Journal of Research in Applied Chemistry

Authors:-Nitin Gajanan Kanse, Matondkar Devendra , Bane Sonali , Matondkar Prajakta

Abstract:-The pressure-swing distillation process is found more significantly economical than the homogeneous extractive distillation process. In pressure-swing distillation process no extra solvent is required for separation of methanol/chloroform mixture. So, now day pressure-swing distillation process is used mostly for separation of methanol/chloroform mixture than the other conventional methods. In this study, a computational study has been performed to separate over 99.5 mol% of choroform from binary azeotropic mixture of methanol and chloroform using a Pressure Swing Distillation process (PSD). Methanol-chloroform binary mixture exhibits an azeotrope at 34 mol % methanol at 34 0C under atmospheric pressure. The PSD process is used to separate azeotropic mixtures using the difference between the relative volatilities and azeotropic compositions by changing the system pressure. Chloroform cannot be completely separated from methanol, ethanol or isopropanol by conventional distillation or rectification because of the minimum boiling azeotrope between chloroform and the alcohols. Chloroform can be readily separated from methanol, ethanol or isopropanol by extractive distillation but it requires extra solvent to achieve the separation.