s a chemical engineer, you are asked to design a column for separating ethanol from water. It is given that it costs $10,000 to add a stage to the column, and that the purity of the separated water will increase by the following equation: n/(n+2) where n is the number of stages. The price of water (P) with respect to purity (Q) changes as follows: P = 46.74*ln(Q) + 7.06 where P and Q are measured in $/L and mole fraction, respectively. If your column produces 100,000 L before breakage, how many stages do you recommend for the column?

Introduction to Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics
8th Edition
ISBN:9781259696527
Author:J.M. Smith Termodinamica en ingenieria quimica, Hendrick C Van Ness, Michael Abbott, Mark Swihart
Publisher:J.M. Smith Termodinamica en ingenieria quimica, Hendrick C Van Ness, Michael Abbott, Mark Swihart
Chapter1: Introduction
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As a chemical engineer, you are asked to design a column for separating ethanol from water. It is given that it costs $10,000 to add a stage to the column, and that the purity of the separated water will increase by the following equation: n/(n+2) where n is the number of stages. The price of water (P) with respect to purity (Q) changes as follows: P = 46.74*ln(Q) + 7.06 where P and Q are measured in $/L and mole fraction, respectively. If your column produces 100,000 L before breakage, how many stages do you recommend for the column?

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