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MODELING AND SIMULATION OF A DISTILLATION COLUMN USING MATLAB

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Int. J. Engg. Res. & Sci. & Tech. 2013 Sohail Rasool Lone and Syed Akhlaq Ahmad, 2013

ISSN 2319-5991 www.ijerst.com

Vol. 2, No. 4, November 2013
© 2013 IJERST. All Rights Reserved

Research Paper
MODELING AND SIMULATION OF A
DISTILLATION COLUMN USING MATLAB

Sohail Rasool Lone1* and Syed Akhlaq Ahmad2

*Corresponding Author: Sohail Rasool Lone  lonesohail92@gmail.com

This paper presents the modeling and simulation of a distillation column using MATLAB.
Simulation studies are often used to examine the operational behavior of distillation columns. A
rigorous model for the simulation of the steady-state behavior of the distillation column has been
developed. MESH equations, which actually represent the behavior of the distillation column
have been solved through MATLAB, in order to study the effect of different parameters. In this
paper, the effect of the feed condition and the feed composition on the steady state behavior of
a methanol/MTBE/Iso-butylene column have been studied.

Keywords: Distillation, Modeling, Simulation, Steady-state

INTRODUCTION differs from absorption and stripping in that the

second fluid phase is usually created by thermal
Distillation is a process that separates two or
means rather than by the introduction of a second
more components into an overhead distillate and
phase that may contain an additional component
a bottoms product. The bottoms product is almost
or components not present in the feed mixture
exclusively liquid, while the distillate may be a
(Seader and Henley, 2001).
liquid or vapor or both. Distillation is the most
widely used separation technique in process According to Forbes, the art of distillation dates
industry. The separation process requires that (1) back to at least the first century AD. By the
a second phase be formed so that both vapor eleventh century, distillation was being used in
and liquid phases can contact each other on each Italy to produce alcoholic beverages. At that time,
stage within a separation column, (2) the distillation was probably a batch process based
components have different volatilities so that they on the use of just a single stage, the boiler. The
will partition between the two phases to different word distillation is derived from the Latin word
extents, and (3) the two phases can be separated destillare, which means dripping or trickling down.
by gravity or other mechanical means. Distillation By at least the sixteenth century, it was known
1
Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology (NIT), Hazratbal, Srinagar, Kashmir-190006, India.
2
Department of Chemical Engineering, Zakir Husain College of Engineering and Technology(ZHCET), Aligarh Muslim University (AMU),
Aligarh-202002, India.

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Int. J. Engg. Res. & Sci. & Tech. 2013 Sohail Rasool Lone and Syed Akhlaq Ahmad, 2013

that the extent of separation could be improved Figure 1 shows the schematic of a separation
by providing multiple vapor-liquid contacts stage. The model consists of mass balance,
(stages) in a so called Rectifactorium. The term equilibrium relation, summation equations and
rectification is derived from the Latin words recte energy balance, which are collectively known as
facere, meaning to improve. Modern distillation MESH equations.
derives its ability to produce almost pure products
from the use of multi-stage contacting. Figure 1: Model of a Separation Stage

Throughout the twentieth century, multistage

distillation was by far the most widely used
industrial method for separating liquid mixtures
of chemical components. Distillation becomes
energy intensive separation technique when the
relatively volatility , of the components being
separated is low (1.50).

VARIOUS ASSUMPTIONS IN
DISTILLATION MODEL
• Each stage is a perfectly mixed stage, i.e.,
liquid composition at each stage is
homogenous and equal to the composition of
liquid leaving the stage. Mass Balance
• The vapor and liquid leaving any stage are in The model equations for a general ‘jth’ stage and
physical equilibrium. ‘ith’ component are represented as:

• Entrainment of liquid drops in vapor and L j 1 x j 1i  V j 1 y j 1i  FZ j ,i  V j  S vj  y j ,i

occlusion of vapor bubbles in liquid are
  L j  s lj  x j ,i  0
...(1)
negligible

• Vapor holdup is neglected. And in terms of the flow rate of components,

above equation can be written as:
• The energy balance is based on conservation
of enthalpy instead of internal energy. l j 1,i  v j 1,i f j ,i  v j ,i  slj ,i  l j ,i  S vj ,i  0 ...(2)
• Perfect mixing in both phases at each stage. where

