Date of Defense

Spring 4-19-2011

First Advisor

Andrew A. Kline, Paper Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Imaging

Second Advisor

Harold Hladky, Paper Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Imaging

Keywords

CH4

Abstract

Michigan BioDiesel, LLC of Bangor, Michigan has called for an analysis of their methanol distillation process. The goal of this project was to determine the current operating parameters of the column and suggest improvements to the operation of the column in order to maximize the amount of methanol recovered as product and minimize the amount of waste. It was also found that Michigan BioDiesel should not accept a methanol/ isopropyl alcohol feed stream due to the formation of an azeotrope that cannot be broken using extractive distillation. Additionally the group created and presented an overview of distillation to the staff of Michigan BioDiesel to give them a better understanding of the theory behind distillation.

Comments

The bulk of the manuscript associated with this thesis contains proprietary information from the company sponsor, and is not available for dissemination to the general public.

If you wish to know more about this thesis, please contact the thesis advisor, Dr. Kline, at the address below. Depending on your needs and interests, parts of this thesis may be available to be released to you for review.

Dr. Andrew Kline Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering

Office: A220 Parkview Campus

Office phone: (269)276-3516

E-mail: andrew.kline@wmich.edu

Access Setting

Honors Thesis-Campus Only

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