1. What is Relative Volatility?

Definition: Relative Volatility is a measure comparing the vapor pressures of the components in a liquid mixture of chemicals.

Purpose: This quantity is widely used in designing large industrial distillation processes to separate mixture components.

2. How Does the Calculator Work?

The calculator uses the formula:

Where:

• \( \alpha \) — Relative volatility (dimensionless)
• \( y_{Gas} \) — Mole fraction of component in vapor phase
• \( x_{Liquid} \) — Mole fraction of component in liquid phase

Explanation: The formula compares the ratio of component concentrations in vapor and liquid phases to determine their relative ease of separation.

3. Importance of Relative Volatility

Details: Higher relative volatility values indicate easier separation of components by distillation. Values close to 1 mean difficult separation.

4. Using the Calculator

Tips: Enter mole fractions between 0 and 1. Both vapor and liquid phase mole fractions are required. The liquid phase mole fraction cannot be exactly 1.

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What does a relative volatility of 1 mean?
A: A value of 1 means the components cannot be separated by distillation as they have equal volatility.

Q2: What's considered a "good" relative volatility for distillation?
A: Values significantly greater than 1 (typically >1.2) indicate practical separation by distillation.

Q3: How does temperature affect relative volatility?
A: Relative volatility generally decreases with increasing temperature as component volatilities become more similar.

Q4: Can relative volatility be less than 1?
A: Yes, values <1 mean the reference component is less volatile than the other component.

Q5: Why can't xLiquid be exactly 1?
A: At xLiquid=1, the denominator becomes undefined (division by zero) as there's no mixture to compare.