Continuous distillation

Educational goals : 

• Study of the hydrodynamics of the column.
• Influence of the operating conditions on the separation of a binary solution
• Thermal balances.
• Material balance.
• Determination of the number of theoretical plates (McCabe and Thiele, Ponchon and Savart).
• Determination of the number of transfer units

• Storage can of the polyethylene feed solution.
• Feeder dosing pump.
• Preheater with two valves for supply at 33% or 66% of the column,
• Continuous boiler in borosilicate glass, electric heating, equipped with minimum safety level and maximum temperature safety.
• Refrigerant for differential pressure test.
• Column in borosilicate glass, in three elements with lining.
• Three stainless steel 316L recentering trays, each equipped with sampling and temperature sampling valve.
• Borosilicate glass column head, with temperature measurement, equipped with a timer valve to control the reflux ratio.
• Vertical 316L stainless steel condenser, borosilicate glass ferrule.
• Two refrigerants of distillate and residue in 316L stainless steel.
• Recipe for borosilicate glass distillate.
• Recipe of the borosilicate glass residue, equipped with a 316L stainless steel drain valve.
• Two containers for receiving the distillate and the polyethylene residue
• 316L stainless steel connection pipes.
• Support frame in 304L stainless steel tubes and aluminum nuts.

Instrumentation :

• Condenser cooling water supply equipped with a float flowmeter with its control valve and a water circulation controller to stop heating due to lack of cooling.
• Column pressure drop measurement using a "U" differential pressure gauge.
• Control and control cabinet, IP55, equipped with emergency stop, operating buttons and the following interfaces:
• Preheater temperature controller.
• Electronic timer controlling the valve of the column head.
• Boiler heating control regulator.
• Two digital temperature indicators of 12 probes type Pt100 Ω.