth of 10-15 ft (3-4 m) while metal packing can withstand 20-25 ft
(6-7.6 m).

6) Liquid distributor should be placed every 5-10 tower diameters (along the length)
for pall rings and every 20 ft (6.5 m) for other types of random packing.

7) For redistribution, there should be 8-12 streams per sq. foot of tower area for
towers larger than three feet in diameter. They should be even more numerous in
smaller towers.

8) Packed columns should operate near 70% flooding.

9) Height Equivalent to Theoretical Stage (HETS) for vapor-liquid contacting is 1.3-

1.8 ft (0.4-0.56 m) for 1 in pall rings and 2.5-3.0 ft (0.76-0.90 m) for 2 in pall rings.

10) Design pressure drops should be as follows:

Table 1: Pressure drop in difference services

Service Pressure drop (in water/ft

packing)
Absorbers and Regenerators
Non-Foaming Systems 0.25 - 0.40
Moderate Foaming Systems 0.15 - 0.25
Fume Scrubbers
Water Absorbent 0.40 - 0.60
Chemical Absorbent 0.25 - 0.40
Atmospheric or Pressure 0.40 - 0.80
Distillation
Vacuum Distillation 0.15 - 0.40
Maximum for Any System 1.0

This design guideline are believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 KLM Technology Page 19 of 62
Group
Distillation Column Selection and Sizing Rev: 05
Practical Engineering
Guidelines for Processing Plant
Solutions (ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES) Feb 2007 & April
2008

DEFINITIONS

Azeotrope- Is a mixture of two or more pure compounds (chemicals) in such a ratio that
its composition cannot be changed by simple distillation. This is because when an
azeotrope is boiled, the resulting vapor has the same ratio of constituents as the original
mixture of liquids.

Bottoms – The stream of liquid product collected from the reboiler at the bottom of a
distillation tower.

Bubble point – The temperature at constant pressure (or the pressure at constant
temperature) at which the first vapor bubble forms when a liquid is heated (or
decompressed).

Condenser- Is a heat exchanger which condenses a substance from its gaseous to its
liquid state.

Dew point – The temperature at constant pressure (or the pressure at constant
temperature) at which the first liquid droplet forms when a gas (vapor) is cooled (or
compressed).

Distillate – The vapor from the top of a distillation column is usually condensed by a total
or partial condenser. Part of the condensed fluid is recycled into the column (reflux) while
the remaining fluid collected for further separation or as final product is known as distillate
or overhead product.

Equation of state – A relation between the pressure, volume and temperature of a

system, from which other thermodynamic properties may be derived. The relation
employs any number of ‘constants’ specific to the system. For example, for a pure
component, the constants may be generalized functions of critical temperature, critical
pressure and acentric factor, while for a mixture, mixing rules (which may be dependent
on composition or density), are also used.

Heavy key – The heavier (less volatile) of the two key components. Heavy key is
collected at the bottoms. All non-key components heavier than the heavy key are known
as the heavy components.

This design guideline are believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 KLM Technology Page 20 of 62
Group
Distillation Column Selection and Sizing Rev: 05
Practical Engineering
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Solutions (ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES) Feb 2007 & April
2008

Key component – A distillation column is assigned with two key components. The key
components in the feed are the main components to be separated in that column. The
volatility of the two key components must be in adjacent order when the volatilities of all
the components in the feed are arranged in either ascending or descending order.

K-value – Vapor-liquid equilibrium constant or distribution coefficient. It is used in non-

ideal (hydrocarbon) systems.

Light key – The lighter (more volatile) of the two key components. Light key is collected
at the distillate. All non-key components lighter than the light key are known as the light
components.

Reboiler –Is a heat exchanger typically used to provide heat to the bottom of industrial
distillation columns. They boil the liquid from the bottom of a distillation column to
generate vapors which are returned to the column to drive the distillation separation.

Reflux ratio – The ratio of the reflux stream to the distillate. The operating reflux ratio
could affect the number of theoretical stages and the duties of reboiler and condenser.

