A theoreticol and experimental study of the centrifugal molecular still

A mathematical model of the centrifugal molecular still has been derived based on a fully developed profile, but negligible normal and tangential velocity components. Thermal gradients, film thicknesses, and evaporation rates calculated from this mathematical expression correlate well with reported literative values as well as with the present data. Mean distillation rates were measured for five pure liquids on a centrifugal still with an effective evaporating surface area of 100 sq. cm. These experimentally obtained rates for liquids exhibiting ideal behavior agreed quite well with theoretical values predicted on the basis of simple kinetic theory. In the case of an associated liquid, however, rate measurements were found to be only 53 to 90% of the theoretical value. Although these low values tend to support the concept of an evaporation coefficient as a true molecular property, there wasevidence that surface irregularities could have accounted for all or at least part of the discrepancy noted.