Optimization Of Distillation Systems Research Articles

Effective Thermal Analysis of Using Peltier Module for Desalination Process

The key objective of this study is to analyse the heat transfer processes involved in the evaporation and condensation of water in a water distillation system employing a thermoelectric module. This analysis can help to increase the water production and to enhance the system performance. For the analysis, a water distillation unit prototype integrated with a thermoelectric module was designed and fabricated. A theoretical model is developed to study the effect of the heat added, transferred and removed, in forced convection and laminar flow, during the evaporation and condensation processes. The thermoelectric module is used to convert electricity into heat under Peltier effect and control precisely the absorbed and released heat at the cold and hot sides of the module, respectively. Temperatures of water, vapour, condenser, cold and hot sides of the thermoelectric module and water production have been measured experimentally under steady state operation. The theoretical and experimental water production were found to be in agreement. The amount of heat that needs to be evaporated from water-vapour interface and transferred through the condenser surface to the thermoelectric module is crucial for the design and optimization of distillation systems.

Feasibility bounds in operational optimization and design of crude oil distillation systems using surrogate methods

Feasibility bounds in operational optimization and design of crude oil distillation systems using surrogate methods

Aggregate models based on improved group methods for simulation and optimization of distillation systems

This note deals with aggregate models for complex distillation systems in large-scale flowsheets. Group methods were originally devised for simple absorber and stripper calculations with no major extensions for handling distillation. In this work, group methods are systematically analyzed and further improved by modifying some of the previously proposed approximations. As a result, the improved group method exhibits accurate predictions and this is demonstrated using simulation and optimization case studies for a variety of chemical systems and operating conditions. It is observed that the prediction of output variables is in close agreement with that of the rigorous equilibrium stage model. In case of optimization problems, the optimal number of trays and feed locations differ by only one or two trays. The aggregate model can be applied in a sequence of steps in order to improve the reliability and robustness of the solution procedure. A rounding heuristic is also proposed which can provide near-optimal solutions with a significant reduction in computational time.