Gibbs Phase Rule

Gibbs Phase Rule
The Gibbs phase rule identifies the degree of freedom of a multiphase system that is in
thermodynamic equilibrium. It relates the number of intensive independent thermodynamic
properties for each phase and the number of phases for a system. The phase rule is given by F=C-P+2
or F+P=C+2, where F is the number of degrees of freedom, C is the number of components and P is
the number of phases
limitations of distillation column
The components that have relative volatility very close to each other are difficult to separate
through the distillation column and require large reflux and large number of plates.
Azeotropic mixtures cannot be separated by fractional distillation either and typically require
other approaches.
Since the mixture in simple distillation is only boiled and recondensed once, the final composition
of the product will match the composition of the vapor, which means it may contain significant
impurities.
Energy intensive process since Heating a liquid or a mixture of liquids to boiling takes a lot of
energy.
Dew point, bubble point
The dew point is the temperature to which any system in superheated phase must be cooled to
become saturated with vapor. When cooled further, the vapor will condense to form a dew of liquid
(dew).
the bubble point is the temperature (at a given pressure) where the first bubble of vapor is formed
when heating a liquid consisting of two or more components.
Explain graph in detail
Since there are 2 components present in the experiment the sum of mole fractions is 1 .At any given
temperature where both phases are present, vapor with a certain mole fraction is in equilibrium
with liquid with a certain mole fraction. These vapor and liquid mole fractions are represented by
two points on the same horizontal isotherm (constant T ) line. When an entire range of temperatures
vs. vapor and liquid mole fractions is graphed, two (usually curved) lines result. The lower one,
representing the mole fraction of the boiling liquid at various temperatures, is called the bubble
point curve.
The upper one, representing the mole fraction of the vapor at various temperatures, is called
the dew point curve.
For certain pairs of substances, the two curves also coincide at some point strictly between x1 =
0 and x1 = 1. When they meet, they meet tangently; the dew-point temperature always lies above
the boiling-point temperature for a given composition when they are not equal. The meeting point is
called an azeotrope for that particular pair of substances.
boiling point
The boiling point of a substance is the temperature at which the vapor pressure of a liquid equals

the pressure surrounding the liquid and the liquid changes into a vapor.
Extensive Intensive properties
An extensive property of a system depends on the system size or the amount of matter in the
system.
Volume, energy, and mass are examples of extensive properties.
An intensive property is one that does not depend on the mass of the substance or system.
Temperature (T), pressure (P) and density (r) are examples of intensive properties.
Ratio of 2 extensive properties is an intensive property like density which is the ratio of 2 extensive
properties i.e mass and volume
Reflux system
Reflux system involves the condensation of vapors and the return of this condensate to the system
from which it originated. It is used in industrial and laboratory distillations. It is also used
in chemistry to supply energy to reactions over a long period of time.
Reflux refers to the portion of the overhead liquid product from a distillation column or fractionator
that is returned to the upper part of the column. Inside the column, the downflowing reflux liquid
provides cooling and condensation of the upflowing vapors thereby increasing the efficiency of the
distillation column.
The more reflux provided for a given number of theoretical plates, the better is the column's
separation of lower boiling materials from higher boiling materials. Conversely, for a given desired
separation, the more reflux is provided, the fewer theoretical plates are required.
Tie line
Tie lines connect compositions of liquid and vapor phases in equilibrium. Any mixture with an overall
composition along a tie line gives the same liquid and vapor compositions. Only the amounts of
liquid and vapor change as the overall composition changes from the liquid side of the binodal curve
to the vapor side.
An isothermal (constant temperature) line on the phase diagram when it is in a two phase field i.e
between the bubble point and dew point curve, intersecting the two adjacent curves i.e. the bubble
point and the dew point curve .Tie line tells us about the vapour that is present in equilibrium with
the liquid at a particular temperature.
What is Azeotrope
An azeotrope or a constant boiling point mixture is a mixture of two or more liquids whose
proportions cannot be altered or changed by simple distillation. This happens because when an
azeotrope is boiled, the vapour has the same proportions of constituents as the unboiled mixture.
At the maximum and minimum pressures, the liquid and the vapor in equilibrium have the same
composition as can be observed on the VLE curve that signifies the presence of azeotrope in the
mixture.
Inferences
 We observe that the distillate obtained is always cooler than the residue.
 If we add Toluene in each run we observe an increase in the boiling point of the solution.
 The U-tube in the reflux ensures that only liquid and no vapour goes back to the column.
 The volume of the sample signifies the refractive index measured.
Precautions
Overheating of the sample can result in evaporation of Cyclohexane because of which we get the
results in early runs. Refractive index can change with the volume and hence it is necessary to use
constant volume throughout the experiment. The temperature obtained from the experiments may
be inaccurate because the thermometer 1 is directly exposed to the liquid whereas thermometer 2 is
placed on the glass tube.
Refractive index
Refractive Index is defined as the ratio of velocity of light in a vacuum to its velocity in a specified
medium which helps us to find the mole fraction of the component.
Vapor–liquid equilibrium (VLE) describes the distribution of a chemical species between the vapor
phase and a liquid phase.
Raoult’s law : Raoult’s law states that the partial pressure of each component of an ideal mixture of
liquids is equal to the vapor pressure of the pure component multiplied by its mole fraction in the
mixture.

Gibbs Phase Rule

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Gibbs Phase Rule

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Gibbs Phase Rule

limitations of distillation column

Dew point, bubble point

Explain graph in detail

The boiling point of a substance is the temperature at which the vapor pressure of a liquid equals

Volume, energy, and mass are examples of extensive properties.

You might also like