ABSTRACT
These days the center is on energy-saving advances. Several techniques have been proposed
inorder to improve the efficiency of distillation process; dividing-wall column is one of
thesetechniques. Conventionally, distillation columns are connected in series to
separatemulti-component mixtures into more than two product streams with high purity
prerequisites.
However, in the dividing-wall column, middle section is divided into two sections by
inserting avertical wall in the vessel at an appropriate position. Feed is introduced into the
pre-fractionatorside of the wall. A side stream is removed from the main column. Therefore,
a single dividingwall column can separate a ternary mixture into three pure product streams.
The side stream ismostly the intermediate boiling component of the ternary mixture.In the
present study a mathematical model of the dividing wall column has been developed,which
incorporates the material balance, energy balance, and equilibrium relationships. This model
was simulated by taking four columns in an equivalent divided wall distillation column
sequence using aspen Plus. This particular design was used to study the separation of three
ternary mixtures, Benzene-Toluene-P-Xylene, Benzene-Toluene-O-Xylene and Methanol-
Water-Glycerol. The effects of several parameters suchas reflux ratio, number of trays, feed
composition, and splitting ratio have been discussed to findthe optimum operating
conditions.
Keywords: Aspen Plus, Aspen Simulation, Divided Wall Distillation Column,
Steady State Simulation.
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INTRODUCTION
Distillation is still the most important thermal separation technology,but in spite of its
widespread use and major benefits, a key drawback is its high energy demand generating
over 50% of plant operating costs. The last decades led to energy efficient distillation
solutions based on process integration and intensification techniques, such as: cyclic
distillation, heat-integrated distillation column, reactive distillation, and thermally coupled
columns.Dividing-wall column (DWC) – used for ternary separations – is a practical
implementation of the Petlyuk configuration, consisting of a pre-fractionator and a main
distillation column. A vertical wall is inserted in a DWC at a position such that it splits the
column shell into two sections. The feed stream is introduced into the pre-fractionator (feed
side of the column) while a side stream is removed from the main column (side stream
section). The lightest component goes overhead as distillate and the heaviest component goes
out as bottoms, while the side stream contains only the intermediate boiling component. At
the top of the wall the refluxed liquid is split between the two sides of the column, while at
the bottom the vapor flow is split according to the pressure drop on both sides of the wall.
The DWC technology is very appealing to industry as it confers major benefits over
conventional distillation: up to 30% reduced investment costs and up to 40% energy savings.
Remarkable, these DWC benefits are not limited to ternary separations alone, but they can be
present also in azeotropic and extractive distillation, as well as reactive distillation.Dividing
wall distillation technology concepts also have a long history. In fact concepts were
developed as early as 1933, with the current concept developed in 1946 by Richard Wright.
column separates the main column and the side column. In this fully thermally coupled
column realised as a DWC the multi-component feed enters the main column, where a cut
between low- and high-boiling components takes place. The middle-boiling components of
fraction B distribute to the top of the partition wall together with the low boiling components
of fraction A (AB) as well as to the bottom of the partition wall, but along with the high-
boiling components of fraction C (BC). Thus, as a major advantage of this configuration, the
components of fraction C do not enter the side column at the top and the components of
fraction A do not enter the side column at the bottom. The mixture of low and middle boiling
components (AB) is separated in the upper column section of the main column and the same
applies to the high boiling and middle boiling components (BC) which are separated in the
lower section of the main column. With regard to the middle boiling components (B) it is
obvious, that the composition of B at the top and the bottom of the side column match the
composition of B in the main column. There is a peak in the composition of B in the middle
of the side column where fraction B is withdrawn. It can be seen that neither low boiling
components of fraction A can pass to the bottom part of the side column, nor high boiling
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components of fraction C can pass to the upper part of the side column. Thus, contamination
of middle boiling fraction B can be avoided.
LITERATUREREVIEW
For the separation of the three component mixture into pure products, at least a sequence of
twosimple distillation columns is needed. Each of these columns has a rectifying and a
strippingsection. So the minimum number of column sections is four to receive pure products
(Stupin andLockhart, 1972). If one reboiler for each stripping section and one condenser for
each rectifyingsection are used, then this leads to the conventional distillation sequences:
direct and indirectsplit.
