Resumen en español

Useful numerical tools to calculate the minimum reflux for infinite towers with heterogeneous azeotropic ternary mixtures are presented. For this, two geometrical elements are involved: the pinch point branches (PPB) and the structure defined by the binodal and the vapor line. The proposed conceptual design methodology integrates those two elements with the distillation borders at total reflux. The solution of the minimum reflux problem (MPR) for two mixtures of industrial interest (the dehydrations of acetic acid using n-amilacetate and ethanol using benzene) demonstrates the usefulness of the proposed methodology. For the analyzed mixtures under sharp separations the structure of the distillation lines at minimum reflux satisfies the regularities observed in homogeneous systems.