Feed Locations Versus Reactants Distribution

We emphasize that the reactive section of a reactive distillation column can be viewed as a cascade-type two-phase reactor with the reactor temperature determined by the bubblepoint temperature of the tray liquid-phase composition. It is clear that the composition and temperature profiles will certainly affect the performance of the reactive zone, and the feed tray locations appear to be one of the most effective variables for these profiles redistribution. In this section, we are interested in how the composition profile will be affected by changing the feed tray location. Each individual feed tray location is changed while holding the other constant. 

TABLE 18.2 Effects of Eeed Locations on Design for Systems with Different Relative Volatilities and Rate Constants  

These results clearly indicate that feed tray locations are important design/operation parameters. Improved process design can be achieved by simply adjusting the feed locations. One question then arises how much energy can be saved if we adjust the feed locations simultaneously  

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