In the separation of the ternary mixtures, dividing wall column (DWC) possesses a
significantadvantage in energy saving by avoiding the remixing problem that occurs in a
conventionalsequential two-column system. This column also reduces space and investment
requirementsover conventional distillation configurations. It is a promising energy–saving
alternative forseparating multi-component mixtures (Serra et al., 1999). Due to the wall,
which divides thespace in the column, the feed and the side stream –product zones are
separated. This wallprevents contamination of the side stream by the feed stream. The
dividing wall column hasgreater efficiency than conventional column sequence (Hernadez et
al., 2006).The dividing wall column prevents the lateral mixing of liquid and vapour streams
in thedistillation column. Heat transfer across the dividing wall can be avoided by thermal
insulationof the dividing wall. Especially if very high purities are needed in packed columns,
insulation might be useful to suppress undesired wall flow of liquid. Mostly the dividing wall
is placed inthe middle, but off-centre positions of the dividing wall are also possible. This
might be useful insituations, when the concentration of the medium boiling component is
small compared to theoverhead and bottom products (Asprion and Kaibel, 2010).
Van Diggelen et al. (2010) proposed a model of DWC with the assumptions of constant
pressure;no vapor flow dynamics, liberalized liquid dynamics, and neglecting energy balance
andchanges in enthalpy. They used this model to compare various control strategies. Hiller
(2010)developed a nonequilibrium stage model by assuming heat and mass transfer between
the liquidand vapor phases for ideal components system. Woinaroschy and Isopescu (2010)
used adynamic model for minimizing the distillation start-up time for separation of an ideal
benzenetoluene- ethylbenzene ternary mixture and the separation of a non-ideal methanol-
ethanol-1-propanol mixture. In this paper, a mathematical model of a dividing wall column
has been developed. Several simulation runs of the model have been used to investigate the
effects of several parameters and dynamics of the system.
Further Aspen Plus makes it easy to build and run the process simulation model by providing
with a comprehensive system of the online process modelling. Process simulation allows one
topredict the behaviour of a process by using basic engineering relationships, such as mass
andenergy balances, and phase and chemical equilibrium .process simulation enables one to
runmany cases, conduct „what if‟ analysis and perform sensitivity analysis and optimisation
runs.
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With simulation one can design better plants and increase the profitability in the
existing plants.Process simulation is helpful throughout the entire life of a process,
from research anddevelopment through process design to production.
MathematicalModel
MATHEMATICAL MODEL
The first requirement for our mathematical optimization approach is a model for a
distillation column that allows the determination of both structural and operational
decisions for all types of column that appears in the various configurations of
Figure 1.These include a standardmultifeed two- product column, theprefractionator,
andthemain column inthe Petlyuk configuration, and the main column and the
sidestream rectifier and stripper in configurations c and d, respectively.
Structural decisions include the number of trays, the position of any feed streams
and sideproducts, and alsothe existence or otherwise of a condenser and a reboiler. On
the other hand, operational decisions include the reflux ratio in the condenser (if the
latter exists), the rate ofheat input tothe reboiler (alsoifthe latter exists), and the flow
rates of the various sidestreams. The latter may include both a side product stream
and streams connecting the column being modeled to others inthe overall column
sequence.
Model Constraints.Theequations and other constraints describing ourcolumn
superstructure are presented below.Thevarious symbols used are listed and defined inthe
Notation section at the endof the paper. However, it maybe useful to point outhere that
the column comprises a maximum of Tmax stages, with stage 1 being the reboiler and
stage Tmax the condenser. Thereflux is allowed to be returned to anyone of trays
TmintoTmax- 1; this defines the “topsection” of the column, the rest (trays 2 to Tmin -
1) being its “bottom section”.
COMPONENT MATERIAL BALANCES
Reboiler
Bottom Section
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Top Section
Condenser
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ENERGY BALANCES
Reboiler
Bottom Section
Top Section
Condenser
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VAPOR FRACTION DEFINITIONS
Top Product
Product streams taken from feed trays
Side Product Streams
NOTATION
Fi -molarflowoffeed i.
hi-specificenthalpyoffeed i.
xi,c- mole fractionofcomponentcin feed i.
Ptop- molar flow of the top product.
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Ptop
h -specificenthalpyofthetop product.
xc-mole fractionofcomponentcin thetop product.
bot
P -- molar flow of the bottom product.
Pbot
h -- specific enthalpy of the bottom product.
xc -- mole fraction of component c in the bottom product.
s
xc -mole fraction of component c in side product.
S
h -specific enthalpy of the side product.
st - fraction of S taken from tray t.
R - reflux molar flow rate.
Fi - molar flow rate of the outlet stream at the location of feed i.
Foutlet
x i,c- mole fraction of component c in the outlet stream at location of feed i.
Foutlet
hi - specific enthalpy of the outlet stream at the location of feed i.
bot
F - molar flow rate of feed toreboiler.
