Separation of an ethanol-water binary mixture in a UDCC plate distillation column by densitometry Separación de una mezcla binaria etanolagua en columna de destilación de platos UDCC por densimetría

Abstract

ONTARE. REVISTA DE INVESTIGACIÓN DE LA FACULTAD DE INGENIERÍA

 It was possible to separate an ethanol-water binary mixture of 50% by volume in the “EDIBON UDCC plate distillation column 0014/07”. During the process, several samplings were taken from the boiler and the distillation collecting container; the distillation column was controlled from a computer with SCADA system and PID control, which allowed the control of variables for emptiness, flow, and machine temperature in order to obtain various sample concentrations through a set time. It is vital for the process that the system is pressurized inasmuch as lack or not enough pressure will result in a distillation process that may take longer than expected.

It was also possible to perform an ethanol recovery of up to 76.6% by volume, which indicates that it was a very successful process since this concentration is the one achieved by commercial ethyl alcohol for pharmaceutical.