Economic optimization and dynamic control of pressure‐swing distillation for separating the ternary azeotrope of butanone/n‐heptane/isopropanol

Abstract

BACKGROUND Economic optimization and dynamic control of the separation process for recovering the ternary mixture of butanone (MEK)/n‐heptane/isopropanol (IPA) from industrial wastewater is a significant topic. In this work, the optimal pressure‐swing distillation (PSD) sequence, heat integration and dynamic control for separating MEK/n‐heptane/IPA were investigated systematically. The optimal separation sequence was determined by combining the minimum total annual cost (TAC) with the residual curves map (RCM). Pressure‐swing distillation with non‐heat integration, partial heat integration or full heat integration was compared in terms of TAC. Dynamic control schemes were designed for optimal processes of two separation sequences with and without heat integration. RESULTS The results demonstrate that the TAC of optimal PSD with non‐heat integration process can be reduced by 31.11%, whereas the TAC of optimal partial heat integration and full heat integration schemes can be reduced by 39.73% and 40.96%, respectively. The dynamic performance of all control schemes that can resist ±20% feed flow disturbances and composition disturbances are compared with the integral of squared error. CONCLUSION It is demonstrated that PSD with full integration process (FHIPSD) for separating MEK/n‐heptane/IPA has optimal economic performance, whereas PSD with non‐heat integration process (NTIPSD) has the optimal dynamic performance and robust stability. This work provides a significant reference for industrial separation of MEK/n‐heptane/IPA. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).

A novel reactive-extractive distillation process for separation of water/methanol/tetrahydrofuran mixtures

“…For azeotropic mixtures, separation systems are designed based on their azeotropic characteristics. Separation approaches include pressure swing distillation, azeotropic distillation, extractive distillation, reactive distillation, or a combination of these methods 18 – 21 . Reactive distillation systems have been used by researchers in a variety of ways.…”

Extractive distillation of tetrahydrofuran–ethanol azeotropic mixture with ionic liquid as extractant

“…5 A reactive distillation process for continuous production of ethyl propionate and an energy-saving heat pump reactive distillation process were proposed by Du et al, which provided a basis for the design and implementation of continuous production of ethyl propionate. 6,7 Benzene-isopropyl alcohol-water terpolymer was separated by a single-reaction extraction distillation column and a double-reaction extraction distillation column, and thermodynamic analysis and multi-objective genetic algorithm optimization of the separation process to obtain suitable operating conditions were carried out by Yan et al 8,9 A glycol-glycerol mixture was used as a separation agent to develop economic optimization and experimental validation of ethanol separation by extractive distillation with and without thermal integration by Jaime et al 10,11 A novel energy-efficient bilateral flow extractive distillation was proposed for benzene-isopropyl alcohol-water separation and five control structures were developed to control conventional and energy-efficient bilateral flow extractive distillation by Xu et al 12,13 Extractive distillation is a common method for azeotrope separation. 14,15 The selection of an excellent extractant is the key step of extractive distillation.…”

“…A reactive distillation process for continuous production of ethyl propionate and an energy‐saving heat pump reactive distillation process were proposed by Du et al ., which provided a basis for the design and implementation of continuous production of ethyl propionate 6,7 . Benzene–isopropyl alcohol–water terpolymer was separated by a single‐reaction extraction distillation column and a double‐reaction extraction distillation column, and thermodynamic analysis and multi‐objective genetic algorithm optimization of the separation process to obtain suitable operating conditions were carried out by Yan et al 8,9 . A glycol–glycerol mixture was used as a separation agent to develop economic optimization and experimental validation of ethanol separation by extractive distillation with and without thermal integration by Jaime et al 10,11 .…”