DISCRETE RELAXATION METHOD FOR SOLVING MULTICOMPONENT DISTILLATION PROBLEMS

A computational method for solving multi-component distillation proble ms is presented, where the steady state composition profiles of a colu mn are determined by solving the vapor-liquid equilibrium problem for each stage sequentially to convergence. The Rachford-Rice equation is solved for each stage and the calculations are continued until the col umn temperature profile converges to the steady state solution. The co mputational efficiency of this method is found to be comparable to the relaxation method in which the differential equations describing the transient behaviour of the column are solved The advantages of the met hod presented here are its conceptual simplicity and its ease to progr am.