A rectification column is fed with 100 kg mol/h of a mixture of 50 mol% benzene and 50 mol% toluene at 101.32 kPa abs pressure. The feed is in liquid phase at the boiling point. The distillate is to contain 90 mol% benzene and the bottoms 10 mol% benzene.

a) The reflux ratio is 4.52:1. Calculate the kg mol/h distillate, kg mol/h bottoms, and the number of theoretical trays needed using the McCabe-Thiele method. b.

b) Repeat the calculation but use a feed that is saturated vapor at the dew point. Calculate the minimum reflux ratio (Rm), minimum number of theoretical plates at total reflux and theoretical number of trays at an operating reflux ratio of 1.5(Rm).

c) Determine actual number of trays if the Murphree tray efficiency is 80% for part a)

(Hint: Draw x-y equilibrium diagram of the benzene-toluene system using the data below. x refers to mole fraction of water in liquid and y refers to mole fraction of water in vapor.)

x	0.0	0.130	0.258	0.411	0.581	0.780	1.000
y	0.0	0.261	0.456	0.632	0.777	0.900	1.000