STEADY-STATE MODELING li , j  L j xi , j ...(3)

OF A DISTILLATION COLUMN
vi , j  V j yi , j ...(4)
A rigorous steady-state column model was
developed using MESH equations which actually c

represent the behavior of the column. V j   vi , j ...(5)

i 1

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Int. J. Engg. Res. & Sci. & Tech. 2013 Sohail Rasool Lone and Syed Akhlaq Ahmad, 2013

c c
L j   li , j ...(6) l j ,i  Lj ...(14)
i 1 i 1

Uj c
sj 
Lj ...(7) v
i 1
j ,i  Vj ...(15)

Wj Energy Balance
Sj  ...(8)
Vj The total energy balance for ‘jth’ stage is given by:

Now substituting the Equations (3) to (8) in L j 1hL j1  V j 1hV j 1  Fj hFj
Equation (2), we will get:
  LJ  U j  hL j  V j  W j  hV j  Q j  0 ...(16)
l j ,i 1  s j   v j ,i 1  S j   l j 1,i  v j 1,i  f j ,i  0
Now using the Equations (3) to (8) in the
...(9)
enthalpy balance Equation (16), we will arrive at
Equilibrium Relationship a new enthalpy equation in terms of lj,i and vj,i as
The compositions of the streams leaving a stage under:
are in equilibrium. Therefore, the mole fractions c c
ofthe com ponent‘i’ in the liquid and vapor streams  l1,i   L / D   v1,i  0
i 1 i 1
...(17)
leaving stage ‘j’ are related by the equilibrium
relation shown in the equation given below: c c

hL j 1  s j  l j,i  hV 1  S j  v j,i 
j
y j ,i  K j , i x j ,i ...(10) i 1 i 1

c c
Substituting Equations (3) to (6) in Equation
(10), we get,
hL j 1 l
i 1
j 1,i  hV j 1 v
i 1
j 1i

c
 c c

K j ,i l j ,i   vk , j /  lk , j   v j ,i  0 ...(11)
 hFj f j, i  Qj  0 ...(18)
 k 1 k 1  i 1

c
Summation Equations
l N ,i B0 ...(19)
Two additional equations arise from the necessity i 1

that the mole fractions of all the components, Two additional equations, which are known as
either in vapor or liquid phase must sum to unity. the replacement equations have been used for
c the stage 1 (Condenser) and stage N (Reboiler)
x
i 1
j ,i 1 ...(12) respectively, which are given here as under:
c

y i, j 1 ...(13)
SIMULATION
i 1
The model equations for the distillation process
In terms of flow rate of the components, above are simple algebraic equations developed by
equations can be written as: applying mass and energy balance around the

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Int. J. Engg. Res. & Sci. & Tech. 2013 Sohail Rasool Lone and Syed Akhlaq Ahmad, 2013

column, also known as the MESH equations. Figure 2: Methanol Liquid Composition
These MESH equations have been solved by Profile in the Column for Rr=1 and = 0
making use of the solver ‘fsolve’ in MATLAB, which
can solve various non-linear equations
simultaneously. The model has been simulated
under different simulating conditions, viz., different
feed conditions (saturated vapor, half vaporized
and (saturated liquid) and different feed
compositions. A MATLAB code has been
developed in order to simulate the model for
different simulating conditions in order to study
the impact of the different parameters on the
steady-state performance of the methanol/MTBE/
iso-butylene column.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Simulation calculations for the distillation column
have been made in order to study its behavior Figure 2 shows the variation of methanol
when feed of different types are fed, for example, composition inside the column. As can be seen
saturated liquid, saturated vapor and half from this graph, two methanol concentration
vaporized, with the design and operation of the peaks occur inside the column in the liquid phase,
column remaining unchanged. By running the one above the feed tray and one below the feed
simulations for the distillation, it has been actually tray. Figure 3 shows the variation of MTBE (Methyl
tried to establish the thermal condition of the feed Figure 3: MTBE Liquid Composition Profile
that leads to a greater methanol concentration in in the Column for Rr=1 and = 0
the liquid phase inside the column. The simulation
calculations indicate that the latter is obtained by
means of feeding a saturated liquid feed. It is also
economical to feed the saturated liquid feed to
the column, which is beneficial from two
viewpoints, i.e., from the viewpoint of separation
as can be seen from the graphs and also from
the heat economy viewpoint.
The following results are obtained for the
distillation column simulation for different feed
conditions, viz., saturated liquid, saturated vapor
and half vaporized, which are discussed here
below.

