Naturally Occurring compounds of industrial importance

 separation of Benzene from Air using Compression

• Benzene is an organic chemical compound with the molecular formula C6H6. 

• The benzene molecule is composed of six carbon atoms joined in a planar ring with one hydrogen atom attached to each. Because it contains only carbon and hydrogen atoms, benzene is classed as a hydrocarbon.

• Benzene is a natural constituent of crude oil and is one of the elementary petrochemicals.

• Benzene is a colorless and highly flammable liquid with a sweet smell, and is partially responsible for the aroma around petrol (gasoline) stations.

 It is used primarily as a precursor to the manufacture of chemicals with more complex structure, such as ethylbenzene and cumene, of which billions of kilograms are produced annually. Although a major industrial chemical, benzene finds limited use in consumer items because of its toxicity.

Popular Uses of Benzene

• As a solvent

• As an Intermediate / Production of rubber

• As fuel

• Printing Industry

Health Hazards

• The chemical also comes with health risks associated with exposure to benzene.

• It has both several effects like headache, instability, convulsions, unconsciousness and irritations. 

• Depending on the exposure it can have both acute and chronic effects. And this can happen when Benzene is taken in through mouth or inhaled through air or absorbed by the skin. 

• People are usually exposed to benzene when they fill their car with gasoline or while using household items that contain benzene or contaminated water.

Methods Of Separating Mixtures

Some of the common methods of separating substances or 

mixtures are:

• Handpicking

• Threshing

• Winnowing

• Chromatography

• Evaporation

• Distillation

• Filtration or Sedimentation

• Separating Funnel

• Magnetic Separation

FLOWSHEET

MAIN PROCESS FUNCTIONS

It consists of two basic processes: Warm end and Cold end ,wherein the following take place in order: 

1.  Air compressor with filter: Dust free air is compressed to a pressure sufficient to get it through the equipment. 

2.  Cooling: Cooling of the dust free air using cooling water and chilled water in an Air Cooler.

3.  Air purifying: Normally molecular sieves and/or alumina are used to remove water vapour , carbon dioxide and certain other contaminants. 

4.  Repressurisation of the air to a much higher pressure. 

5.  Air separation: The liquid air is separated into oxygen, argon and nitrogen in the      distillation columns. The cold gases are fed through the heat exchanger and are warmed- up while the liquids are fed into tank.

Blog By :

S.Y.Chem Div. - B

Batch 3_Group 4

Guided by: - Prof. Dr. Makarand Upkare

Vishwakarma Institute of Technology, Pune

1. Preyas Videkar         

2. Viraj Khandagale                 

3. Yash Wagh                          

4. Prerana Waghmare             

5. Y D Satyamedha