MASS TRANSFER 1 CLB 20804 Experiment 1 PACKED COLUMN DISTILLATION PROCESS 1.0 OBJECTIVES To operate vapor – liquid separation process using a Packed Column Distillation Unit. To analyze the effect of reflux ratio on separation of ethanol-water system. To determine the number of stages by using McCabe Thiele method 2.0 OVERVIEW Distillation is one of the important unit operations in many chemical industries and has been used from the inception of chemical and process industry. Distillation is used for the separation of components in a liquid mixture of volatile constituents. The Distillation Column is usually a vertical column where the liquid and vapor phases of the mixture are made to mix and approach equilibrium. The two types of distillations utilized in industry are batch and continuous. Batch distillation is desirable when small quantities of high valued chemicals need to be separated. In a batch system, the column can handle different mixtures by simply changing its operating conditions. In this lab, the packing in the column is rachig rig glass. The distillation column also contains a condenser, which cools and condenses the vapor leaving the top of the column. A reboiler is connected to the bottom of the distillation apparatus and it provides the reboil heat that is necessary for distillation. AZYYATI/EXP 1/SEPTEMBER 2016 1