Relative volatility – Relative volatility is defined as the ratio of the concentration of one
component in the vapor over the concentration of that component in the liquid divided by
the ratio of the concentration of a second component in the vapor over the concentration
of that second component in the liquid. For an ideal system, relative volatility is the ratio of
vapor pressures i.e. α = P2/P1

Vapor-liquid equilibrium- Abbreviated as VLE by some, is a condition where a liquid

and its vapor (gas phase) are in equilibrium with each other, a condition or state where
the rate of evaporation (liquid changing to vapor) equals the rate of condensation (vapor
changing to liquid) on a molecular level such that there is no net (overall) vapor-liquid
interconversion

Vapor pressure – The pressure exerted by the vapor phase that is in equilibrium with the
liquid phase in a closed system. For moderate temperature ranges, the vapor pressure at
a given temperature can be estimated using the Antoine equation.

This design guideline are believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 KLM Technology Page 21 of 62
Group
Distillation Column Selection and Sizing Rev: 05
Practical Engineering
Guidelines for Processing Plant
Solutions (ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES) Feb 2007 & April
2008

NOMENCLATURES

B Bottom product rate, moles/unit time

b Bottoms product flow rate, ft3/min
C Coefficient, ft/hr
CFS Vapor loading, ft3/s
D Distillate product rate, moles/unit time
DT Tower diameter, ft
d Distillate flow rate, ft3/min
F Feed rate, moles/unit time
fi Fugacity of component i
H Tower height, ft
HBP Enthalpy of bubble point feed stream, Btu/hr
HVF Enthalpy of vaporized feed stream, Btu/hr
K Vapor-liquid equilibrium constant
Lo Reflux liquid, moles/unit time
LR Liquid molar rate in the rectification section
LS Liquid molar rate in the stripping section
N Number of theoretical stages
Nm Minimum number of theoretical stages
P Total system pressure, psi
P* Vapor pressure, psi
Q Reboiler duty, Btu/hr
Qc Condenser duty, Btu/hr
q Thermal condition of feed
V1 Vapor rate at overhead column, moles/unit time
Vcalc Calculated vapor rate, moles/unit time
Vcorr Corrected vapor rate, moles/unit time
Vmax Maximum volumetric flow rate, ft3/hr
vmax Maximum velocity, ft/hr
R Reflux ratio
Rm Minimum reflux ratio
SF Separation factor,
T Temperature, oF
x Mole fraction in the liquid phase
XB Bottom liquid rate, moles/unit time
xd Mole fraction in the distillate
XDi Mole fraction of component i in the distillate
XD Distillate liquid rate, moles/unit time
xf Mole fraction in the feed

This design guideline are believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 KLM Technology Page 22 of 62
Group
Distillation Column Selection and Sizing Rev: 05
Practical Engineering
Guidelines for Processing Plant
Solutions (ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES) Feb 2007 & April
2008

XFi Mole fraction of component i in the feed

xw Mole fraction in the bottoms
y Mole fraction in the vapor phase

Greek letters

α relative volatility
γ activity coefficient
φ vapor phase fugacity coefficient
β volatility factor
ρ density, Ib/ft3

Superscripts

L liquid phase
V vapor phase
b exponent

Subscripts

avg average
bottom bottom section of column
HHK heavy component
HK heavy key
i component i
j component j
LK light key
LLK light component
top top section of column

This design guideline are believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 KLM Technology Page 23 of 62
Group
Distillation Column Selection and Sizing Rev: 05
Practical Engineering
Guidelines for Processing Plant
Solutions (ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES) Feb 2007 & April
2008

THEORY

(A) Vapor-Liquid Equilibrium (VLE)

The design or simulation of a distillation column requires quantitative estimates of the

phase equilibrium properties of the mixture. An engineer must be familiar with sources of
equilibrium data, methods for predicting such data when measured values are not
available, and methods for extrapolating available data.

