D istillation columns are considered as one of the most critical components in petroleum refineries, gas processing installations and chemical plants. Plant performance depends to a large extent on the ability of these columns to function as intended. Defective columns may lead to serious consequences to the plant operation and hence the quality of the product. Thus, when a distillation column ...

This paper presents a modern modeling approach for reactive distillation processes with potential phase splitting. It is based on a classical model (pseudo-homogeneous) in connection with a robust and reliable phase splitting algorithm (through homotopy-continuation method), performed at each simulation step. Model validation stage and a simple case-study (by applying the new approach to a reac...

The Petlyuk distillation configuration has received considerable attention because of its efficiency to reduce the energy required for the separation of ternary mixtures. The structure of the Petlyuk system offers some control challenges arising from the transfer of vapor streams back and forth between the columns. This means that neither of the columns can have a uniform lower nor higher press...

LABVIEW is a graphical programming language that has its roots in automation control and data acquisition. In this paper we have utilized this platform to provide a powerful toolset for process identification and control of nonlinear systems based on artificial neural networks (ANN). This tool has been applied to the monitoring and control of a lab-scale distillation column DELTALAB DC-SP. The ...

P arallel process units are often encountered in chemical process systems for different considerations, e.g., parallel reactors from reactor network synthesis, parallel columns for heat integration. One notable example is the feed split configuration of heatintegrated distillation columns. In this work, the control of parallel processes is illustrated with the heat-integrated distillation colum...

The development of a reactive distillation process for the production of n-butyl acetate by transesterification of methyl acetate with n-butanol is presented. Thermodynamic aspects of the quaternary system n-butyl acetate – n-butanol – methyl acetate – methanol are discussed and UNIQUAC interaction parameters derived using the Dortmund Data Bank (DDB) are given. The reaction kinetics of the het...

A new approach for start-up of empty cold reactive distillation columns by means of feedback control strategies is presented. In this paper, the discontinuous stage of startup is taken into account. This stage begins with the fill-up and heating process of the empty cold column and ends if vapour reaches the condenser. A corresponding model for the start-up process is developed. The control str...

Reactive distillation Reactive Distillation (RD) is a combination of reaction and distillation in a single vessel owing to which it enjoys a number of specific advantages over conventional sequential approach of reaction followed by distillation or other separation techniques. Improved selectivity, increased conversion, better heat control, effective utilization of reaction heat, scope for diff...

Sieve trays are widely used in the gas- liquid contactors such as distillation and absorption towers. In this article, a three-dimensional, two phase CFD model using Euler-Euler framework was developed to simulate a distillation tower with two sieve trays. Hydrodynamic simulation of air and water system in different rates of gas phase was carried out and velocity distribution parameters, clear ...