Steady-state bifurcation analysis is applied to a ternary benzene−toluene−xylene (BTX) dividing wall column (DWC) to synthesize robust temperature inferential controlled variables (CVs). The coupling between the prefractionator and the main column causes steady-state multiplicity in conventional tray temperature CV loops. Using physical insights into the DWC behavior, differential tray temperature across the side-draw and double differential temperature control across the prefractionator rectification section are shown to significantly mitigate the steady-state multiplicity. Control system variants (with and without prefractionator liquid split manipulation) with alternative temperature-based CVs exhibit nonlinear dynamic phenomena of seeking an infeasible temperature/purity set point and input multiplicity induced "wrong" control action leading to a low purity steady-state transition under closed loop operation. These nonlinear dynamic phenomena correlate with the bifurcation analysis results. The recommended control structure with robust temperature inferential CVs is shown to effectively reject very large feed composition changes, including for on-target product purity operation via temperature inferential CV update. The work brings out the importance of robust CV design for effective control of the highly coupled and nonlinear ternary DWC process.
■ INTRODUCTIONThe ternary dividing wall column (DWC) emulating the Petlyuk sequence 1 in a single column shell has been known to be significantly more energy efficient and cheaper than the conventional light/heavy-out-first distillation sequence. For a ternary mixture of components A (light), B (intermediate), and C (heavy), the feed side of the dividing wall (see Figure 1) acts as the prefractionator (TS1 and TS2) and does the easy AC split. The tray sections above and below the side-draw (TS4 and TS5) prevent, respectively, light A and heavy C leakage in the side-draw. The main column rectifying (TS3) and stripping (TS6) sections prevent B leakage up the top and down the bottoms, respectively. With the prefractionator performing the easy AC split, the intermediate boiler B distributes evenly in the prefractionator top and bottom mitigating its remixing and thus inherent thermodynamic irreversibility, compared to a conventional two-column sequence. Consequently, significant energy saving in the range of 20−40% can be achieved. 2−5 Despite its high energy efficiency, reports of industrial DWC applications have only recently appeared in the literature, BASF being the industry pioneer. 6 More recently, extractive DWC distillation 7 and multiple DWCs 8 have been reported in the literature. The reluctance on part of the industry to adopt DWC technology is due to the control system design being significantly more complex compared to conventional simple distillation. Specifically, the highly nonlinear interaction between the prefractionator and the main column makes tight quality control on the intermediate boiler (B) side-draw stream around a stringent target (e.g., >99%...