Page : 1 of 194

Rev: 06
KLM Technology
Group Engineering Solutions
Rev 1 Feb 2007
Practical Engineering Guidelines Rev 2 April 2008
for Processing Plant Solutions
Consulting, Guidelines and Training Rev 3 Feb 2011
Rev 4 June 2013
Rev 5 May 2021
www.klmtechgroup.com Rev 6 Oct 2024

Co Author:

Kolmetz Handbook Rev 1 Chew Yin Hoon

Rev 2 Ai Li Ling
KLM Technology Group of Process Equipment Design Rev 3 Apriliana Dwijayanti
#033, Jalan Bayu 8/1, Rev 4 Mochamad Adha Firdaus
Taman Nusa Bayu, Rev 5 Reni Mutiara Sari
79200 Iskandar Puteri, Johor, Rev 6 Apriliana Dwijayanti
Malaysia Distillation Column
Selection, Sizing Author / Editor
and Troubleshooting Karl Kolmetz

(ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES)

KLM Technology Group has developed highly rated engineering

documentation that has many hours of engineering development. We have
developed over 150+ technical documents.

1. Process Engineering Equipment Design Guidelines with examples of sizing,

2. Project Engineering Standards and Specifications,
3. Best Practices
4. Unit Operations Manuals
5. Engineering Practice Magazine
6. Technical Articles

This design guideline are believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 Kolmetz Handbook Page 2 of 194
KLM Technology of Process Equipment Design
Group
Rev: 06
Practical Engineering Distillation Column
Guidelines for Processing
Plant Solutions
Selection, Sizing
and Troubleshooting
www.klmtechgroup.com Oct 2024
(ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES)

KLM can assist your team in providing Senior Engineering and Operations Staff to
provide support for your local team in many areas.

1. Process Equipment Design,

2. Unit Commissioning,
3. Distillation Tower Inspections,
4. HAZOP Facilitation,
5. Facility Siting,
6. Process Engineering Consulting
7. Specialty Training.

KLM provides specialty equipment in

1. Distillation Columns Vessels and Pressure Vessels,

2. Distillation Tower Internals, Structured Packing, Random Packing,
Distributors, Trays and Demister Pads,
3. Heat Exchangers
4. Pumps.

Testimonials for Kolmetz Handbook of Process Equipment Design

Gautam Meshram - Very informative book and this book is very beneficial for my
career, Thanks for sharing on a public platform

Muhammad Bilal Aslam - this is the best encyclopedia for pipe design, Thanks to
Karl Kolmetz for providing comprehensive insights in their encyclopedias on
topics like these. Their resources make complex calculations accessible and
support engineers in selecting the right pipe sizes for efficient operations.

This design guideline is believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 Kolmetz Handbook Page 3 of 194
KLM Technology of Process Equipment Design
Group
Rev: 06
Practical Engineering Distillation Column
Guidelines for Processing
Plant Solutions
Selection, Sizing
and Troubleshooting
www.klmtechgroup.com Oct 2024
(ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES)

Process Equipment Design Flaws

Many groups of process equipment follow the “Kolmetz Universal Law of Project
Stupidity”. A law strictly followed by most engineering and non-engineering projects.

“Save money and poorly design the process equipment by awarding it to the low-cost
bidder. Loose money for the next twenty years on plant capacity, maintenance reliability,
and excess energy.”

According to this law, awarding a process equipment contract to the lowest bidder may
save you money in the short term, but it can cost you heavily in the long run. You may
end up losing money for the next twenty years on plant capacity, maintenance reliability,
and excess energy. So, next time you are tempted to cut corners, remember the Kolmetz
Law of Project Stupidity.

Typically, process equipment is awarded to the lowest bidder with very low standards of
guarantees. Typical guarantees by the manufacturers are hydraulic capacity only, and
this test must be carried out within three to six months, while the process equipment is
still clean and new. Typical process guarantees are by the process engineering company
which includes capacity and purities, again the performance test must be carried out
within three to six months.

Imagine buying a car and receiving a three-to-six-month warranty and only good gas
milage for the first six months. You would think the car manufacturer was taking
advantage of you, yet this is what we do for heat exchangers, and cars are much more
complex than heat exchangers.

Typically for distillation the cheapest trays are purchased, typically sieve deck trays,
which have low capacity and efficiency. Then the tower must be taller and diameter
larger due to the poor choice of internals. Kolmetz Law in action – we saved USD 50,000
on trays and spend USD 1.0 million on larger vessels, foundations and piping. Also add
the higher energy cost and lower purities over 20 years maybe another USD 1.0 million.
We saved USD 50,000 and lost 2.0 million.

This design guideline is believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 Kolmetz Handbook Page 4 of 194
KLM Technology of Process Equipment Design
Group
Rev: 06
Practical Engineering Distillation Column
Guidelines for Processing
Plant Solutions
Selection, Sizing
and Troubleshooting
www.klmtechgroup.com Oct 2024
(ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES)

What are things that should be included in process equipment design that are not being
utilized because of the sweetheart guarantees and low-cost bidders.

1. KLM is a recognized expert in Process Equipment Design, only utilize groups with
technical expertise. This guideline has sizing examples in the document and then
in an excel spreadsheet.

