Development of a unique modular distillation column using 3D printing

Abstract

3D printing is recently used in many fields of technology, from medical science to aerospace and food products. In some cases, this technique is faster and increases the design flexibility in comparison with conventional machining. In this article, the design and manufacturing of a modular distillation column are presented using 3D printing. The flexibility and freedom in 3D model designs and the challenges for developing a small scale distillation column are demonstrated. The column was designed in a coil shape with modular structure to overcome the printing area limitation of the used 3D printer. The chemical compatibility of the printed polymer with several common solvents was examined. A 3D printable packing, and a commercially available stainless steel spring packing were used in the distillation. The column was used to distill a binary mixture of hexane+cyclohexane in full reflux and continuous mode. The heat loss of the column was also measured at the boiling points of hexane and cyclohexane. The composition of reflux and boilup streams were analyzed online using a gas chromatograph equipped with two sampling valves. The temperature of the vapor phase was measured at the top (vapor outlet) and bottom (boilup) of the column.