A systematic method for optimum heterogeneous azeotropic distillation systems with vapor recompression

Abstract

In this work, a systematic method is proposed to determine the optimum combination of self-heat recuperation technology (SHRT) and heterogeneous azeotropic distillation (HAD). The heat exchanger network and vapor recompression heat pump are applied to develop the energy-saving HAD process based on SHRT (HAD-SHRT). Then the heat exchanger network (HEN) is utilized to optimize HAD-SHRT process through minimizing the hot utility utilization. Pyridine/water and 1,4-Dioxan/water systems are studied to examine the feasibility of the systematic method. The results show that the systematic method can effectively handle the combinations of SHRT and HAD. When the maximum heat provided by the compressed stream is greater than or equal to the hot utility requirement of the reboiler, the overhead vapor is directly compressed to provide heat for the bottom stream. Otherwise, adding preheater or auxiliary reboiler are favorable options with regard to economic and energy-saving performance.