2. KLM only partners with high quality suppliers, often from the same factories as the
Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) and has senior inspectors to ensure your
equipment is installed correctly

3. Ensure correct metallurgy. Do not use Stainless Steel in Acid or Caustic Solution
Servies as some Stainless Steel is not resistant to attack. Many vendors only
supply stainless steel even though they know that this might be the wrong
metallurgy for your application.

4. Review Galvanic Corrosion Potential for extended life. If you have polar liquids
(water, acids, caustics) and a carbon steel vessel, stainless steel will experience
bi-metallic corrosion with reduced life.

5. Review the failures of the non-technical suppliers.

KLM can assist your team in providing Senior Engineering and Operations Staff to
provide support for your local team in many areas including demister pads, distillation
towers, heat exchanger and pump design.

This design guideline is believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 Kolmetz Handbook Page 5 of 194
KLM Technology of Process Equipment Design
Group
Rev: 06
Practical Engineering Distillation Column
Guidelines for Processing
Plant Solutions
Selection, Sizing
and Troubleshooting
www.klmtechgroup.com Oct 2024
(ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1
Scope 13
Distillation 14
Distillation History 14
Types of Distillation Processes 16
Mode of Operation 19
Column Internals 19
DEFINITIONS 24
NOMENCLATURE 28
REFERENCES 30
GENERAL DESIGN CONSIDERATION 33
Types of Distillation Column 33
A. Tray Column 33
A.1 Tray Hydraulic 37
B. Packed Column 41
B.1 Packed Hydraulic 42
Tower Design 45
The Selection of Column Internals 49
Dividing Wall Column 54
Extractive Distillation 55
THEORY 57
(A) Vapor-Liquid Equilibrium (VLE) 57
(I) Ideal Behavior in Both Phases 57

This design guideline is believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 Kolmetz Handbook Page 6 of 194
KLM Technology of Process Equipment Design
Group
Rev: 06
Practical Engineering Distillation Column
Guidelines for Processing
Plant Solutions
Selection, Sizing
and Troubleshooting
www.klmtechgroup.com Oct 2024
(ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES)

(II) Liquid Phase Non-idealities 58

(III) High-Pressure Systems 60
(B) Phase Distribution 62
(I) Incompressible Liquid 62
(II) Negligible Poynting Correction 63
(III) Vapor Obeying the Ideal Gas Law 63
(IV) Ideal Liquid Solution 63
(V) Other Methods to Determine K-Values 63
(C) Distillation Calculations 65
(I) Product Specifications 65
(II) Column Operating Pressure 65
(III) Operating Reflux Ratio and Number of Stages 67
(IV) Tower Diameter 79
(V). Efficiency Tower 88
(D) Control Schemes 94
(I) Pressure Control 94
(II) Temperature Control 99
(III) Flow Control 101
(IV) Level Control 101
(V) Reflux Control 102
(VI) Boilup Control 102
(E) Divided Wall Column 103
(I) Comparison of DWC and Conventional Column 103
(II) Applications 106
(III) Basic Types of Divided Wall Column 106
This design guideline is believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 Kolmetz Handbook Page 7 of 194
KLM Technology of Process Equipment Design
Group
Rev: 06
Practical Engineering Distillation Column
Guidelines for Processing
Plant Solutions
Selection, Sizing
and Troubleshooting
www.klmtechgroup.com Oct 2024
(ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES)

(IV) Design Factor of Divided Wall Column 111

(V) Simulation and Design of DWCs 111
(VI) Design of a Divided Wall Column 113
(F) Extractive Distillation 114
(I) Azeotropic and Extractive Distillation Difference 114
(II) Entrainer Selection for Extractive Distillation 116
(III) Univolatility and unidistribution curve diagrams 119
(IV) Process Synthesis and Design 124
(V) General feasibility criterion for extractive distillation 126
(VI) Column Order 135
(VII) Application of Extractive Distillation 138
(VIII) Technology of Butadiene Extraction Unit 138
(G) Multi Effect Distillation 142
(I) Multiple Effect Distillation Plant (MED) 144
(II) Multiple Effect Distillation With Thermal Vapour Compression (MED-TVC)
147
(III) Multiple Effect Distillation Plant With Mechanical Vapour Compression
(MED-MVC) 148
(H) Troubleshooting 149
(I) General Troubleshooting in Column 149
(II) Flooding 157
(III) Trayed Columns Trouble Shooting 161
(IV) Random and Structured Packed Columns Trouble shooting 164
(V) Preventive Troubleshooting 166
(I) The Tower Inspection 177

This design guideline is believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 Kolmetz Handbook Page 8 of 194
KLM Technology of Process Equipment Design
Group
Rev: 06
Practical Engineering Distillation Column
Guidelines for Processing
Plant Solutions
Selection, Sizing
and Troubleshooting
www.klmtechgroup.com Oct 2024
(ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES)

APPLICATION 184
Example 1: Determination of Theoretical Stages, Reflux Ratio, Efficiency 184
Example 2: Trayed Column Diameter Determination 187
Example 3: Packed Column Diameter Determination 189
Example 4: Trayed Column Efficiency Determination 190
Example 5: HETP Determination 192

