In the production of aniline by the hydrogenation of nitrobenzene, the reactor products are separated from unreacted hydrogen in a condenser. The condensate, which is mainly water and aniline, together with a small amount of unreacted nitrobenzene and cyclohexylamine, is fed to a decanter to separate the water and aniline. The separation will not be complete, as aniline is slightly soluble in water, and water in aniline. A typical material balance for the decanter is given below:

Basis $100kg$ feed

$\backslash$table$[[,$feed,aqueous stream,organic stream$],[$water$,23\mathrm{.}8,21\mathrm{.}4,2\mathrm{.}4],[$aniline$,72\mathrm{.}2,1\mathrm{.}1,71\mathrm{.}1],[$nitrobenzene$,3\mathrm{.}2,$trace,$3\mathrm{.}2],[$cyclohexylamine$,0\mathrm{.}8,0\mathrm{.}8,$trace$],[$total$,100,23\mathrm{.}3,76\mathrm{.}7]]$

Design a decanter for this duty, for a feed$-$rate of $3500k\frac{g}{h}.$ Concentrate on the separation of the water and aniline. The densities of water$-$aniline solutions are given in Appendix F$,$ problem F$\mathrm{.}8.$ The decanter will operate at a maximum temperature of $30C.$