Intensified Distillation‐Based Separation Processes: Recent Developments and Perspectives

Abstract

Greater sustainability can be achieved by decreasing the production costs, energy consumption, equipment size, and environmental impact as well as improvement of the raw material yields, remote control, and process flexibility. Process intensification (PI) as the main route for improving the process performance is used widely in heat transfer, reactions, separation, and mixing, which results in plant compactness, cleanliness, and energy efficiency. Some of the main intensified separation processes and improvement mechanisms are reviewed briefly with the main focus on the PI of distillation processes, which are the most important separation methods. In addition to these technologies, the potential and reliability of reactive separation processes are addressed briefly, which will enable higher efficiency and capacity.

Design and Control for the Dimethyl Adipate Process with a Side‐Reactor Column Configuration

“…The side‐reactor column (SRC) configuration is an innovative hybrid RD configuration, where a non‐reactive column is coupled with several side‐reactors through external streams 11. This construction allows reaction and separation occurring in different zones, breaking the constraint of consistent conditions of reaction and distillation and satisfying the requirement of amount of catalysts arrangement 12, 13.…”

Model Predictive Control of a High‐Purity Internal Thermally Coupled Distillation Column

“…Also, many studies suggested that, with proper optimization and robust control, more economic incentives can be derived out from the thermally coupled column 14, 17. However, although the energy potential of the internal thermally coupled column is well established, its high‐level complex dynamic behavior has remained a key challenge 18–23. Other notable characteristics that aggravate the challenge include inverse response and strong interactions between the bottom and overhead control loops 24.…”

Analysis of CO2 Emission and Economic Feasibility for a Heat‐Integrated Air Separation System

“…Distillation, which is the workhorse of chemical process industries, is an energy-intensive process, so massive amounts of CO 2 are released during the process [13][14][15][16]. Therefore, the reduction of the CO 2 emissions in distillation systems has become a matter of urgent concern, and efforts were focused on energy-saving techniques and modifications [17][18][19][20][21][22][23].…”