List of Table

Table 1 : Pressure drop in difference services 53

Table 2 : Common temperature differences for difference types of medium in condenser
and Reboiler 67
Table 3 : Packing Factors (Fp) –Norton Co. 87
Table 4 : Constant n for HETP correlation 94
Table 5 : advantages and disadvantages of divided wall column 105
Table 6 : examples of the single liquid solvents commonly used in the extractive
distillation 118
Table 7 : sketches sample of extractive profile map (1.0-1a) 122
Table 8 : extractive separation classes for the extractive distillation of minimum boiling
azeotrope 127
Table 9 : extractive separation classes for the extractive distillation of maximum boiling
azeotrope 129
Table 10 : extractive separation classes for the extractive distillation of low relative
volatility mixtures 131
Table 11 : extractive separation classes for the extractive distillation with entrainers
forming a new azeotrope 133
Table 12. Number cases of malfunctions in distillation column 151

This design guideline is believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 Kolmetz Handbook Page 9 of 194
KLM Technology of Process Equipment Design
Group
Rev: 06
Practical Engineering Distillation Column
Guidelines for Processing
Plant Solutions
Selection, Sizing
and Troubleshooting
www.klmtechgroup.com Oct 2024
(ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES)

Table 13 Common column ailments (Kiester, 1990) 167

Table 14. the equipment inspection of column 181

This design guideline is believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 Kolmetz Handbook Page 10 of 194
KLM Technology of Process Equipment Design
Group
Rev: 06
Practical Engineering Distillation Column
Guidelines for Processing
Plant Solutions
Selection, Sizing
and Troubleshooting
www.klmtechgroup.com Oct 2024
(ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES)

List of Figure

Figure 1 : Batch Still Distillation Process 15

Figure 2 : Still Distillation in Series 16
Figure 3 : Extractive Distillation Column 17
Figure 4 : Catalyst Distillation Column 18
Figure 5 : Schematic Diagram of Distillation Column/ Fractionator 20
Figure 6 : Total Condenser 22
Figure 7 : Partial Condenser 23
Figure 8 : Work of tray 33
Figure 9 : Types of tray distillation column: (a). Bubble Cap Tray, (b). Sieve Tray, and (c).
Valve Tray 35
Figure 10 : Kinds of baffle tray: (a) Shed Deck Tray and (b) Side to Side Tray, and (c)
Disk and Donuts Tray 36
Figure 11 : operating region of tray 38
Figure 12 : Types of packed column: (a). Random Packed Column, (b) Grid Packed
Column and (c) Structured Packed Column 42
Figure 13 : operating area of packed column 43
Figure 14 : Divided Wall Column in one shell 54
Figure 15 : Relationship between Reflux Ratio and Number of Stages 68
Figure 16 : Application of McCabe-Thiele to VLE Diagram 72
Figure 17 : Constructing of Operating Line for Stripping Section 73
Figure 18 : Example of a Seven Stage Distillation 75
Figure 19 : Erbar-Maddox Correlation of Stage Vs Reflux 78
Figure 20 : Internal of Bubble-caps Trays Column 79
Figure 21 : Souders-Brown Correlation for Approximation Tower Sizing 81

This design guideline is believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 Kolmetz Handbook Page 11 of 194
KLM Technology of Process Equipment Design
Group
Rev: 06
Practical Engineering Distillation Column
Guidelines for Processing
Plant Solutions
Selection, Sizing
and Troubleshooting
www.klmtechgroup.com Oct 2024
(ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES)

Figure 22 : Valve Tray Column Diameter 84

Figure 23 : Packed Column Pressure Drop Correlation 85
Figure 24 : Internal of Packing Column 86
Figure 25 : O’Connell Column Efficiency 90
Figure 26 : Control pressure for conventional distillation towers 95
Figure 27 : Control pressure for distillation towers (3) 97
Figure 28 : Control pressure for distillation towers (4) 98
Figure 29 : Control pressure for distillation tower (5) 99
Figure 30 : Control Temperatures for distillation towers. 100
Figure 31 : Control temperature for distillation towers (2). 100
Figure 32 : Control level for distillation towers 101
Figure 33 : Control level for distillation towers (2) 102
Figure 34 : Control Boil up for distillation towers 103
Figure 35 : conventional column 104
Figure 36 : DWC with a partition in the middle section 107
Figure 37 : DWC with the partition wall in the bottom section (a), top section of the
column (b) 109
Figure 38 : DWCs for separation of a four-component mixture, with (a) single partitions
and (b) multipartitions 110
Figure 39 : flowsheet for simulation of a three-product DWC 112
Figure 40 : Serafimov’s Classification of Ternary Diagrams and Statistical Occurrence
115
Figure 41 : (1.0–1a) Residue curve map, equivocality lines and water unidistribution
curve for the ethanol (A) – water (B) with heavy entrainer (E) ethylene glycol or
glycerol 120
Figure 42 : a two-component system the extractive distillation 135

This design guideline is believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 Kolmetz Handbook Page 12 of 194
KLM Technology of Process Equipment Design
Group
Rev: 06
Practical Engineering Distillation Column
Guidelines for Processing
Plant Solutions
Selection, Sizing
and Troubleshooting
www.klmtechgroup.com Oct 2024
(ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES)

Figure 43 : extractive distillation process designed for separating C4 mixture 136

