Study Questions for
“Separation Process Principles” by
J. D. Seader and Ernest J. Henley
Chapter 5
1. What is a separation cascade?
Section 5.1:
2. What is the difference between a countercurrent and a crosscurrent cascade?
3. What is the limitation of a single-section cascade? Does a two-section cascade overcome this limitation?
4. What is an interlinked system of stages?
Section 5.2:
5. What is a tridiagonal matrix?
6. What method is used to solve a tridiagonal matrix equation?
7. What is the washing factor?
8. What is the difference between a leaching and a washing stage?
Section 5.3:
9. Does a cocurrent cascade have any merit for liquid-liquid extraction? If not, why not?
10. Which is more efficient, a crosscurrent cascade or a countercurrent cascade?
11. Can a crosscurrent cascade accomplish complete extraction with an infinite number of stages?
12. Under what conditions can a countercurrent cascade achieve complete extraction?
Section 5.4:
13. Why is a two-section cascade used for distillation?
15. What is the Kremser method? To what type of separation operations is it applicable? What are the major assumptions of the method?
16. What is an absorption factor? What is a stripping factor?
17. Why is a stripper frequently coupled with an absorber?
18. In distillation, what is meant by reflux, boilup, rectification section, and stripping section?
Section 5.5:
19. When solving a separation problem, are the number and kind of specifications obvious? If not, how can the required number of specifications be determined?
