Abstrad-Screening tools for control structure selection in the presence of model/plant mismatch are developed in the context of the Structured Singular Value (p) Theory. The developed screening tools are designed to aid engineers in the elimination of undesirable control structure candidates for which a robustly performing controller does not exist. The screening tools are examined on a multi-c...

Process intensification refers to technologies and strategies that enable simpler and more efficient processes compared to conventional processes. Some features of such intensified processes are less recycle streams, reduced need for waste handling and lower investment and operating costs compared to conventional processes. One way of doing this is by making two or more process steps simultaneo...

Reactive distillation is an excellent example of recent advances in process intensification. It combines reaction and separation operations in one piece of equipment. This paper studies the steady-state economic optimum design of a chemical process with a generic exothermic reversible reaction A+B↔C+D for two different process flowsheets: a conventional multi-unit reactor/separator/recycle stru...

HYSYS process modeling software was used to analyze the effect of reflux ratio and number of trays on the purity of ethylene in a vapor recompression distillation column and also in an ordinary distillation column. Analysis of data showed that with increased pressure a higher reflux ratio is needed to obtain a purity of 99.9% for both towers. In addition number of trays was varied to see its ef...

Distillation has remained an important separation technology for the chemical process industries. In 1997 it was reported in the journal Chemical Engineering that about 95% of all worldwide separation processes use this technology. In the USA alone, some 40000 distillation columns represent a capital investment of about US $8 billion. They consume the energy equivalent of approximately 1 billio...

Batch distillation in a column with a middle vessel can avoid many of the disadvantages associated with the regular batch distillation processes. In this paper we present an experimental investigation of the separation of a zeotropic ternary mixture via total reflux operation and of the separation of an azeotropic binary mixture via batchwise extractive distillation. Moreover, the results obtai...

E nergy costs are the largest percentage of a hydrocarbon plant’s operating expenditures. This is especially true of the distillation process, which requires substantial energy consumption. Concerns over recent high costs and economic pressures continually emphasise the need for efficient distillation design and operation without a loss of performance. This article illustrates how energy-effici...

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 ...