Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol.45, No.12, 4429-4432, 2006
A fast method to calculate residue curve maps
Residue curve maps are used in the preliminary stages of azeotropic distillation problems to establish feasible separation targets. Their calculations involve an iterative procedure, because of bubble point determinations. In this work, a simplified method for the generation of residue curve maps is presented. The method is based on the use of a mean relative volatility, independent of temperature, that avoids iterative calculations. Several case studies are used to show the effectiveness of the proposed method.