overall plate efficiency

overall plate efficiency

[¦ō·vər¦ȯl ′plāt i‚fish·ən·sē]

(chemical engineering)

For a specified liquid-mixture separation in a fractionation (or distillation) tower, the ratio of actual to theoretical plates (or trays) required.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.