In a two-phase system in which a vapor mixture is in equilibrium with a liquid mixture, the
variables of interest are the temperature, pressure and the composition of both phases.
The condition for thermodynamic equilibrium is given by:

fiV = fiL Eq (1)

for every component i

The purpose of a VLE model is to relate these fugacities to temperature, pressure and
mixture compositions.

The most common methods of representation of VLE data fall into three categories:
I) Ideal behavior in both phases
II) Liquid phase non-idealities
III) High-pressure systems

(I) Ideal Behavior in Both Phases

Raoult’s Law can be applied in an ideal system. It is the simplest model, as followed:

fiV = yiP Eq (2)

fiL = xiP*i Eq (3)

where yi :mole fraction of i in vapor phase

xi :mole fraction of i in liquid phase

This design guideline are believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 KLM Technology Page 24 of 62
Group
Distillation Column Selection and Sizing Rev: 05
Practical Engineering
Guidelines for Processing Plant
Solutions (ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES) Feb 2007 & April
2008

The only data required for this model are the vapor pressures of the pure components,
which can be estimated using an extended Antoine equation.

B
ln P*i = A + + DT + E ln T Eq (4)
T +C
Where,

T :the absolute temperature

A, B, C, D, E : fitted constants.

The Raoult’s Law model is simple and useful for preliminary feasibility studies. However,
for detailed design, this model is only reliable if:

a) the system only contains non-polar compounds, preferably of the same

homologous series
b) the pressure is low (< 5 bar)
c) the relative volatility between the key components is reasonably high (α = 3)

(II) Liquid Phase Non-idealities

The liquid phase may show significant deviations from ideality when the components
belong to different homologous series, or if it contains polar components. These
deviations are expressed in the form of:

fiV = yiP (the same as before)

fiL = γixiP*i Eq (5)

where γi is the activity coefficient of component i.

Activity coefficients may be greater or less than 1.0. When it is greater, the system is
showing positive deviations from Raoult’s Law and vice versa. Activity coefficients can be
modeled in two ways, as shown in the following.

This design guideline are believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 KLM Technology Page 25 of 62
Group
Distillation Column Selection and Sizing Rev: 05
Practical Engineering
Guidelines for Processing Plant
Solutions (ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES) Feb 2007 & April
2008

(a) Local composition equations

If experimental VLE data are available, they may be fitted by regression to the parameters
of a ‘local composition’ model. A local composition model expresses the activity
coefficient of each component in the liquid phase as a function of composition and
temperature. Local composition models are usually used for moderate or strongly non-
ideal systems and nearly ideal mixtures with low relative volatility where high accuracy is
essential.

Examples of local composition models include Margules, Van Laar, Redlich-Kister,

Wilson, NRTL and UNIQUAC. The Wilson and UNIQUAC equations are recommended
for most applications. However, the Wilson equation is algebraically not capable of
representing a system showing liquid-liquid immiscibility, unless it gives a reasonable
approximation to the average liquid composition on a stage (if the VLE data on either side
of the immiscible region is correlated accurately). UNIQUAC equation is recommended
for rigorous simulation (if the distillation algorithm can cope with two liquid phases).

(b) Activity coefficient estimation methods

If experimental VLE data are not available, activity coefficients can be estimated
approximately from the properties of the pure components, such as the solubility
parameter, molecular structure (group contributions), infinite dilution activity coefficients,
heat of mixing data and liquid-liquid equilibrium data. The most reliable methods are:

i) Solubility parameter methods

These methods are based on Regular Solution Theory and employ the
Hildebrand expression for activity coefficient as a function of composition and
temperature, using a ‘solubility parameter’ for each component. This parameter
is calculated from molar liquid volume and latent heat of vaporization. These
methods are only suitable for non-polar mixtures and are popular in the
hydrocarbon industry.

ii) Group contribution methods

These methods regard each molecule as an aggregate of functional groups,

and evaluate each activity coefficient as a sum of interactions between the
groups. Parameters for each group and for interactions between groups can be
easily found in the literature. These methods (e.g. UNIFAC and ASOG) can be

This design guideline are believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 KLM Technology Page 26 of 62
Group
Distillation Column Selection and Sizing Rev: 05
Practical Engineering
Guidelines for Processing Plant
Solutions (ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES) Feb 2007 & April
2008

used for estimation of all organic systems, including strongly non-ideal polar
mixtures.

