Residue Curve Maps in a Triangular Ternary Diagram

relative volatility

A and C,

α

13

1.5

B and C,

α

23

2.5

Consider a ternary ideal mixture of components

A

,

B

, and

C

. The relative volatilities of the components

A

and

B

with respect to component

C

are labeled

α

13

and

α

23

.

This Demonstration depicts the residue curve map in an equilateral-triangular ternary diagram for user-set values of the relative volatilities. The saddle point is the intermediate boiling point (component

A

in the first snapshot). The stable node is component

C

(see the first snapshot), because it is the heaviest component. The unstable node is the lightest component (component

B

in the first snapshot).