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Int. J. Engg. Res. & Sci. & Tech. 2013 Sohail Rasool Lone and Syed Akhlaq Ahmad, 2013

tert-butyl Ether) liquid composition profile inside butylene at the top of the column, which can be
the column. As can be seen from this graph, MTBE attributed to the low boiling point of the iso-
liquid composition increases from top to the butylene which is around 322°C at the column
bottom of the column. It increases from 1st to 6th pressure and hence most of it is recovered at
stage and then it remains almost constant upto the top of the column as a light key.
the 10 th stage and where from it increases Figure 5 shows the temperature variation along
abruptly upto the 16th stage. Infact, it is almost the column. It can be observed from this graph
zero concentration at the top of the column and that temperature increases from top to the bottom
almost 97% composition at the bottom of the of the column. There exists a minimum
column. It is because of the higher boiling point temperature at the top of the column, which is
of the MTBE and hence most of it is recovered in obvious, because of the condenser there at the
the bottom of the column. top through which heat is removed and hence
Figure 4 shows the variation of isobutylene there is minimum temperature and then it
liquid composition profile inside the column. As increases downwards and shows a sudden
can be seen from this graph, iso-butylene increase at the feed stage, which is, because of
composition decreases from top to the bottom of the feed conditions and the type of the feed that
the column. It decreases abruptly from the top of is fed to the column, and then it increases until it
the column upto the 6th stage and then it remains reaches its maximum at the bottom of the
almost constant upto the 10th stage and then it
Figure 5: Temperature Profile in the
decreases very quickly and then it approaches Column for Rr=1 and = 0
towards zero at the bottom of the column. Infact,
it is almost zero concentration at the bottom of
the column and almost 96% composition of iso-

Figure 4: Iso-butylene Liquid Composition

Profile in the Column for Rr=1 and = 0

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Int. J. Engg. Res. & Sci. & Tech. 2013 Sohail Rasool Lone and Syed Akhlaq Ahmad, 2013

column, which is again obvious, because of there Figure 7: MTBE Liquid Composition Profile
in the Column for Rr=1 and = 0.5
boiler there at the bottom of the column. In
nutshell, we can say that temperature.

Figure 6 shows the variation of methanol liquid

composition inside the column, when 50%
vaporized feed is fed to the column. It can be
observed from this graph, again two methanol
concentration peaks occur inside the column, one
above the feed tray and one below the feed tray,
as in the case of saturated liquid feed. It shows
the same trend as that of saturated liquid feed
except for the values of methanol peak
concentrations, which are lower than that
obtained in case of saturated liquid feed.

Figure 6: Methanol Liquid Composition

Profile in the Column for Rr=1 and = 0.5

50% vaporized feed is fed to the column. It can

be observed from this graph that the MTBE
composition increases from the top to the bottom
of the column. It is almost in negligible amount in
the top and maximum amount of it is present in
the bottoms, almost 97%, which can be attributed
to its higher boiling point. It is desirable also to
get maximum amount of MTBE in the bottom of
the column in as much as pure form.
It can be observed from Figure 8 that the iso-
butylene liquid composition decreases from the
top to the bottom of the column. It can be
observed from this figure that iso-butylene
composition is maximum at the top of the column,
which is almost 96% composition of iso-butylene
in the top and almost negligible amount in the
bottom of the column, which is desirable also. It
Figure 7 shows the variation of MTBE (Methyl is because of the low boiling point of the
tertiary-Butyl Ether) inside the column, when a isobutylene that, it is mostly obtained in the top.