Fbot
xc - mole fraction of component c in the reboiler feed.
xt,c- liquid-phase mole fraction of component c on tray t .
yt,c- vapor phase mole fraction of component c on tray t .
liq
ht - specific liquid enthalpy on tray t.
Lt - liquid molar flow rate leaving tray t.
Vt - vapor molar flow rate leaving tray t.
Tt -temperature on tray t .
pt- pressure on tray t.
ft,i- fraction of feed i to tray t.
rt - fraction of reflux returned to tray t.
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TM
The software used is Aspen Tech’s ASPEN PLUS , it allows you to create your
own process model, starting with the flowsheet, then specifying the chemical
TM
components and operating conditions. ASPEN PLUS will take all of your specifications
and, with a click of the mouse button, simulate the model. The process simulation is the
action that executes all necessary calculations needed to solve the outcome of the
system, hence predicting its behavior. When the calculations are complete, ASPEN
TM
PLUS lists the results, stream by stream and unit by unit, so you can observe what
happened to the chemical species of your process model.
DISTILLATION COLUMN MODEL USED
The columns used for distillation were all RADFRAC MODELS. It’s a model in which we
can To set up an absorber with no condenser or reboiler, set condenser and reboiler to none
on the RadFrac Setup Configuration sheet Either Vaporization or Murphree efficiency on
either a stage or component basis can be specified on the RadFrac Efficiency form Tray and
packed column design and rating is possible. A second liquid phase may be modeled if the
user selects Vapor-Liquid-Liquid as Valid phase. Reboiler and condenser heat curves can be
generated.
FIG. 4: WORKING MODEL OF A DIVIDED WALL DISTILLATION COLUMN.
The thermodynamic models used for the simulation are namely two.
1. WILSON WITH IDEAL GAS AND HENRY’S LAWS.
2. UNIQAC(Universal Quasi Chemical) MODEL.
UNIQUAC (Universal Quasi Chemical) is an activity coefficient model used in description
of phase equilibria [Abrams Prausnitz 1975]. The model is a so-called lattice model and has
been derived from a first order approximation of interacting molecule surfaces in statistical
thermodynamics. The model is however not fully thermodynamically consistent due to its
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two liquid mixture approach. In this approach the local concentration around one
central molecule is assumed to be independent from the local composition around
another type of molecule.
This chapter deals with simulation of three ternary mixture systems
namely, 1.Benzene-P-Xylene-Toluene.
2.Benzene-O-Xylene-
Toluene. 3.Methanol-
Glycerol-Water.
This following section dwells into the details of three aforementioned models.
3.1 SIMULATION OF SEPARATION OF A TERNARY MIXTURE OF BENZENE
P- XYLENE AND TOLUENE
DETAILS OF SIMULATION.
Table 3.1: Modelling Details for the separation of ternary mixture of Benzene-Toluene-P-
xylene using dividing wall distillation column.
PARAMETERS AND CONDITIONS VALUE
FEED FLOW RATE 100 KMOL/HR
FEED COMPOSITION Benzene Mol 0.2
P-xylene Fraction 0.6
Toluene 0.2
Number of trays in Prefractionator (B1) 20
Number of trays in Top Section (B2) 15
Number of trays in Bottom Section (B3) 15
Number of trays in Side Draw (B4) 20
Feed tray Position 10
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Side Draw Position 6
Reboiler Duty 1743 kW
Split Ratio Liquid Split 0.4
Vapor Split 0.3
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EFFECT OF REFLUX RATIO ON PRODUCT PURITY AT DISTILLATE
In the dividing wall column, reflux ratio plays an important role. As the reflux ratio is
increased, the gradient of operating line for the rectification section moves towards a
maximum value of 1. Physically, what this means is that more and more liquid that is rich in
the more volatile components are being recycled back into the column.When more overhead
liquid product is refluxed in a distillation column the liquid rate in the column increases.
Separation then becomes better. While it is seen that increasing the value of reflux ratio
increases the purity of top product. It was seen that for a value of RR=12 , the top product
was of 99% purity. Whereas the effect of increasing reflux ratio on the purity of bottom
product is deteriorating. It was seen that the Product Purity at distillate falls to half from
changing the RR from 4 to 10. The effect of RR on Side Stream i.e, Toluene was
inconclusive as the purity hardly changed.