Figure 44 : The optimum process of extractive distillation with ACN method for
separating C4 mixture 137
Figure 45 : Butadiene Extraction Plant 139
Figure 46 : Classic Design of Extractive Distillation Section 140
Figure 47 : Divided Wall Design 141
Figure 48. Scheme of a MED effect, equipped with condensate flash box 143
Figure 49. Scheme of the Multiple effect distillation plant 144
Figure 50. Scheme of a “Parallel Feed” MED desalination plant 147
Figure 51. Scheme of the multiple effect distillation plant with thermal vapour
compression 147
Figure 52. Scheme of multiple effect distillation plant with mechanical vapour
compression 148
Figure 53. Flow diagram for troubleshooting 150
Figure 54. Typical Distillation Tower Overhead System 158

This design guideline is believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 Kolmetz Handbook Page 13 of 194
KLM Technology of Process Equipment Design
Group
Rev: 06
Practical Engineering Distillation Column
Guidelines for Processing
Plant Solutions
Selection, Sizing
and Troubleshooting
www.klmtechgroup.com Oct 2024
(ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES)

INTRODUCTION

Scope

This design guideline covers the basic elements in designing a typical distillation column
system, which includes column internals selection and sizing.

In designing a distillation column, the thermodynamics of the vapor and liquid phases
must be understood. The vapor-liquid equilibrium (VLE) determines the minimum number
of stages required to achieve the degree of separation needed. The minimum reflux ratio
also depends on the VLE data of the mixture.

A few equations that are commonly used in the industry are illustrated in this guideline to
estimate the minimum number of stages and the minimum reflux ratio of a column based
on the VLE data, such as the Fenske-Underwood equation. Some design heuristics are
also highlighted. These rules are based on design experiences and take into account both
the safety and economical factors.

The selection of column internals is very critical in distillation column design. There is a
wide variety of trays and packings in the market. Each design has its strengths and
weaknesses. However, the quotations from vendors are sometimes contradictory and
confusing. This could lead to the wrong choice of column internals. Therefore, some
general considerations are depicted to aid engineers in making the right choice of column
internals. In general, select trays for high pressure and packings for low pressure.

A distillation column is sized by determining the diameter of the tower. An initial

estimation of the tower diameter can be done based on the vapor and liquid loadings in
the column.

Today, many technologies present in improving a distillation to obtain less energy and
capital saving. Dividing Wall Columns (DWCs) are a promising technology for creating
sustainable, more energy and economically efficient processes. A DWC is in essence a
fully thermally coupled distillation sequence with only one condenser and one reboiler
regardless of the number of products.

This design guideline is believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 Kolmetz Handbook Page 14 of 194
KLM Technology of Process Equipment Design
Group
Rev: 06
Practical Engineering Distillation Column
Guidelines for Processing
Plant Solutions
Selection, Sizing
and Troubleshooting
www.klmtechgroup.com Oct 2024
(ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES)

This design guideline also covers what is needed is a method based on sound, credible
principles. The theory for the distillation column selection and sizing, dividing wall column
and extractive distillation selections. Briefly application, design prosedure and technology
that typically used in dividing wall column and extractive distillation are also summarized
in this guideline.

Included in this guideline is an example of the data sheet used in the industry and a
calculation spreadsheet for the engineering design.

Distillation

Distillation is by far the most important separation process in the petroleum and chemical
industries. It is the separation of key components in a mixture by the difference in their
relative volatility, or boiling points. It is also known as fractional distillation or fractionation.

In most cases, distillation is the most economical separating method for liquid mixtures.
However, it can be energy intensive. Distillation can consume more than 50% of a plant’s
operating energy cost. There are alternatives to distillation process such as solvent
extraction, membrane separation or adsorption process. On the other hand, these
processes often have higher investment costs. Therefore, distillation remains the main
choice in the industry, especially in large-scale applications.

Distillation History

The history of distillation dated back to centuries ago. Forbes has chronicled the full
history of distillation in 1948[1]. Reputedly, it was the Chinese who discovered it during the
middle of the Chou dynasty. It was later introduced to India, Arabia, Britain and the rest of
the world.

This design guideline is believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 Kolmetz Handbook Page 15 of 194
KLM Technology of Process Equipment Design
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Rev: 06
Practical Engineering Distillation Column
Guidelines for Processing
Plant Solutions
Selection, Sizing
and Troubleshooting
www.klmtechgroup.com Oct 2024
(ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES)

Early distillation consisted of simple batch stills to produce ethanol. Crude ethanol was
placed in a still and heated, and the vapor drawn from the still was condensed for
consumption. Lamp oil was later produced using the same method, with crude oil heated
in batch stills.

The next progression in the history of distillation was to continually feed the still and
recover the light product. Further advancements include placing the stills in series and
interchanging the vapor and liquid from each still to improve recovery. This was the first
type of counter-current distillation column that we have today.

Furnace Condenser

Figure 1 : Batch Still Distillation Process

This design guideline is believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 Kolmetz Handbook Page 16 of 194
KLM Technology of Process Equipment Design
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Rev: 06
Practical Engineering Distillation Column
Guidelines for Processing
Plant Solutions
Selection, Sizing
and Troubleshooting
www.klmtechgroup.com Oct 2024
(ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES)

CONDENSATE
63% PENTANE VAPORS VAPORS
37% HEXANE 49% PENTANE 35% PENTANE
51% HEXANE 65% HEXANE

STILL 1 STILL 2 STILL 3

126oF 135oF 143oF

FEED
50% PENTANE
50% HEXANE LIQUID LIQUID Heat
37% PENTANE 25% PENTANE
63% HEXANE 75% HEXANE LIQUID
15% PENTANE
85% HEXANE

Figure 2 : Still Distillation in Series

Types of Distillation Processes

There are many types of distillation processes. Each type has its own characteristics and
is designed to perform specific types of separations. These variations appear due to
difficulty in separation when the physical properties of the components in a mixture are
very close to one another, such as an azeotropic mixture.

