Reactive Column with Optimum Feed Tray Locations

5 Reactive Column with Optimum Feed Tray Locations 

DESIGN AND CONTROL OF COLUMN/SIDE REACTOR SYSTEMS 

For the case with aago = 0.95, the lower feedstream is moved from tray 15 up to tray 29 and the upper feedstream is moved from tray 82 down to tray 68. There is a reduction in the vapor boilup from 99.15 to 94.76 mol/s, which leads to a significant reduction in TAC from 852.2 to 823.5 10 /year. 

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In reactive distillation, chemical reactions are assumed to occur mainly in the liquid phase. Hence the liquid holdup on the trays, or the residence time, is an important design factor for these processes. Other column design considerations, such as number of trays or feed and product tray locations, can be of particular importance in reactive distillation columns. Moreover, because chemical reactions can be exothermic or endothermic, intercoolers or heaters may be required to maintain optimum stage temperatures. Column models of reactive distillation must include chemical reaction equilibrium or kinetic equations along with the material and energy balance equations and the phase equilibrium relations. These models and methods for solving them are discussed in Chapter 13. 

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