Distillation design variables

If distillation is the choice of separator, then some preliminary selection of the major design variables must be made to allow the design to proceed. The first decision is operating pressure. As pressure is raised,... 

Computer solutions entail setting up component equiUbrium and component mass and enthalpy balances around each theoretical stage and specifying the required design variables as well as solving the large number of simultaneous equations required. The expHcit solution to these equations remains too complex for present methods. Studies to solve the mathematical problem by algorithm or iterational methods have been successflil and, with a few exceptions, the most complex distillation problems can be solved. 

Optimization. Optimi2ation of the design variables is an important yet often neglected step in the design of extractive distillation sequences. The cost of the solvent recovery (qv) step affects the optimi2ation and thus must also be included. Optimi2ation not only yields the most efficient extractive distillation design, it is also a prerequisite for vaUd comparisons with other separation sequences and methods. 

Extensive design and optimization studies have been carried out for this sequence (108). The principal optimization variables, ie, the design variables that have the largest impact on the economics of the process, are the redux ratio in the azeo-column the position of the tie-line for the mixture in the decanter, determined by the temperature and overall composition of the mixture in the decanter the position of the decanter composition on the decanter tie-line (see Reference 104 for a discussion of the importance of these variables) and the distillate composition from the entrainer recovery column. 

In Table 13-6, the number of design variables is summarized for several distillation-type separation operations, most of which are shown in Fig. 13-7. For columns not shown in Figs. 13-1 or 13-7 that... 

Example 3 Calculation of TG Method The TG method will he demonstrated hy using the same example problem that was used above for the approximate methods. The example column was analyzed previously and found to have C -I- 2N + 9 design variables. The specifications to be used in this example were also hstedat that time and included the total number of stages (N = 10), the feed-plate location (M = 5), the reflux temperature (corresponding to saturated liquid), the distillate rate (D = 48.9), and the top vapor rate (V = 175). As before, the pressure is uniform at 827 kPa (120 psia), but a pressure gradient could be easily handled if desired. 

Though the total degrees of freedom is seen to be (C + 4) some of the variables will normally be fixed by general process considerations, and will not be free for the designer to select as design variables . The flash distillation unit will normally be one unit in a process system and the feed composition and feed conditions will be fixed by the upstream processes the feed will arise as an outlet stream from some other unit. Defining the feed fixes (C + 2) variables, so the designer is left with ... 

For a flash distillation the total degrees of freedom was shown to be (C + 4), so for two components Nd = 6. If the feed stream flow, composition, temperature and pressure are fixed by upstream conditions, then the number of design variables will be ... 

If the composition (or flow-rate) of one stream is fixed by internal or external constraints, this may fix the composition and flows of other process streams. In Chapter 1, the relationship between the process variables, the design variables and design equations was discussed. If sufficient design variables are fixed by external constraints, or by the designer, then the other stream flows round a unit will be uniquely determined. For example, if the composition of one product stream from a distillation column is fixed by a product specification, or if an azeotrope is formed, then the other stream composition can be calculated directly from the feed compositions see Section 2.10. The feed composition would be fixed by the outlet composition of the preceding unit. 

It is worth noting that the above formulation of the binary distillation design features the binary variables qi separably and linearly in the set of constraints. The objective function, however, has products of the diameter D, and the number of trays Ni which are treated as integer variables. 

Tphis work explores the important variables which must be considered - to design an extractive distillation process. The discussion identifies the economic effects of these variables and their possible interactions. Some of the design variables may have synergistic effects in terms of separation cost while others may not. As a result, the optimum design for an economic extractive distillation process must be a compromise set of values for the different process variables. These compromises are discussed and are illustrated for a particular case—i.e., separation of propane-propylene mixtures. For this commercially important separation fractional distillation is most often used, regardless of the low relative volatility (about 1.13-1.19 at 200 psia). 

Design variables. The principal design variables in a water distillation plant are... 

Table 6.3 Specified Design Variables Ternary Distillation...

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