This experiment was started to measure the height equivalent of a HETP column to calculate twenty theoretical plates. The company need this information to separate the cyclohexane from the toluene. The separation was accomplished by the use of fractional distillation and gas chromatography. The process yielded one plate for the17.6cm column meaning, that the porcelain beryl saddles as a packing material are ineffective. Although the results were found to be inefficient this may have been due to an error in the calculation, or the amount of time per temperature spent collecting the fractions. These results can be improved by re-distillation of the distillate fraction. The objective is to determine the packing material’s , (porcelain beryl saddles), …show more content…
In order to make the twenty theoretical plates necessary, and to separate the cyclohexane from the toluene efficiently, it would take a 352cm column, packed with porcelain beryl saddles. The better cyclohexane and toluene are separated from each other the more efficient the separation. The degree of separation depends on the type of column packing and the rate of the distillation. For a high reflux ratio there needs to be a low rate of distillation; this is accomplished by allowing a ratio of the liquid to be returned to the boiling flask, to re-liquify and distill into the receiving vessel. The lower boiling point fractions contained the more volatile component and the higher boiling points would contain more of the less volatile …show more content…
The gas chromatography parameters that were used to obtain the chromatogram for each distillate fraction had an important effect on the retention time, height and area of each component. The attenuation was set to one, which was proportional to the one microliter amount of distillate fraction that was injected. This helped to reduce the signal sent to the recorder, so that the peaks would be seen on the chromatogram. The current was set to 80 MA and the temperature was set to 160˚C. The temperature was set so that it was equal to or slightly above the average boiling point of the sample. The carrier pressure was set to 150 KPa and the sample was sent to column one. The chromatogram produced relayed the retention time, peak number, area, and height. The area is then used to calculate the amount of mols of cyclohexane and toluene, and after, the theoretical