(537c) Process Intensification of a Complex Ternary Azeotropic Distillation System Via Structural Variations

This work proposes energy savings through structural alternatives of a heat-integrated distillation column for the separation of acetone-chloroform-water ternary azeotropic mixture. Based on the remarkable temperature difference between pressure-swing distillation (PSD) columns, a double annular structure for heat transfer from hot fluid to cold fluid was proposed. The overall structure of double annular structure was implemented through CFD simulation to calculate the heat transfer rate. For the stages near the reboiler, the transferred heat could replace the use of external utility, thereby reducing the total energy consumption. However, the energy consumption was not significantly reduced since the structure could not afford to utilize all the heat available. The newly proposed structure transferred heat from a high-pressure column to two low-pressure columns, which was named as a partial double annular structure. The total utility consumption and total annual cost of the partial double annular column were reduced by 21.79% and 11.32%, respectively, compared to the conventional sequence.