ABSTRACT

The objective of this experiment is to determine the pressure drop over the
distillation column for various boil up rates in batch distillation and to determine mixture
compositions using refractometer. The experiment was done by using the distillation
column for pressure drop. To determine the pressure drop, the different power which 0.5
kW, 0.75 kW, 1.00 kW and 1.25 kW were setup. The pressure drops for each power are
71 cm H2O, 80 cm H2O, 237 cm H2O and 149 cm H2O respectively. From the results,
the curve relating pressure drop and boil-up rate are plotted. During the experiment, the
degree of foaming on trays were observed. For 0.5 kW and 0.75 kW the degree of
foaming are gentle localized meanwhile for 1.00 kW and 1.25 kW the degree of foaming
are violent localized. The distillate for every power increment were collected to measure
the refractive index. Then, all the refractive index are recorded.

CALCULATION
To calculate the volume of constituents that needed to measure R.I

Molecular weight of methylcyclohexane = 98.19 g/gmol

Molecular weigth of toluene = 92.15 g/gmol
Density methylcyclohexane = 0.774 g/ml
Density toluene = 0.867 g/ml

For 0 mol percent methylcyclohexane, 100 mol percent toluene

Thus for 100 ml of mixture, quantities required will be
0 ml methylcyclohexane
100 ml toluene

For 25 mol percent methylcyclohexane, 75 mol percent toluene

Thus for 100 ml of mixture, quantities required will be

28.49 ml methylcyclohexane
71.51 ml toluene

For 50 mol percent methylcyclohexane, 50 mol percent toluene

Thus for 100 ml of mixture, quantities required will be

54.35 ml methylcyclohexane
45.65 ml toluene

For 75 mol percent methylcyclohexane, 25 mol percent toluene

Thus for 100 ml of mixture, quantities required will be

78.13 ml methylcyclohexane
21.87 ml toluene

For 100 mol percent methylcyclohexane, 0 mol percent toluene

Thus for 100 ml of mixture, quantities required will be

100 ml methylcyclohexane
0 ml toluene

Concentration of

Volume of

Volume of

Refrcative

methylcyclohexane

methylcyclohexan(ml)

toluene(ml)

Index

1.0

100

1.42313

0.75

78.13

21.87

1.45447

0.5

54.35

45.65

1.46167

0.25

28.49

71.51

1.47999

0.0

100

1.49682

CONCLUSION
From experiment A, we can obtain the pressure drop for the every power input. At
0.50 kW the pressure drop for the distillation column is 71 cm H 2O. At 0.75 kW, the
pressure drop is 80 cm H2O. For 1.00 kW and 1.25 kW, the pressure drop is 237 cm
H2O and 149 cm H2O respectively. From the results, we know that the pressure drop is
depends on the power input. The higher the power input, the higher the pressure drop.
When the pressure drop increases, the boil up rate also will increases. But for 1.25 kW,
the pressure drop is decrease. This is due to the error or mistake during taking the
reading on manometer.
For experiment B, the higher the concentration of methylcyclohexane the higher
the refractive index.

RECOMMENDATIONS
One of the recommendations for this experiment is to get the accurate value of
pressure drop for distillation column, the position of the eyes must be parallel to the
reading. When open the valves to take the pressure drop reading, always open V6 and
V7 to prevent vapor from the column entering the manometer. If this happens, it can be
seen as two separate phases in the U- tube. Next, avoid direct contact with the
distillation column because it is hot. Before taking the reading of refractive index of the
mixture, the refractometer need to be cleaned with distillated water and wiped until it dry
every time after the reading is taken to make sure we get a correct reading.