Abstract

In this paper, the effect of operating decisions on the design and energy consumption for inverted batch distillation is considered. In distillation, utility cost is a function of column vapour load (V). We present a different type (as compared to what is available in the existing literature) of optimisation problem formulation and show that for a fixed market demand scenario minimisation of V for a given N will not only minimise the utility cost (cooling water + energy cost) and the capital cost but will also maximise the profitability of the operation. Also, with several examples of binary separation, it is shown that the decision of operating policy (such as constant reboil ratio, time dependent reboil ratio, etc.) at the design stage can have a significant impact on the capital and utility cost and overall profitability. This will in turn have significant effect on global warming as savings in utility cost reflects savings in energy cost. For difficult separations, which are capital and energy intensive, 40% savings in capital cost, 60% savings in utility and 70% improvement in profitability are possible if operating decisions are taken at the design stage.

Recommended Citation

Masoud, Aboubaker Z. and Mujtaba, Iqbal M. (2009) "Effect of Operating Decisions on the Design and Energy Consumption of Inverted Batch Distillation Column," Chemical Product and Process Modeling: Vol. 4 : Iss. 1, Article 35.
DOI: 10.2202/1934-2659.1275
Available at: http://www.bepress.com/cppm/vol4/iss1/35