One type of variation of the distillation processes is extractive distillation. In this type of
process, an external solvent is added to the system to increase the separation. The
external solvent changes the relative volatility between two ‘close’ components by
extracting one of the components, forming a ternary mixture with different properties. The
solvent is recycled into the system after the extracted component is separated from it.

This design guideline is believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 Kolmetz Handbook Page 17 of 194
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Reflux
Bed 1
Bed 2
Lean Solvent

Bed 3

Bed 4

Feed

Figure 3 : Extractive Distillation Column

A distillation column may also have a catalyst bed and reaction occurring in it. This type of
column is called a reactive distillation column. The targeted component reacts when it is
in contact with the catalyst, thereby separated from the rest of the components in the
mixture.

This design guideline is believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 Kolmetz Handbook Page 18 of 194
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Hydrogen
Vent

Reflux + Heat of Rx
Hydrogen
Net
Catalyst Overhead
Tower
Feed Zone

Net
Bottoms

Figure 4 : Catalyst Distillation Column

This design guideline is believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 Kolmetz Handbook Page 19 of 194
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Mode of Operation

Distillation towers can be classified into two main categories, based on their mode of
operation. The two classes are batch distillation and continuous distillation.

In batch distillation, the feed to the column is introduced batch-wise. The column is first
charged with a ‘batch’ and then the distillation process is carried out. When the desired
task is achieved, the next batch of feed is introduced. Batch distillation is usually preferred
in the pharmaceutical industries and for the production of seasonal products.

On the other hand, continuous distillation handles a continuous feed stream. No

interruption occurs during the operation of a continuous distillation column unless there is
a problem with the column or surrounding unit operations. Continuous columns are
capable of handling high throughputs. Besides, additional variations can be utilized in a
continuous distillation column, such as multiple feed points and multiple product drawing
points. Therefore, continuous columns are the more common of the two modes,
especially in the petroleum and chemical industries.

Column Internals

Column internals are installed in distillation columns to provide better mass and heat
transfers between the liquid and vapor phases in the column. These include trays,
packings, distributors and redistributors, baffles and etc. They promote an intimate
contact between both phases. The type of internals selected would determine the height
and diameter of a column for a specified duty because different designs have various
capacities and efficiencies. The two main types of column internals discussed in this
guideline are trays and packing.

There are many types of trays or plates, such as sieve, bubble-cap and valve trays.
Packing, on the other hand, can be categorized into random and structured packing. In
random packing, rings and saddles are dumped into the column randomly while
structured packing is stacked in a regular pattern in the column.

This design guideline is believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 Kolmetz Handbook Page 20 of 194
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Condenser
Overhead
Receiver
Overhead
Product

R
Feed

Reboiler
Bottom
Product

Figure 5 : Schematic Diagram of Distillation Column/ Fractionator

Figure 5 shows a schematic diagram of an example distillation column or fractionator. The

feed enters the column as liquid, vapor or a mixture of vapor-liquid. The vapor phase that
travels up the column is in contact with the liquid phase that travels down. Column
distillation is divided two stages, there are rectifying stages and striping stages.

This design guideline is believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 Kolmetz Handbook Page 21 of 194
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(A) Rectifying Stages

The process above the feed tray is known as rectification (where the vapor phase is
continually enriched in the light components which will finally make up the overhead
product). A liquid recycle condenses the less volatile components from rising vapor. To
generate the liquid recycle, cooling is applied to condense a portion of the overhead
vapor its name reflux.

(B) Stripping Stages

The process below the feed tray is known as stripping (as the heavier components are
being stripped off and concentrated in the liquid phase to form the bottom product). At the
top of the column, vapor enters the condenser where heat is removed. Some liquid is
returned to the column as reflux to limit the loss of heavy components overhead.

At each separation stage (each tray or a theoretical stage in the packing), the vapor
enters from the stage below at a higher temperature while the liquid stream enters from
the stage above at a lower temperature. Heat and mass transfer occur such that the
exiting streams (bubble point liquid and dew point vapor at the same temperature and
pressure) are in equilibrium with each other.

(C) Condenser

The condenser above the column can be either a total or partial condenser. In a total
condenser (Figure 6), all vapors leaving the top of the column is condensed to liquid so
that the reflux stream and overhead product have the same composition.

In a partial condenser (Figure 7), only a portion of the vapor entering the condenser is
condensed to liquid. In most cases, the condensed liquid is refluxed into the column and
the overhead product drawn is in the vapor form. On the other hand, there are some
cases where only part of the condensed liquid is refluxed. In these cases, there will be
two overhead products, one a liquid with the same composition as the reflux stream while
the other is a vapor product that is in equilibrium with the liquid reflux.