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Int. J. Engg. Res. & Sci. & Tech. 2013 Sohail Rasool Lone and Syed Akhlaq Ahmad, 2013

Figure 8: Iso-Butylene Liquid Composition to be different, because of the different feed

Profile in the Column for Rr=1 and = 0.5 condition (50% vaporized feed). In nutshell, we
can say that temperature shows an increasing
trend from top to the bottom of the column.
Figure 10 shows the comparison of methanol
composition profiles inside the column at different
feed conditions, i.e., saturated liquid, 50%
vaporized and saturated vapor. It can be observed
from this figure that the maximum methanol
concentration in both the rectifying and the
stripping section of the column occurs for the
saturated liquid feed. This feed condition is
therefore considered as an optimum condition for
the rest of the simulation work. A liquid side-draw
can be taken from the stage, where this peak in
methanol concentration or composition occurs
inside the column and this side-draw can be fed
to the pervaporation, which can be place parallel
to the column so as to remove methanol through
Figure 9: Temperature Profile in the
the pervaporation membrane which is more
Column for Rr=1 and = 0.5 selective for the methanol as compared to MTBE.
In this way the purity of MTBE can be further
increased in the bottom of the column.
Figures 11 and 12 show the effect of the feed
condition (saturated liquid, 50% vaporized and
saturated vapor) on the composition of the MTBE
and Iso-butylene respectively, inside the column.

Figure 10: Methanol Liquid

Composition Profile in the Column
for Varying Feed Conditions

Figure 9 shows the temperature variation along

the column, when a 50% vaporized feed is fed to
the column. It can be observed from this figure
that temperature increases from top to the bottom
of the column. It shows the same pattern as for
the saturated liquid feed, however, the variation
of the temperature near the feed stage is found

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Int. J. Engg. Res. & Sci. & Tech. 2013 Sohail Rasool Lone and Syed Akhlaq Ahmad, 2013

Figure 11: MTBE Liquid Composition Profile saturated liquid feed for this mixture of methanol/
in the Column for Varying Feed Conditions
MTBE/iso-butylene, which is also economical
form the heat economy point of view and also
from the point of view of MTBE purity in the bottom
of the column.

Validation of MATLAB Simulation Results

by ChemSep Simulation Software
A comparison of the simulation results for the
developed model using MATLAB 7.9.0 Software
and those obtained by ChemSep Simulation
Software has been made. The results are shown
in Figures 13 to 24. These Figures depict a

Figure 13: Comparison Profiles for Methanol

Liquid Composition in the Column for = 0

Figure 12: Iso-butylene Liquid

Composition Profile in the Column
for Varying Feed Conditions

Figure 14: Comparison Profiles for MTBE

Liquid Composition in the Column for = 0

It can be clearly noticed from these graphs that

the maximum composition of MTBE in the bottom
of the column and maximum composition of Iso-
butylene at the top of the column corresponds to
the saturated liquid feed. This also confirms that
the saturated liquid feed condition is indeed
optimum for the distillation operation for the
present work. Hence, it can be concluded that it
is always better to operate the column for

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Int. J. Engg. Res. & Sci. & Tech. 2013 Sohail Rasool Lone and Syed Akhlaq Ahmad, 2013

Figure 15: Comparison Profiles for Iso- Figure 18: Comparison Profiles for MTBE
Butylene Liquid in the Column for = 0 Liquid Composition in the Column for = 0.5

Figure 16: Comparison of Temperature Figure 19: Comparison Profiles for

Profiles in the Column for = 0 Iso-Butylene Liquid Composition in the
Column for = 0.5

Figure 17: Comparison Profiles for Methanol Figure 20: Comparison of Temperature
Liquid Composition in the Column for = 0.5 Profiles in the Column for = 0.5

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Int. J. Engg. Res. & Sci. & Tech. 2013 Sohail Rasool Lone and Syed Akhlaq Ahmad, 2013

Figure 21: Comparison Profiles for Methanol Figure 24: Comparison of Temperature
Liquid Composition in the Column for = 1 Profiles in the Column for = 1

comparison of composition profiles of methanol,

Figure 22: Comparison Profiles for MTBE
Liquid Composition in the Column for = 1 MTBE, and iso-butylene and temperature profiles
at the different thermal conditions of feed, i.e.,
saturated liquid, half vaporized and saturated
vapor. It can be clearly observed from these
Figures that there is a close agreement between
the two simulation results for the fixed feed
composition, but for the different thermal
conditions of feed.

