(30 pts) Tetrahydrofuran (THF) and Toluene (T) are commodity chemicals often used as a solvent
in paint because they are capable of vaporizing quickly to promote fast drying. However, many
companies do not want Toluene in their products due to it being a suspected carcinogen. You are
tasked with separating a 420 mol/h feed at 2 bar, 410 K, and a composition of 42 mol% THF and
58 mol% T in a distillation column equipped with a total condenser and a partial reboiler at 2 bar.
The desired distillate (D) composition is 96 mol% THF and the desired bottoms (B) composition
is 96 mol% T. The reflux ratio is specified to be 5. Equimolar overflow (EMO) can be assumed.
Assume this mixture behaves ideally. Use the graphs provided on the next page.
a. Draw a process flow diagram [1 pts]
b. Determine the quality of the feed and indicate what phase(s) the feed stream is [3 pts]
c. Determine the minimum number of stages required for this separation [2 pts]
d. Determine the minimum reflux ratio [4 pts]
e. Determine the number of stages and the location of the feed tray. Provide the TOL
equation, feed line equation, and BOL equation. [15 pts]
i. You must calculate the BOL equation from flowrates not from graphical points
f. Use ChemCAD to simulate your column, using specifications of a distillate mole fraction
for Tetrahydrofuran of 0.96 and a bottoms mole fraction for Toluene of 0.96. Provide
ONLY your values for R, D, B, $x_D$ \textunderscore THF, and $x_B$ \textunderscore THF. [5 pts]