(III) High-Pressure Systems

At high pressure, the vapor phase also shows significant deviations from ideal behavior.
The vapor fugacity may be expressed as:

fiV = φiVyiP Eq (6)

Where ,
φiV : The vapor phase fugacity coefficient of component i.

Fugacity coefficients are calculated by an equation of state. Some of the most popular
equations of state for VLE applications are Soave-Redlich-Kwong (SRK), Peng-Robinson
(PR) and Benedict-Webb-Rubin (BWR). SRK and PR are simple and are recommended
for most applications, especially in systems where an aqueous liquid phase co-exists with
a hydrocarbon process phase. The aqueous phase is assumed to be pure water, and the
solubility of water in the hydrocarbon is calculated using a derived interaction parameter.

When a rigorous model is used for the vapor phase, the liquid phase should also be
modeled using sophisticated methods, as in the following.

(a) Vapor fugacity coefficient, liquid activity coefficient

The activity coefficient concept is retained but a rigorous expression for liquid phase
fugacity is used as shown below:

fiL = γixifi*L Eq (7)

⎡ P vL ⎤
fi*L = P*i φi* exp ⎢ ∫ * i dP ⎥ Eq (8)
⎣ RT ⎦
P

where fi*L = fugacity of pure liquid i at T and P

φi* = saturated vapor fugacity coefficient of pure i
vi L = molar liquid volume of pure i
R = gas constant
T = absolute temperature

This design guideline are believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 KLM Technology Page 27 of 62
Group
Distillation Column Selection and Sizing Rev: 05
Practical Engineering
Guidelines for Processing Plant
Solutions (ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES) Feb 2007 & April
2008

The exponential term is called the Poynting correction. This model is powerful as it takes
into account experimental data fitted to a semi-empirical equation within a sound
thermodynamic framework.

(b) Vapor and liquid fugacity coefficients

In non-polar systems, the liquid phase fugacity may also be represented in terms of a
fugacity coefficient:

fiL = φiL xi P Eq (9)

φiL and φiV can be calculated using the same equation of state. This model is very
convenient with little input information required, but cannot ultimately match the accuracy
of a model based on experimental data. However, equations of state are widely and
successfully used in the hydrocarbon industry provided that the relative volatility is high.

The accuracy of this method can sometimes be improved by fitting binary interaction
parameters into experimental VLE data. A further development is to fit pure component
vapor pressure data to the basic parameters of the equation of state, and also fit binary
parameters to experimental VLE data. This approach has been applied even to polar
systems at high pressure.

(B) Phase Distribution

When a system is in thermodynamic equilibrium, the vapor and liquid phases show
distribution volatility between pairs of components. This separation factor has its
equivalent term in other methods of separation that are based on the equilibrium concept.
For light components (LK) and heavy component (HK), their relative volatility is defined as:

α = KLK/KHK Eq (10)

Each component i of the mixture has a distinct vapor-liquid equilibrium ratio or K-value.

Ki = yi*/xi Eq (11)

Where,
yi* : Vapor mole fraction, in equilibrium with liquid mole fraction xi.

This design guideline are believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 KLM Technology Page 28 of 62
Group
Distillation Column Selection and Sizing Rev: 05
Practical Engineering
Guidelines for Processing Plant
Solutions (ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES) Feb 2007 & April
2008

K-value can be estimated using the thermodynamic relationships as discussed earlier.

