Efficient structure synthesis of reactive distillation processes using the IDEAS approach

A new synthesis method for reactive distillation processes is proposed. At each stage of a column, vapor–liquid equilibrium (VLE) is assumed and kinetically controlled reaction in liquid phase is considered. First, the liquid composition space is divided into small subspaces. Then, for each subspace a representative liquid composition is decided and assigned to a module corresponding to a stage of a distillation column. Then, after the calculation of the VLE and the reaction rate, the distribution network (superstructure) connecting all modules by vapor and liquid flow paths is constructed. The feature of the proposed model is that all constraints are linear to the optimization variables: the liquid and vapor flow rate and the liquid hold-up. The developed method was applied to the metathesis reaction of 2-pentene, and a completely new process structure was obtained. The effectiveness of the implied structure was confirmed through a comparison with conventional structures.