This design guideline is believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 Kolmetz Handbook Page 22 of 194
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Vent

Condensate
Liquid

Figure 6 : Total Condenser

This design guideline is believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 Kolmetz Handbook Page 23 of 194
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Vent

Vapor product

Condensate
Liquid

Figure 7 : Partial Condenser

This design guideline is believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 Kolmetz Handbook Page 24 of 194
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(ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES)

DEFINITIONS

Active Area (or Bubble Area) - the deck area of the tray which may either be perforated
or fitted with valves or bubble caps and is the area available for vapor/liquid contacting

Azeotrope- Is a mixture of two or more pure compounds (chemicals) in such a ratio that
its composition cannot be changed by simple distillation. This is because when an
azeotrope is boiled, the resulting vapor has the same ratio of constituents as the original
mixture of liquids.

Bottoms – The stream of liquid product collected from the reboiler at the bottom of a
distillation tower.

Bubble point – The temperature at constant pressure (or the pressure at constant
temperature) at which the first vapor bubble forms when a liquid is heated (or
decompressed).

Condenser- Is a heat exchanger which condenses a substance from its gaseous to its
liquid state.

Dew point – The temperature at constant pressure (or the pressure at constant
temperature) at which the first liquid droplet forms when a gas (vapor) is cooled (or
compressed).

Distillate – The vapor from the top of a distillation column is usually condensed by a total
or partial condenser. Part of the condensed fluid is recycled into the column (reflux) while
the remaining fluid collected for further separation or as final product is known as distillate
or overhead product.

Downcomer clearance - The distance between the bottom edge of the downcomer
apron and the tray deck

Downcomer Area - is the area available for the transport of liquid from one tray to the
next tray below.

This design guideline is believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 Kolmetz Handbook Page 25 of 194
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Downcomer Back-up Flood - occurs when the head of liquid in the downcomer backs
up onto the tray deck. The head of clear liquid in the downcomer is a balance of the
pressure drop across the tray plus the head loss through the downcomer
clearance.However an aeration factor must be applied to estimate the actual height of
aerated liquid in the downcomer

Downcomer Clearance – is the space below the downcomer apron allowing liquid to flow
from the downcomer to the tray deck below. This must be sized to provide a
balance between the minimum head loss required for good liquid distribution across the
tray deck and avoiding excessive downcomer back-up.

Equation of state – A relation between the pressure, volume and temperature of a

system, from which other thermodynamic properties may be derived. The relation
employs any number of ‘constants’ specific to the system. For example, for a pure
component, the constants may be generalized functions of critical temperature, critical
pressure and acentric factor, while for a mixture, mixing rules (which may be dependent
on composition or density), are also used.

Grid packing - Systematically arranged packing use an open-lattice structure

Heavy key – The heavier (less volatile) of the two key components. Heavy key is
collected at the bottoms. All non-key components heavier than the heavy key are known
as the heavy components.

Installation - the act of putting furniture, a machine, or a piece of equipment into position
and making it ready to use

Inspection - the act of looking at something carefully, or an official visit to a building or

organization to check that everything is correct and legal

Installation inspection - The process of inspecting components of the commissioned

systems to determine if they are installed properly and ready for systems performance
testing.

This design guideline is believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 Kolmetz Handbook Page 26 of 194
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Key component – A distillation column is assigned with two key components. The key
components in the feed are the main components to be separated in that column. The
volatility of the two key components must be in adjacent order when the volatilities of all
the components in the feed are arranged in either ascending or descending order.

K-value – Vapor-liquid equilibrium constant or distribution coefficient. It is used in non-

ideal (hydrocarbon) systems.

Light key – The lighter (more volatile) of the two key components. Light key is collected
at the distillate. All non-key components lighter than the light key are known as the light
components.

Liquid distributor – Equipment in packing column to maintaining a uniform flow of

liquid throughout the column.

Liquid holdup - The fraction of liquid held up in packed column.

Mal-distribution – Fault distribution of vapor liquid in packing column. Maldistribution can

affect in efficiency column.

Mass transfer - The relative motion of species in a mixture due to concentration

gradients.

Open Area (or Hole Area) - is the aggregate area available for vapor passage through
the tray deck via perforations or valve and bubble cap slots. This is a critical factor in the
tray operating range since high vapor velocity hrough the open area (hole velocity) will
nduce heavy liquid entrainment (as well as high pressure drop), but low hole velocitymay
allow liquid to "weep" or even "dump" through the tray deck to the tray below.

Operating area - the range of vapor and liquid rates over which the plate will operate
satisfactorily (the stable operating range).

Outlet Weir Height - The outlet weir is used to maintain a head of liquid on the tray deck
as well as to ensure a positive vapor seal to the bottom of the downcomer.

This design guideline is believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 Kolmetz Handbook Page 27 of 194
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Reboiler –Is a heat exchanger typically used to provide heat to the bottom of industrial
distillation columns. They boil the liquid from the bottom of a distillation column to
generate vapors which are returned to the column to drive the distillation separation.

Reflux ratio – The ratio of the reflux stream to the distillate. The operating reflux ratio
could affect the number of theoretical stages and the duties of reboiler and condenser.

Relative volatility – Relative volatility is defined as the ratio of the concentration of one
component in the vapor over the concentration of that component in the liquid divided by
the ratio of the concentration of a second component in the vapor over the concentration
of that second component in the liquid. For an ideal system, relative volatility is the ratio of
vapor pressures i.e. α = P2/P1

Tray Pressure Drop - may also be a limiting criterion particularly in low pressure
services. The operating tray pressure drop is the su'm of the dry pressure drop caused by
the resistance to vapor flow through the tray open area and the head of clear liquid on the
tray deck.

