Chapter 4

Distillate/Feed Material
Balance Split
The split of the feed stream into a distillate stream and a bottoms stream can be referred to as the material balance split.
Generally, the ratio of distillate/feed is about equal to the
weight fraction of light components in the feed.
Learning Objectives
When you have completed this chapter, you should be able to
1. Understand the importance of controlling the material
balance split in distillation
2. Conceptualize the control of the material balance split
with a temperature controller
3. Look for the MRT (most responsive temperature) point in
the column with five different methods
4. Calculate the distillate/feed ratio from feed, distillate, and
bottoms concentrations
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