PURITY
P-
REFLUX BENZENE(Top XYLENE(Bottom TOLUENE(Side
RATIO Product) Product) Stream)
4 0.44359276 0.62690577 0.96442183
5 0.51765872 0.52461508 0.96355315
6 0.59056487 0.46822269 0.96269543
7 0.66212441 0.43260636 0.96198755
8 0.73220377 0.40812474 0.96141477
10 0.86751463 0.37683161 0.96056408
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EFFECT OF FEED STAGE ON PRODUCT PURITY AT DISTILLATE
PURITY
P-
FEED TRAY BENZENE(Top XYLENE(Bottom TOLUENE(Side
POSITION Product) Product) Stream)
6 0.63618928 0.4443057 0.96393367
7 0.63625118 0.44435412 0.96331239
8 0.63585425 0.44433675 0.962853
9 0.63556719 0.44435332 0.96250647
10 0.6353375 0.4443457 0.96223681
13 0.63479527 0.44435557 0.96158636
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Fig 3.1.4: Graphs between Product Purity at distillate v/s Feed Stage.
Selection of feed stage is an important factor for Product Purity at distillate. As the feed stage
is moved lower down the column, the top composition becomes less rich in the more volatile
component while the bottoms contains more of the more volatile com ponent.Generally
speaking, if the feed enters in higher tray the light components concentrations in overhead
will be increased and in bottom outlet will be decreased. As the feed stage is moved lower
m
down the column, the top composition becomes less rich in the more volatile component
while the bottoms contains more of the more volatile component. However, the changes in
top composition is not as marked as the bottoms composition.The position of the feed stage
has minimal effect on Product Purity at distillate yet as the feed stage in the pre fractionator
is lowered the side stream was seen to be unaffected. But purity of both top and bottom
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product were decreasing with increasing the feed stage. The maximum purity of both of these
th
components were found out to be at the 7 tray (out of a total of 20 trays).
EFFECT OF LIQUID SPLIT FRACTION ON PRODUCT PURITY AT DISTILLATE
p-
benzene(Top xylene(Bottom toluene(Side
liquid split ratio Product) Product) Stream)
0.3 0.64743656 0.44444349 0.97690299
0.4 0.63533906 0.44434257 0.96223662
0.5 0.62604943 0.44274973 0.94821757
0.6 0.62051595 0.4292383 0.91723062
0.7 0.61771515 0.41553716 0.88925453
The liquid split factor in the dividing wall column decides how much quantity of the liquid
will enter the prefractionator from the rectifying section. As we are supplying the feed in the
prefractionator column, the fraction of liquid to be distributed coming from the rectifying
section should be less in comparison with the main column to maintain the liquid hold up in
both sections. Increasing the liquid split ratio from 0.3 to 0.4 the purity of Benzene and
Toluene decreases from 64.7% to 63.5% and 97.6% to 96.2%. However P-xylene is rather
unaffected.
EFFECT OF VAPOR SPLIT ON PRODUCT PURITY AT DISTILLATE
p-
benzene(Top xylene(Bottom toluene(Side
vapor split ratio Product) Product) Stream)
0.3 0.63533906 0.44435591 0.96223662
0.4 0.65989888 0.44443195 0.99183656
0.5 0.6658075 0.44439564 0.99888582
0.6 0.66505035 0.44400298 0.99725751
0.7 0.65906469 0.44171705 0.98598882
0.8 0.62626815 0.43492385 0.93439086
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The vapour split factor in the dividing wall column decides how much quantity of the vapour will
enter in the prefractionator from stripping section. It is seen that when we increase the vapor split
from 0.3 to 0.5 the purity of both benzene and toluene gradually increase and attain a maxima,
respectively increasing from 96.2% to 99.8% and 63.5% to 66.5%. Then it gradually decreases all
along. However, only a change of around 50% in the vapor split ratio slightly transpires any change
in the purity f P-Xylene from 44.4% to 43.4%.
EFFECT OF REBOILER DUTY ON PRODUCT PURITY AT DISTILLATE
The amount of energy used is basically depicted by reboiler duty. This simulation has varied the
value of reboiler duty from 1650 kW to 2000 kW and the effect on P-xylene purity was not
remarkable. However the increase of Reboiler duty from 1650 kW to 2000 kW increased the purity
of both Benzene and toluene by approximately 1% each, still proving that Divided Wall Columns
are efficient in low energy situation too.
PURITY
P-
REBOILER BENZENE(Top XYLENE(Bottom TOLUENE(Side
DUTY(M.W) Product) Product) Stream)
1.65 0.63413327 0.666426 0.96055856
1.7 0.63550853 0.66646151 0.96226791
1.743 0.63663866 0.66652039 0.96366977
1.85 0.63927809 0.66656639 0.96691386
1.95 0.64152939 0.66661433 0.96966822
2 0.64259322 0.66658745 0.97095604
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