Effect of Feed Composition on MTBE

Purity
Figure 25 shows the effect of the feed composition
on the purity of MTBE in the bottom of the column.
Figure 23: Comparison Profiles Figure 25: Effect of the Feed Composition on
for Iso-Butylene Liquid Composition the MTBE Purity in the Bottom of the Column
in the Column = 1

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Int. J. Engg. Res. & Sci. & Tech. 2013 Sohail Rasool Lone and Syed Akhlaq Ahmad, 2013

It can be observed from this Figure that the purity ACKNOWLEDGMENT

of MTBE for feed 3 (2.8 wt% MeOH, 25.2 wt% This work was supported by The Aligarh Muslim
MTBE and 72 wt% i-C4) is maximum in all the University, Aligarh (UP)-202002. I am very much
three feeds that are fed to the column. It shows thankful to Dr. Syed Akhlaq Ahmad, Associate
that the purity of MTBE increases in the bottom Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering,
of the column for the low methanol composition AMU, Aligarh for guiding me in the MATLAB
and high i-C4 composition in the feed that is fed simulation of this work.
to the column, which is clearly evident from the
above Figure. It can be concluded that in order to REFERENCES
obtain high MTBE purity, methanol concentration 1. Gonzalez B and Inmaculada Ortiz (2001),
must be reduced in the feed or inside the column. “Modeling and Simulation of a hybrid
process (pervaporation-distillation) for the
CONCLUSION
separation of azeotropic mixtures of alcohol
An equilibrium based steady-state model has ether”, Journal of Chemical and
been developed for the distillation column and the
Biotechnology, Vol. 77, pp. 29-42.
model equations have been solved by making use
of MATLAB 7.9.0 Software. The mathematical 2. Homerich U and Robert Rautenbach (1998),
model developed has shown satisfactory results “Design and optimization of combined
in simulating the distillation column for the Pervaporation/Distillation processes for the
separation of methanol/MTBE/iso-butylene production of MTBE”, Journal of Membrane
mixture. The three different types of feed have Science, Vol. 146, pp. 53-64.
been fed to the column, viz., saturated liquid,
3. Mohamed Z M (2006), “Mathematical
saturated vapor and half vaporized and it was
Modeling and Simulation for Production of
found that the purity of MTBE is maximum in the
bottoms, when a saturated liquid feed is fed to MTBE by Reactive Distillation”, M.Tech.
the column. The effect of feed composition on Thesis, University of Technology.
the purity of MTBE in the bottom of the column 4. Seader J D and Ernest J H (2001),
has also been observed and it has been found “Separation Process Principles”, 2nd
that the purity of MTBE in the bottom of the column Edition, John Wiley and Sons, Inc. New York,
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USA.
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concentration must be reduced in the feed or Thesis, Chemical Engineering, Aligarh
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Int. J. Engg. Res. & Sci. & Tech. 2013 Sohail Rasool Lone and Syed Akhlaq Ahmad, 2013

APPENDIX

NOMENCLATURE
F Molar flow rate of the feed [kmol/hr]
fi,j Feed flow rate of component ‘i’ tothe column[kmol/hr]
D Total molar flow rate of distillate[kmol/hr]
B Total molar flow rate of bottom[kmol/hr]
Rr Reflux ratio
N Number of stages in the column
Nf Stage at which feed enters the column
P Column pressure [Pascals (Pa)]
PF Pressure at which feed enters theColumn [Pascals (Pa)]
Lj Total molar flow rate at which liquid phase leaves jth state
Vj Total molar flow rate at which vapor phase leaves jth stage.
Wj Molar flow rate of the vapor side stream leaving jth stage. Please correct it also
Uj Molar flow rate of the liquid side stream leaving jth stage
Wi,j Molar flow rate of component ‘i’ in vapor side stream leaving jth stage
Ui,j Molar flow rate of component ‘i’ in liquid side stream leaving jth stage
li,j Molar flow rate of component ‘i’ in liquid phase leaving jth stage
vi,j Molar flow rate of component ‘i’ in vapor phase leaving jth stage
Zi,j Mole fraction of component ‘i’ in the feed stream entering jth stage
xi,j Mole fraction of component ‘i’ in the liquid phase leaving jth stage
yi,j Mole fraction of component ‘i’ in the vapor phase leaving jth stage
 Vapor fraction of the feed

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