Glycerol Distillation Column

The rigorous design of distillation columns are complicated and require large amounts of time since the calculations are complex and there exist many degrees of freedom in the design. Degrees of freedom include the reflux ratio, operating temperature and pressures, choosing between a partial or total condenser, the use of single or multiple feeds together with their locations etc. The shortcut method of analysis is useful in providing initial guesses for the number of stages, reflux ratio and feed locations. Rigorous distillation calculations are performed in this process simulation using the RadFrac distillation block. The Radfrac block is described as a rigorous 2- to 3- phase fractionation for single column and is a rating program and not a design program. The number of stages and reflux ratio, location of feed and the type of condenser and reboiler need to be specified then only can the distillate and bottoms be calculated (Sandler 2015).