Use of Dividing Wall Columns for Process Intensification

Abstract

Dividing Wall Column (DWC) technology provides refiners with a unique way of improving the efficiency and profitability of the traditional refining techniques (Dejanovic et al., 2010 and Kiss 2009). This technology, developed first in the 1940s, can be tailored to apply in a variety of applications ranging from naphtha/reformate splitters to gas plants and established technologies like isomerization and naphtha hydrotreating (Kalita et al, 2018). Most DWC applications found in the refining or chemical industry are based on a middle dividing wall concept (Yildirim et al., 2011). This paper discusses the distinct advantages of applying a top dividing wall column, which uses absorption and distillation concurrently (Bhargava et al., 2015), to traditional gas plant process schemes. Additionally, top DWCs offer a variety of benefits over using middle DWCs, some of which are discussed here. Each DWC solution is uniquely, specifically tailored to meet the refiner’s product and energy specifications. Hence, the paper aims to provide a baseline criterion for identifying the gas plant configurations, which can benefit from the DWC concept by discussing three different gas plant process schemes.