For example, the K-values for high-pressure systems take the general form of:

⎡ P vi L ⎤
Ki = γiP*i φi* exp ⎢ ∫ * dP ⎥ / φiVP Eq (12)
⎣ RT ⎦
P

Equation (12) provides a rigorous thermodynamic basis for the prediction of the vapor-
liquid equilibrium ratio. It can sometimes be simplified at the following special cases:

(I) Incompressible Liquid

In this case, the Poynting correction (PC) is expressed as:

PC = exp [ vi L (P - P*I) /RT ] Eq (13)

(II) Negligible Poynting Correction

This is usually the case at pressures less than 20 atm and temperatures greater than 273
K. The resulting equation is:

Ki = γiP*i φi* / φiVP Eq (14)

(III) Vapor Obeying the Ideal Gas Law

At pressures below 2 atm and temperatures higher than 273 K, the vapor phase usually
behaves like an ideal gas. Therefore, φi* and φiV are both set equal to 1.0. Under such
circumstances, Eq (14) is reduced to

Ki = γiP*i /P Eq (15)

The liquid-phase activity coefficient in Eq (15) is a “Raoult’s law correction factor” that
takes into account liquid phase non-ideality. Since most distillations are carried out at
relatively low pressures and moderate-to-high temperatures, Eq (15) is the most generally
used relationship for distillation system analysis and design.

This design guideline are believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 KLM Technology Page 29 of 62
Group
Distillation Column Selection and Sizing Rev: 05
Practical Engineering
Guidelines for Processing Plant
Solutions (ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES) Feb 2007 & April
2008

(IV) Ideal Liquid Solution

In a mixture containing very similar molecules, the liquid phase can be assumed to
behave like an ideal solution where γi becomes unity and Eq (15) is reduced further to

Ki = P*i /P Eq (16)

(V) Other Methods to Determine K-Values

Some of the methods mentioned earlier require the use of a digital computer. Other
methods have been developed to determine K-values such as the use of K-value charts.
In these charts, K-values for individual components are plotted as a function of
temperature on the x-axis with pressure as a parameter4. In more recent publications5,
the K-values are plotted as a function of pressure on the x-axis with temperature and
Convergence Pressure as parameters. Convergence Pressure is the pressure where the
K-values of all components in a system converge towards a common value of unity (1.0).

For computer use, later in 1958 K-value charts were curve fitted to the following equations
by academic and industrial experts collaborating through the Natural Gas Association of
America6.

i =3 i
⎡ T ⎤
∑ ai ⎢ ⎥
⎣1000 ⎦
j =6
⎡ ln P ⎤
j

ln (PK) = i = 0 where ai = ∑ bij ⎢ ⎥ Eq (17)

⎡ T ⎤ j =0 ⎣ 10 ⎦
⎢1000 ⎥
⎣ ⎦

In Eq (17) T is temperature in ºR, P is pressure in psia and the fitted values of the bij
coefficients are reported in an NGAA publication6.

Determination of K-values from charts can be inconvenient for computer calculations.

Therefore, scientists and engineers have developed numerous curve fitted expressions
for calculation of K-values. However, these correlations have limited application, as they
are specific to a certain system or applicable over a limited range of conditions. Some of
these are polynomial or exponential equations in which K-values are expressed in terms
of pressure and temperature. One of these correlations is presented as follows7:

This design guideline are believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 KLM Technology Page 30 of 62
Group
Distillation Column Selection and Sizing Rev: 05
Practical Engineering
Guidelines for Processing Plant
Solutions (ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES) Feb 2007 & April
2008

Pc i ⎡ ⎛ Tc ⎞⎤
Ki = exp⎢5.37(1 + ω i )⎜1 − i ⎟⎥ Eq (18)
P ⎣ ⎝ T ⎠⎦

where Tci is the critical temperature in ºR or K, Pci is the critical pressure in psi, kPa or
bar, ωi is the acentric factor, P is the system pressure in psi, kPa or bar, and T is the
system temperature in ºR or K. (P and Pc, T and Tc must be in the same units.) This
correlation is applicable to low and moderate pressure, up to about 3.5 MPa (500 psia),
and the K-values are assumed to be independent of composition.

This design guideline are believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.