Quick Decision-Making for Close-Boiling Distillation Schemes

Abstract

Separating close-boiling components using distillation is very common in industry. Considering the higher capital and energy intensity of the task, schematic selection of optimal distillation strategies becomes a significant decision of both industrial and methodological importance. In this sense, this paper introduces a reliable shortcut method of simplicity and robustness for optimizing the target of total annualized cost (TAC). In detail, selective analyses are carried out among four schematic candidates for three close-boiling systems. The schemes are conventional distillation column, mechanical vapor recompression (MVR), double-effect distillation, and distillation with a recycle process. The mixtures to be separated are methyltrichlorosilane/dimethylchlorosilane, methylcyclopentane/cyclohexane, and isobutanol/n-butanol. After the first round evaluation, hydraulic calculations through rigorous simulations are worked out to size the equipment, which is necessary for TAC analyses. In the second round c...