Title: Optimisation of thermally coupled distillation sequences with side columns

Authors: Nelly Ramírez-Corona; Arturo Jiménez-Gutiérrez

Addresses: Departamento de Ingeniería Química y Alimentos, Universidad de las Américas, Puebla, San Andrés Cholula, Puebla, 72820, Mexico. ' Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Instituto Tecnológico de Celaya, Celaya, Gto. 38010, Mexico

Abstract: An approach for the optimal design of thermally coupled distillation sequences (TCDS) with side columns is presented. Both systems with side strippers and side rectifiers are considered. The design task is formulated as a non-linear programming problem that uses shortcut methods for the thermally coupled systems. The application of the optimisation model provides the tray structure and operating conditions that minimise the total annual cost of the system, which includes capital investment and utilities costs. When the shortcut designs were validated through rigorous simulations, one major feature of the resulting TCDS structures was that they properly located the interconnecting tray for the thermal coupling, thus providing energy-efficient designs by minimising remixing effects. A comparison with reported results for the design of TCDS with side columns from the use of a mixed-integer non-linear programming model is also presented.

Keywords: thermally coupled distillation; side rectifiers; side strippers; optimisation; energy efficiency; separation processes; optimal design; distillation sequences; side columns; nonlinear programming; simulation; interconnecting trays; remixing effects.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPSE.2012.045902

International Journal of Process Systems Engineering, 2012 Vol.2 No.1, pp.70 - 92

Published online: 16 Aug 2014 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article