Tray Spacing - is the vertical distance between adjacent tray decks. This effects both the
height of spray that may be generated on the tray deck before liquid carryover and also
the allowable head of liquid in the downcomers

Vapor-liquid equilibrium- Abbreviated as VLE by some, is a condition where a liquid

and its vapor (gas phase) are in equilibrium with each other, a condition or state where
the rate of evaporation (liquid changing to vapor) equals the rate of condensation (vapor
changing to liquid) on a molecular level such that there is no net (overall) vapor-liquid
interconversion

Vapor pressure – The pressure exerted by the vapor phase that is in equilibrium with the
liquid phase in a closed system. For moderate temperature ranges, the vapor pressure at
a given temperature can be estimated using the Antoine equation.

Weir loading – The normalized liquid flow rate leaving a tray pass divided by the length
of the outlet weir of the same pass.

This design guideline is believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 Kolmetz Handbook Page 28 of 194
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(ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES)

NOMENCLATURE

B Bottom product rate, moles/unit time

b Bottoms product flow rate, ft3/min
C Coefficient, ft/hr
CFS Vapor loading, ft3/s
D Distillate product rate, moles/unit time
DT Tower diameter, ft
d Distillate flow rate, ft3/min
F Feed rate, moles/unit time
fi Fugacity of component i
H Tower height, ft
HBP Enthalpy of bubble point feed stream, Btu/hr
HVF Enthalpy of vaporized feed stream, Btu/hr
K Vapor-liquid equilibrium constant
Lo Reflux liquid, moles/unit time
LR Liquid molar rate in the rectification section
LS Liquid molar rate in the stripping section
N Number of theoretical stages
Nm Minimum number of theoretical stages
P Total system pressure, psi
P* Vapor pressure, psi
Q Reboiler duty, Btu/hr
Qc Condenser duty, Btu/hr
q Thermal condition of feed
V1 Vapor rate at overhead column, moles/unit time
Vcalc Calculated vapor rate, moles/unit time
Vcorr Corrected vapor rate, moles/unit time
Vmax Maximum volumetric flow rate, ft3/hr
vmax Maximum velocity, ft/hr
R Reflux ratio
Rm Minimum reflux ratio
SF Separation factor,
T Temperature, oF
x Mole fraction in the liquid phase

This design guideline is believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 Kolmetz Handbook Page 29 of 194
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XB Bottom liquid rate, moles/unit time

xd Mole fraction in the distillate
XDi Mole fraction of component i in the distillate
XD Distillate liquid rate, moles/unit time
xf Mole fraction in the feed
XFi Mole fraction of component i in the feed
xw Mole fraction in the bottoms
y Mole fraction in the vapor phase

Greek letters

α relative volatility
γ activity coefficient
φ vapor phase fugacity coefficient
β volatility factor
ρ density, Ib/ft3

Superscripts

L liquid phase
V vapor phase
b exponent

Subscripts

avg average
bottom bottom section of column
HHK heavy component
HK heavy key
i component i
j component j
LK light key

This design guideline is believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 Kolmetz Handbook Page 30 of 194
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LLK light component

top top section of column

REFERENCES

1. K Kolmetz et al, Kolmetz Handbook of Process Equipment Design, Safety in

Process Equipment Design, Engineering Design Guidelines, 2014

2. K Kolmetz et al, Kolmetz Handbook of Process Equipment Design, Distillation Tray

Hydraulics, Engineering Design Guidelines, 2014

3. K Kolmetz et al, Kolmetz Handbook of Process Equipment Design, Distillation

Packing Hydraulics, Engineering Design Guidelines, 2014

4. K Kolmetz et al, Kolmetz Handbook of Process Equipment Design, Demister Pad

Systems, Engineering Design Guidelines, 2020

5. K Kolmetz et al, Kolmetz Handbook of Process Equipment Design, Distillation

Reboiler Selection, Engineering Design Guidelines, 2013

6. Forbes, R. J. (1948). A Short History of the Art of Distillation. E. J. Brill, Leiden,

Netherlands.

7. Depriester, C. L. (1953). Chem. Eng. Progr. Symp. Ser., 49 (7), 1.

8. Hadden, S. T., and Grayson, H. G. (1961). Petrol. Refiner, 40 (9), 207.

9. Nicholas P. Cheremisinoff (2000). Handbook of Chemical Processing Equipment.

Butterworth-Heineman, United State of America.

10. Natural Gasoline Supply Men’s Association (1941). 20th Annual Convention, April
23-25.

This design guideline is believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 Kolmetz Handbook Page 31 of 194
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(ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES)

11. Engineering Data Book, 10th and 11th Editions (1998). Gas Processors and
Suppliers Association Data Book, Tulsa, Oklahoma.

12. Equilibrium Ratio Data for Computers (1958). Natural Gasoline Association of
America, Tulsa, Oklahoma.

13. Wilson, G. (1968). A modified Redlich-Kwong equation of state applicable to

general physical data calculations, Paper No15C, 65th AIChE National meeting,
May.

14. King, C. J. (1980). Separation processes, Second edition. McGraw-Hill Inc.

Chapters 4 – 6.

15. Carl R. Branan (2002). Rules of Thumb of Chemical Engineers, Third Edition. Gulf
Professional Publishing, Houston. Chapter 3.

