Thermal coupling links to liquid‐only transfer streams: An enumeration method for new FTC dividing wall columns

Novel dividing wall columns (DWCs) can be obtained by converting thermal couplings to liquid‐only transfer streams. Here, we develop a simple four‐step method to generate a complete set of DWCs containing n ? 2 dividing walls, for a given n‐component fully thermally coupled (FTC) distillation. Among the novel DWCs, some easy‐to‐operate DWCs possess the property that the vapor flow in every section of the DWC can be controlled during operation by means that are external to the column. We develop a simple method to enumerate all such easy‐to‐operate DWCs. We expect that the easy‐to‐operate DWCs can be operated close‐to‐optimality; leading to a successful industrial implementation of the n‐component (n ≥ 3) FTC distillation in the form of a DWC. As an illustration, we show figures of all easy‐to‐operate DWCs with two dividing walls for the four‐component FTC distillation. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 62: 1200–1211, 2016     

A systematic method to synthesize all dividing wall columns for n‐component separation—Part I

We present an easy‐to‐use step‐wise procedure to synthesize an initial‐dividing wall column (i‐DWC) from any given n‐component basic distillation column sequence or its thermally coupled derivative. The procedure to be used is dependent on the nature of the distillation column sequence that is to be converted into a DWC, and comprises of an intuitive set of steps that we demonstrate through examples. It is noteworthy that, even for a ternary distillation, 15 potentially useful DWCs, some of which had been missing from the literature, have now been identified. This work significantly expands the search space of useful DWCs to separate any given multicomponent mixture. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 64: 649–659, 2018     

A systematic method to synthesize all dividing wall columns for n‐component separation: Part II

We present a simple rule that, for the first time, enables exhaustive enumeration of dividing wall columns (DWCs) corresponding to any given thermally coupled distillation column‐configuration. With the successive application of our rule, every partition in a DWC can be extended all the way to the top and/or to the bottom of a column without losing thermodynamic equivalence to the original thermally coupled configuration. This leads to easy‐to‐operate DWCs with possible control/regulation of each and every vapor split by external means. As a result, we conclude that any given DWC can be transformed into a thermodynamically equivalent form that is easy‐to‐operate, and hence, there always exists at least one easy‐to‐operate DWC for any given thermally coupled distillation. Our method of enumerating and identifying easy‐to‐operate DWCs for an attractive thermally coupled configuration will contribute toward process intensification by providing ways to implement efficient and low‐cost multicomponent distillations. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 64: 660–672, 2018     

立板式隔板塔分离直馏汽油工艺

对利用一种新型立板式隔板精馏塔切割直馏汽油工艺进行了研究。首先,利用模拟软件HYSYS对该分离过程进行模拟,得到较优的工艺条件。在此基础上,利用立板式隔板塔实验装置,考察了塔顶总回流量、液体分配比等操作参数对产品的影响及装置的操作稳定性。结果表明,塔顶总回流量的增大有助于产品的分离,且液体分配比的选择范围更广。液体分配比的改变对中间侧线产品质量的影响较大,是操作的关键变量。     

Nonlinear model predictive control for dividing wall columns

Dividing wall columns (DWCs) are practical, effective, and promising among distillation process intensification technologies. Nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) schemes are developed in this study to control the three-product DWCs. As these systems are intensely interactive and highly nonlinear, NMPC may be more suitable than the traditional PI control. The model is established based on Python and Pyomo platforms. As the original mathematical model of the column section is ill-posed, index reduction is used to avoid a high-index differential-algebraic equation (DAE) system. The well-posed index-1 system after index reduction is employed for the steady-state simulation and dynamic control in this study. Case studies with three DWC configurations to separate the mixture of ethanol (A), n-propanol (B), and n-butanol (C) show that the NMPC performs very well with small maximum deviations and short settling times. This demonstrates that the NMPC is a feasible and very effective scheme to control three-product DWCs.     

