5.5.1. Four-Component Mixture

General regularities of the evolutions of sections trajectory bundles, discussed in the previous section for three-component mixtures, are valid also for the mixtures with bugger number of components. Figure 5.23 shows evolution of top section trajectory bundle at separation of four-component ideal mixture, when the product is pure component (i.e., at direct split) ( K ₁ > K ₂ > K ₃ > K ₄, x _{D 1} = 1). At the increase of the parameter L/ V, vertex 1 turns from stable node N ⁺ (Fig. 5.23a) into the saddle with two going in and one going out trajectories S (Fig. 5.23b), then it turns into the saddle with one going in and two going out trajectories S ¹ (Fig. 5.23c) and, finally, it turns into the unstable node N ^? (Fig. 5.23d). After that, three-dimensional section region that increase at the increase of the parameter L/ V appears. Stationary points S ², S ³, and N ⁺ ( S ¹ ? N ^?) move along the edges of concentration tetrahedron. The section trajectory bundle may be presented in the following brief form (the bundle s direction is indicated by the double arrow, its stationary points around it):

Figure 5.23: The evolution of trajectory region of the rectifying section for an ideal mixture with K