An independent company wishes to hire a team of chemical engineers for the selection of an optimum procedure for the separation of benzene and toluene. A saturated-liquid mixture of 70 mol% benzene...

An independent company wishes to hire a team of chemical engineers for the selection of an optimum procedure for the separation of benzene and toluene. A saturated-liquid mixture of 70 mol% benzene and 30 mol% toluene, whose relative volatility is 2.5, is to be distilled at 1 atm to produce a distillate of 80 mol% benzeneContinuous distillation in a column with the equivalent of one equilibrium plate. The feed at its boiling point is introduced on the plate. The residue is withdrawn from the directheated still pot. The vapours from the plate enter the top of a partial condenser that discharges into a trap. The liquid from the trap is returned to the plate, while theuncondensed vapour is condensed to a distillate of 80 mol% benzene. The molar ratio of
reflux to product is 0.5.

A. moles of distillate per 100 moles of feed,
B. moles of total vapour generated per mole of distillate, and
C. mol% benzene in the residue.
D. For each part, construct a y–x diagram. On this, indicate the compositions of the overhead product, the reflux, and the composition of the residue.