Experimental and Theoretical Studies of a Dividing-Wall Column Used for the Recovery of High-Purity Products

Abstract

Although dividing-wall columns are now well established in industrial practice, their complex hydraulics is not well understood, and open literature does not provide any quantitative information in this respect. This study aims to provide the missing knowledge. Hence, a pilot plant was built to separate a ternary mixture of fatty alcohols into high-purity products of ∼99 wt %. A model was established to simulate this separation process. It could successfully describe the experiments quantitatively and even account for the self-adjustment of the vapor splits. A case study with the validated model highlighted the strong influence of the heat transfer across the vertical partition wall on hydrodynamics and vapor distribution. These aspects are of special interest for the design and scale-up of dividing-wall columns.

Dividing wall column: Improving thermal efficiency, energy savings and economic performance

“…The performance of this proposed heat integrated configuration over the conventional distillation sequence is evaluated for the separation of a wide boiling three component hydrocarbon mixture. A comparative analysis 15 of DWC and its conventional analogous is demonstrated in the aspects of three performance indicators, namely thermal efficiency, energy savings and total annual cost.…”

“…The exergy loss of heat transfer across the dividing wall has also been performed using the method of minimum driving force profile [13]. Further, Niggemann et al [15] have performed both the experimental and theoretical studies on DWC to produce 3 high purity fatty alcohol. Their process model predicts the dependency of hydrodynamics and wide distribution of vapor split on the heat transfer across the vertical wall.…”

Applying Model Predictive Control to Dividing Wall Columns

“…This model was developed at the Institute of Process and Plant Engineering. For a detailed description, refer to [21,22].…”

“…It is important to mention that the constructed model was validated [21,23]. In this regard, the pilot plant and an additional industrial DWC were used as reference.…”

“…In summary, a detailed investigation of steady state and dynamic dependencies is feasible. Additional information concerning the experimental setup is described in [21,22].…”