Computer-aided Semi-empirical Model of Interphase Mass and Enthalpy Transfer in a Packed Column Distillation Process

Abstract The objective of this study is to model the transport phenomena in packed column distillation with the aid of experiment and computer-aided process simulation. The main concept is in that local distillation efficiency HETP is considered as the height of control volume for shell balance of mass and enthalpy, so that it becomes possible to bridge between the ideal and real processes. Distillation experiment was conducted under the total-reflux condition. Determination of local HETPs was performed by comparing the vertical temperature distribution experimentally observed with the stage-by-stage temperature distribution calculated by computer process simulation. In a manner similar to the analogy analysis of a single-phase boundary layer flow over a flat plate, a semi-empirical model of local similarity between simultaneous interphase mass and enthalpy transfer was successfully built by experiment collaborating with a computer-aided process simulation.