In the present work, the optimization of different structural and process parameters of a divided wall column (DWC) for the energy efficiency has been presented. The optimal design and operation of divided wall distillation columns involve a number of variables and is a non-linear problem. Rigorous simulation of a DWC was carried out using Multifrac model of ASPEN Plus software. Box–Behnken des...

A dynamic model of a reactive divided wall column is presented so as to analyse a novel process concept for the esterification of lactic acid with ethanol to ethyl lactate. The divided wall column is modelled by composing single packing columns to a Petlyuk-structure using different correlations for fluid dynamics and pressure drop. Besides, a variety of side reactions are considered such as th...

The successful revamp of a conventional tray Xylenes Distillation Column (3800 mm / 4300 mm diameter) is described. The column takes a xylene side-stream from reformate to feed an aromatics plant to make higher value products. Changing the column configuration to a Dividing Wall Column (DWC) resulted in improved product purity and significant energy savings. The project cycle is detailed includ...