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Chemical Engineering vocabulary · Mass Transfer and Separation Processes

Reflux ratio

Meaning in chemical engineering, with examples

nounCommon term

In chemical engineering, reflux ratio means: In distillation, the amount of condensed liquid sent back to the top of the column divided by the amount taken off as product (L/D).

In Turkish: geri akış oranı, reflü oranı

How it is used

One of the main handles on a distillation column. Raising the reflux ratio improves purity but costs more energy in the reboiler and condenser. Designers often choose about 1.2 to 1.5 times the minimum reflux ratio.

Example sentences

  1. We raised the reflux ratio from 2.5 to 3 to get the top product back on spec.

  2. Running at a high reflux ratio is wasting steam, since the product is already well over spec.

Common collocations

  • minimum reflux ratio
  • increase the reflux ratio
  • total reflux
  • reflux drum
  • reflux pump
  • distillationA way of separating a liquid mixture by boiling it and condensing the vapor, using the fact that the components boil at different temperatures.
  • condenserA heat exchanger that cools a vapor until it turns back into liquid, for example at the top of a distillation column or at the exhaust of a steam turbine.
  • reboilerA heat exchanger at the bottom of a distillation column that boils part of the bottom liquid to produce the vapor that rises up the column.
  • trayA horizontal plate inside a distillation or absorption column where rising vapor bubbles through the liquid flowing across it, so the two phases exchange components.

More terms: Mass Transfer and Separation Processes

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