No abstract

The ability of sonication phenomena in facilitating separation of azeotropic mixtures presents a promising approach for the development of more intensified and efficient distillation systems than conventional ones. To expedite the much-needed development, a mathematical model of the system based on conservation principles, vapor-liquid equilibrium and sonochemistry was developed in this study. The model that was founded on a single stage vapor-liquid equilibrium system and enhanced with ultrasonic waves was coded using MATLAB simulator and validated with experimental data for ethanol-ethyl acetate mixture. The effects of both ultrasonic frequency and intensity on the relative volatility and azeotropic point were examined, and the optimal conditions were obtained using genetic algorithm. The experimental data validated the model with a reasonable accuracy. The results of this study revealed that the azeotropic point of the mixture can be totally eliminated with the right combination of sonication parameters and this can be utilized in facilitating design efforts towards establishing a workable ultrasonically intensified distillation system.

A mathematical model for an ultrasound-assisted vapor liquid equilibrium (VLE) system developed in Aspen Custom Modeler is exported to Aspen Plus flowsheeting environment to form a block in the software library to represent a single stage flash separation unit. The block is then arranged in series to mimic an ultrasonically intensified distillation process. As a case study, an ethanol/ethyl acetate separation process is examined. The results show that a 99 mol% ethyl acetate recovery is established when a series of 27 flash VLE devices are used. The system is also evaluated for other minimum boiling azeotropic mixtures, and consistent results are obtained, thus revealing the potentials of ultrasound-assisted system as an alternative strategy for azeotropic mixture separations.

No abstract

The separation of azeotropic mixtures is conventionally one of the most challenging tasks in industrial processes as their separation by a simple distillation is basically impossible. Vapor-liquid equilibrium (VLE) equations with ultrasonic technique was based on a number of assumptions need to be built model on MATLAB software and compared the results with experimental work to validity the model. As a case study, the influence of ultrasonic intensity and frequency on the VLE of ethanolethyl acetate mixture was investigated, and a combination of five ultrasonic intensities (from 100 and 500 W/cm2) and three frequencies (from 25 to 70 kHz) were used. It is noted that with increase the ultrasound intensity and decrease the frequency can be improved the azeotropic point and relative volatility of the mixture. The results revealed that ultrasonic waves had the potential to enhance separation of azeotropic mixtures in a distillation column.