Optimizing Multicomponent Distillation Configurations

Prymak, Bill

doi:10.2172/1855902

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DOE OSTI · 1855902

Optimizing Multicomponent Distillation Configurations

Prymak, Bill

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Abstract

Distillation is a ubiquitous process in the chemical and petrochemical industries to separate mixtures into their individual components and accounts for a large percentage of all separations in chemical and petrochemical plants. A large fraction of the separations are mixtures containing four or more components requiring multiple distillation columns that may not be optimized for energy efficiency. As a result, there are tens of thousands of suboptimal distillation columns in operation in the U.S. consuming approximately 2-3 Quads of energy per year. In addition, the equipment dedicated to separations contributes 40 – 70% of the capital and operating costs in a typical processing plant.

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37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY 42 ENGINEERING Distillation DISTOPT petrochemical

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Prymak, Bill. 2022-03-22. Optimizing Multicomponent Distillation Configurations. https://doi.org/10.2172/1855902

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