热耦蒸馏及其选用原则

热耦蒸馏与常规蒸馏序列相比可减少能耗和设备投资,但其应用有一定的适用范围。文章通过严格模拟计算研究了热耦蒸馏适用范围,结果表明:该蒸馏技术主要适用于分离指数接近1的混合物,或分离指数小于1但中间组分含量较高的混合物。     

隔离壁精馏塔水平传热设计与研究

通过将隔离壁精馏塔(DWC)的隔板两侧进行水平传热,可以进一步降低DWC的能量消耗。本文以假想的三组分混合物A,B,C为例,在三塔简捷计算初值的基础上,利用Mathematica对DWC进行最终的优化设计,并进行了主塔和副塔间水平传热的研究。结果表明,与未耦合的DWC对比,耦合DWC最大能够节能0.9%,且耦合塔板数与耦合面积能够影响DWC的节能效果。     

Design and optimization of a dividing wall column for debottlenecking of the acetic acid purification process

The dividing wall column (DWC) has gained increasing application in a variety of chemical processes because of its potentiality in energy and capital cost savings in multicomponent separations. The main objective in this work is investigation of its use for removing the bottleneck phenomenon within the column when increasing the throughput of an existing distillation process, particularly, the acetic acid (AA) purification process. Optimal column sequence design, involving both conventional and DWC, is considered. The internal recycle flow distribution around the dividing wall was investigated as a primary optimizing variable. Several column arrangements were analyzed to show that the DWC requires less investment and energy costs than conventional distillation, the Petlyuk column, or the prefractionator arrangement.     

反应精馏隔壁塔内合成乙酸甲酯的模拟

提出了一种应用反应精馏隔壁塔合成乙酸甲酯的新工艺流程,采用反应精馏隔壁塔替代常规反应精馏流程中的反应精馏塔及甲醇回收塔。利用Aspen Plus模拟软件,对反应精馏隔壁塔及常规流程进行了模拟,比较分析了两种流程塔内液相组成分布,并分析了塔顶回流比与气相分配比对反应精馏隔壁塔的影响。结果显示新流程可以节能11.9%,并能降低设备投资费用和操作费用。     

基于隔壁精馏塔的甲醇制烯烃分离新工艺及Aspen实现

对甲醇制烯烃粗产物的分离,设计一套基于隔壁精馏塔的分离新工艺。利用1个隔壁精馏塔,首先实现C-1、C2和C+3的清晰分割,然后经乙烯精馏塔、C3和C+4分离塔,丙烯精馏塔、C4和C+5分离塔,得到聚合级的乙烯和丙烯产品。利用Aspen plus软件对各精馏塔进行模拟和优化,得到各塔的塔参数和操作条件,进而对分离工艺进行全流程模拟。结果显示,乙烯和丙烯产品的质量分数分别达到99.99%和99.80%,满足聚合级的要求,说明本研究建立的基于隔壁精馏塔的甲醇制烯烃分离新工艺在技术上是可行的。     

Bubble columns for condensation at high concentrations of noncondensable gas: Heat‐transfer model and experiments

Carrier gas based thermodynamic cycles are common in water desalination applications. These cycles often require condensation of water vapor out of the carrier gas stream. As the carrier gas is most likely a noncondensable gas present in very high concentrations (60–95%), a large additional resistance to heat transfer is present. It is proposed to reduce the aforementioned thermal resistance by condensing the vapor–gas mixture in a column of cold liquid rather than on a cold surface using a bubble column heat exchanger. A theoretical predictive model for estimating the heat‐transfer rates and new experimental data to validate this model are described. The model is purely physics based without the need for any adjustable parameters, and it is shown to predict heat rates within 0 to ?20% of the experimental values. The experiments demonstrate that heat‐transfer rates in the proposed device are up to an order magnitude higher than those achieved in existing state‐of‐the‐art dehumidifiers. © 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 59: 1780–1790, 2013     

High Nd3+→Yb3+ energy transfer efficiency in tungsten‐tellurite glass: A promising converter for solar cells

This work reports on the energy transfer efficiency for Nd³⁺/Yb³⁺ co‐doped tellurite glasses (80TO₂‐20WO₃, in mol%,). The correlation between Yb³⁺ ion concentration and the downconversion mechanism was investigated using optical and thermal lens spectroscopies, which enabled investigation of the radiative and nonradiative processes, respectively, involved in energy transfer from neodymium to ytterbium. The Nd³⁺ near‐infrared fluorescence disappeared almost entirely when the maximum concentration of Yb³⁺ ions (4 mol%) was doped into the host. In contrast, there was a corresponding increase in the ytterbium emission at around 980 nm. When ytterbium was added, there was also a simultaneous reduction in the amount of heat generated by the sample due to a reduction in the nonradiative decay rate, corroborating the suspected high energy transfer efficiency of Nd³⁺→Yb³⁺. The results indicate that tungsten‐tellurite glasses may be of potential use in solar cells for matching the solar emission spectrum to the semiconductor cell.