McCabe Thiele diagrams were developed as a graphical tool for designing binary distillation columns. In this article, the method to construct McCabe Thiele diagrams for multicomponent systems is presented, illustrating specifically at total reflux for ideal and nonideal systems. Firstly, a variety of examples were used to depict the novel representation of the vapour-liquid equilibrium (VLE) in two-dimensional space (2D) as contours of VLE for the generation of the x–y diagram. Once the contours of VLE are represented in 2D various design scenarios can be investigated using the generated plot. Hence the proposed graphical method retains the authenticity, simplicity and versatility of the binary McCabe Thiele method. Through examples, it is shown that the depiction of the contours of VLE is a powerful visual tool to identify the type of separation (difficult or simple separation), azeotropes and tangent pinch points. Thereafter, the procedure for calculating the number of stages is presented at total reflux for ideal and nonideal ternary systems to determine the minimum number of stages required. Several simulations for an acetone, benzene and chloroform system were generated using Aspen Plus™ to validate the proposed graphical method. Lastly, it was shown that the proposed graphical method correlated more closely to rigorous simulation than traditional methods.

McCabe Thiele图是作为设计二元蒸馏塔的图形工具而开发的。在本文中，介绍了构建多组分系统的McCabe Thiele图的方法，特别说明了理想和非理想系统在总回流下的情况。首先，使用各种示例将二维空间（2D）中的气液平衡（VLE）的新颖表示形式描绘为VLE的轮廓，以生成x–y图。一旦以2D形式表示了VLE的轮廓，就可以使用生成的图来研究各种设计方案。因此，所提出的图形方法保留了二进制McCabe Thiele方法的真实性，简单性和多功能性。通过示例，结果表明，VLE轮廓的描绘是识别分离类型（困难或简单分离），共沸物和切点的强大工具。此后，在理想和非理想三元系统的总回流下给出了计算级数的程序，以确定所需的最小级数。使用Aspen Plus™对丙酮，苯和氯仿系统进行了一些模拟，以验证所提出的图形方法。最后，结果表明，与传统方法相比，所提出的图形方法与严格仿真的关联更为紧密。对于理想和非理想三元系统，在总回流时给出了计算级数的程序，以确定所需的最小级数。使用Aspen Plus™对丙酮，苯和氯仿系统进行了一些模拟，以验证所提出的图形方法。最后，结果表明，与传统方法相比，所提出的图形方法与严格仿真的关联更为紧密。对于理想和非理想三元系统，在总回流时给出了计算级数的程序，以确定所需的最小级数。使用Aspen Plus™对丙酮，苯和氯仿系统进行了一些模拟，以验证所提出的图形方法。最后，结果表明，与传统方法相比，所提出的图形方法与严格仿真的关联更为紧密。