The design of any of the distillation processes discussed requires choosing an operating pressure, bottoms temperature, reflux condenser temperature and number of trays. This is normally done using any one of several commercially available process simulation programs which can perform the iterative calculations.
Some typical parameters for design are shown in Table 9-4. The actual optimum to use for any given process will vary depending on actual feed properties, product specifications, etc.
In Table 9-4 the actual number of trays are included. This is because complete equilibrium between vapor and liquid is normally not reached on each tray. For calculation purposes the number of theoretical flashes may be quite a bit less than the number of trays. For smaller diameter towers packing is used instead of trays. Manufacturers supply data for their packing material which indicates the amount of feet of packing required to provide the same mass transfer as a standard bubble cap tray.
Some recent advances in structured packing are being used by some operators in larger diameter towers where they would have normally used trays. The structured packing is said to allow both smaller diameter and less height of tower.
Once the operating conditions are established for a tower, its diameter and height can be chosen using data available from tray and packing manufacturers. The details of tower diameter selection, tray spacing, and internal design are beyond the scope of this text.