16. Perry Chemical Engineers’ Handbook, Seventh Edition (1997). Distillation, Section
13.

17. Thomas Grützner and Jens-Uwe Repke. (2018). Divided Wall Columns:
Usefulness and Challenges. A Publication of AIDIC Servizi S.r.l. Italia.

18. Peter Faessler, Karl Kolmetz, et all. (2004). Advanced Fractionation Technology
for the Oleochemical Industry. Oil and Fats International Congress and World
Congress on Oleochemicals Malaysian Palm Oil Board.

19. Ministry of Economic Affairs. (2017). Wikisheet Divided Wall Column. Dutch
Process Intensification Network. Netherland Enterprise Agency. Netherland.

20. Gerbaud, Vincent, Rodríguez-Donis, Ivonne, et all. (2019). Review of Extractive

Distillation. Process design, operation optimization and control. HAL archives-
ouvertes.fr.

21. Kiss A., Anton. (2013). Distillation – Extractive Distillation.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285671337.

This design guideline is believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 Kolmetz Handbook Page 32 of 194
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(ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES)

22. Zhigang Lei, Chengyue Li,* and Biaohua Chen. (2003). Extractive Distillation : A
Review. http://www.paper.edu.cn. Marcel Dekker, Inc. China.

23. Karl Kolmetz, et all. Design Guidelines for Extractive Distillation Columns. KLM
Technology Group.

24. E.V. Blagin*, A.A. Shimanov and A.A. Gorshkalev. Determination of the Criteria for
Comparative Analysis of Desalination Plant. IOP Conf. Series: Earth and
Environmental Science 264 (2019)

25. Karl Kolmetz and Timothy M. Zygula. Resolving Process Distillation Equipment
Problems. The 5th Annual Regional Olefins Conference. 2000

26. Nikhilesh Mukherjee. Common issues in crude distillation and troubleshooting:

Typical cases. 2023

27. Henry Z. Kister. Distillation Operation. McGraw-Hill, Inc USA. 1990

This design guideline is believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 Kolmetz Handbook Page 33 of 194
KLM Technology of Process Equipment Design
Group
Rev: 06
Practical Engineering Distillation Column
Guidelines for Processing
Plant Solutions
Selection, Sizing
and Troubleshooting
www.klmtechgroup.com Oct 2024
(ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES)

GENERAL DESIGN CONSIDERATION

Types of Distillation Column

There are many types of distillation column. Each type has its own characteristic and is
designed to perform its efficiency

A. Tray Column

Tray Columns utilize a pressure and temperature differential to separate the products. For
most tray columns, the weir holds a liquid level of each tray. Figure 8 shows how the tray
works. Liquid enters from the down-comer of the tray above. The vapor must overcome
this liquid head to move up the column. On the tray the vapor and liquid are contacted
becomes bubble or froth where the mass transfer takes place and then above the tray
they are separated where froth flows over the outlet weir and vapor with the light volatile
compound is disengaged.

Figure 8 : Work of tray

Tray column performs well in high liquid and vapor loading. Tray have higher pressure
drop than packed, and It also have high resistance to corrosion. There are five major
types of tray column.

This design guideline is believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.
 Kolmetz Handbook Page 34 of 194
KLM Technology of Process Equipment Design
Group
Rev: 06
Practical Engineering Distillation Column
Guidelines for Processing
Plant Solutions
Selection, Sizing
and Troubleshooting
www.klmtechgroup.com Oct 2024
(ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDELINES)

1. Bubble Cap Tray

A bubble cap tray is perforated flat which has a riser (chimney) for each hole cover
with a cap mounted. Usually equipped with slots to allow the passage of vapor then
the vapor will contact with liquid forming bubble on the next tray. It is able to operate at
low vapor and liquid rates (less than 2 gpm per foot of average of flow width).

2. Sieve Deck Tray

Sieve deck tray is perforated plate with holes punched into the plate usually has holes
3/16 in to 1 in diameter. Vapor comes out from the holes to give a multi orifice effect.
The vapor velocity keeps the liquid from flowing down through the holes (weeping).
The number and hole size are based on vapor flow up the tower. The liquid flow is
transported down the tower by down-comers, a dam and overflow device on the side
on the plate. Sieve deck tray has a minimum capacity approximately 70%

3. Dual flow tray

Dual flow is a sieve tray without downcomer. It designed with enough open area on
the tray deck to eliminate stagnation and promote back missing. Vapor move up to the
tray above through the hole while the liquid turn down in the same hole that result mal-
distribution and low efficiency.

4. Valve Tray

Valve Tray is using valve which is rise as vapor rate increase and then reduce as
vapor rate fails, this stop the liquid from weeping. Valve can be round or rectangular,
with or without caging structured. Valve disk rise as vapor rate increase. Valve tray
has minimum capacity approximately 60%.

This design guideline is believed to be as accurate as possible, but are very general not for specific design cases. They
were designed for engineers to do preliminary designs and process specification sheets. The final design must always be
guaranteed for the service selected by the manufacturing vendor, but these guidelines will greatly reduce the amount of up
front engineering hours that are required to develop the final design. The guidelines are a training tool for young engineers
or a resource for engineers with experience.

This document is entrusted to the recipient personally, but the copyright remains with us. It must not be copied,
reproduced or in any way communicated or made accessible to third parties without our written consent.