Design of a Dehydration Tower for the Obtaining of Alcohol Anhídro

Abstract

The design of a dehydration tower was carried out in order to obtain anhydrous ethyl alcohol of high degree of purity by adsorption with molecular sieves, for which, we proceeded to identify the process variables by laboratory tests varying the temperature and pressure in the feeding to the molecular sieve, with these data and the flow of feeding proceeded with the design of the dehydrator, determining the variables of the equipment (diameter, volume, internal bed, flow of feeding), as well as additional devices such as a preheater that works with a temperature of 120 ºC, which is essential to increase the enthalpy of the steam, and a condenser fed with water at a temperature of 25 ºC, which makes it possible to transform the anhydrous alcohol from vapor to liquid, having a yield of 86.6% and an efficiency of 92,9%, values that help to have an alcohol of 99,5% by weight in a time of 20 minutes.