Gamma-valerolactone (GVL) has been proposed as a biomass-based platform molecule. However, its vapor–liquid equilibrium has not been exhaustively studied yet. Antoine constants of GVL were determined and vapor–liquid equilibrium (VLE) data for water(1)–GVL(2) binary system were measured at atmospheric and reduced (50.66 and 10.1 kPa) pressures. The thermodynamic consistency was investigated by applying Herrington’s area test. It was established that no azeotropic mixture was formed for the water–GVL system in the full concentration range. Data were regressed using ChemCAD software to generate binary interaction parameters for Wilson, NRTL, and UNIQUAC activity coefficient models. Good agreements between calculated and experimental VLE data were obtained.

This paper presents results of a rigorous study and comparison of conventional and energy-integrated distillation schemes for the separation of ternary mixtures. The major part of this work is devoted to the design and simulation of the fully thermally coupled distillation column (Petlyuk or Kaibel column) with particular emphasis on the question of the fractional recovery of the middle component in the prefractionator and as a consequence the internal recycle streams. A comparative economic parametric study is carried out for three different distillation schemes:  conventional sequences, heat-integrated columns, and the fully thermally coupled distillation column. The heat-integrated columns show the best economic features over the other two schemes except the few cases when the concentration of the middle component in the feed is high and the A/B split is more difficult than the B/C split. In such rare cases the fully thermally coupled distillation column proves to be the cheapest solution. In the cases of sharp separations the heat-integrated scheme is always the most economical solution.

The present work compares, from a life cycle perspective, four different ways for the production of terephthalic acid.

No abstract