Separation processes based on rectification are widespread in the chemical industry. As rectification is generally a very energy-intensive process and therefore has a considerable impact on the overall process costs, these processes must be designed as optimally as possible. In particular, several rectification columns are used for the separation of multi-component mixtures. Therefore, not only the optimization of the performance of a single rectification column, but also the optimization of the process configuration is of crucial importance. These configurations must be developed in a first step before they can be evaluated using simulation and optimization methods.

Cooperation partner: Lehrstuhl für Fluidverfahrenstechnik, TU Dortmund

While all conceivable column sequences and their integration can be automatically synthesized for the separation of zeotropic mixtures, the synthesis of process configurations for the separation of azeotropic systems is considerably more complex and, in addition to taking distillation limits into account, also requires the consideration of more complex interconnections, such as extractive or heteroazeotroprectification, or coupling with extraction and membrane separations. Modifications of the feed concentration due to mixing and changes in the boiling behavior due to additional additives and pressure variations must also be taken into account. In order to achieve the best possible separation process, it is first necessary to identify the alternatives that enable the desired separation. Since the established method of graphical analysis of concentration diagrams is limited to three- and four-component systems, the aim of this project is therefore the systematic generation of separation processes based on the thermodynamic modeling of the phase behavior of the multi-component mixtures to be separated.

Contact:

• Prof. Dr.-Ing. Mirko Skiborowski
• Thulasi, Sasi, M.Sc. (TU Dortmund)