A binary mixture consisting of benzene and toluene containing 60 mol% of benzene is continuously fed to a distillation column. If there are nine plates between the reboiler and the feed plate, and the...

A binary mixture consisting of benzene and toluene containing 60 mol% of benzene is

continuously fed to a distillation column. If there are nine plates between the reboiler and the

feed plate, and the top product contains 98 mol% benzene while the liquid leaving the base of the column contains 2 mol% benzene, estimate the overall plate efficiency of the column. The feed enters the column at its boiling point and the relative volatility of benzene to toluene can be considered to be constant at 2.3. The reflux ratio is 3.0.
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