Abstract

Thermally coupled distillation sequences can provide significant energy savings with respect to the operation of conventional distillation columns. Coupled sequences exhibit a complex structure, with recycle streams, that appear to affect their controllability properties. One potential solution to this problem has been suggested through the operation of complex schemes under conditions that do not provide minimum energy consumption. The basic idea is that if one changes the value of the interconnection flowrate, the control properties might change as well. In this work, we analyze the dynamic behavior of two coupled structures under different operating points, including the one with minimum energy consumption. The control analysis properties are analyzed with the application of the singular value decomposition technique in all frequency domains. The results show that the controllability properties of distillation sequences may change significantly depending on the selected value of interconnection flowrate.

Recommended Citation

Miranda-Galindo, Erick Yair and Segovia - Hernández, Juan Gabriel (2008) "Dynamic Behaviour of Thermally Coupled Distillation Arrangements: Effect of the Interconnection Flowrate," Chemical Product and Process Modeling: Vol. 3 : Iss. 1, Article 9.
Available at: http://www.bepress.com/cppm/vol3/iss1/9