Date of Award

2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Chemical Engineering

First Advisor

Kabadi, Vinayak

Abstract

Distillation curve is an important indicator in industry and academia for characterizing fuels. The advanced distillation curve apparatus developed by Smith and Bruno[1] was used to carry out this research. The boiling temperature vs volume curve of a distillation curve can further be improved or corrected if the time delay of the distillate in the condenser and the vapor travel time from vaporization to condensation is known. Experiment for a four component mixture of decane, dodecane, tetradecane and hexadecane was conducted and the experimental data used to develop an empirical model for the process as a pure pseudo-hydrocarbon compound. The recorded observed delay time and the calculated travel time were used to correct the temperature-volume profile. Furthermore, the experiment was repeated to test the model. The model was then applied to a seven component mixture of octane, decane, dodecane, tetradecane, hexadecane, heptadecane and octadecane. The empirical model developed predicts very closely the behavior of the batch distillation process.

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