Optimal Design and Economic Evaluation of Dividing‐Wall Columns |
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| Authors: | Hai Long Jennifer Clark Hassiba Benyounes Weifeng Shen Lichun Dong Shun'an Wei |
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| Affiliation: | 1. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China.;2. Chongqing Academy of Metrology and Quality Inspection, Chongqing, China.;3. Key Laboratory of Low‐grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems of the Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China.;4. North Carolina State University, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Raleigh, NC, USA.;5. U.S.T. Oran, Laboratoire de Chimie Physique des Matériaux, Catalyse et Environnement, Oran, Algérie. |
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| Abstract: | In an effort to reduce costs, a systematic optimization approach is proposed to address the energy consumption of dividing‐wall columns (DWCs). This iterative optimization procedure begins by minimizing the overall heat duty using an innovative objective function within a constrained design space. A sensitivity analysis is then carried out on the manipulated variables to obtain their optimal ranges. Optimal operating parameters are obtained through the evaluation of the total annualized cost (TAC). For the separation process of benzene/toluene/o‐xylene, the optimal DWC flow sheet exhibits a significant decrease in TAC when compared to conventional flow sheet optimum designs. The applied optimization method and sensitivity analysis have proven to produce results at the global optimum. This method is both practical and easily applied to other systems, even to systems with more than three components. |
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| Keywords: | Dividing‐wall column Economic evaluation Energy consumption reduction Process optimization Sensitivity analysis |
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