[valentino]

for a two phase separator the methodology of doing the mass balance would be

1.   For a specified key component overhead recovery, and P and T
2.   Calculate,K and relative volatility at T
3.   Evaluate   for each component k using
              Sk=    (relative volatility of k) x (key component overhead recovery)
                            1+ (relative volatility of k-1)(key component overhead recovery)

4.   Reconstruct a mass balance and calculate mole fractions:
vapor flowrate=  Sk x fk                          fk - component feed flowrate
liquid flowrate =(1-Sk) fk

i guess we cannot use this formula to get the 3 phase separator mass balance, how is the mass balance for the three phase separator done then?

[eugenedakin]

Hello valentino,

There are some good reference books on this topic. Unfortunately, I do not know of only one method to do this (each method depends on the design criteria).

If you have access to a library, you may want to look up the details in the following copyrighted book:

GPSA Engineering Data Book Vol.1 Section 7

I hope this helps,

Eugene