Sensitivity analysis and rigorous simulation of the three-phase distillation process of ethanol/ethyl acetate/water mixture based on conceptual design principles

The three-phase distillation operation is one of the most advanced distillation methods for the separation of azeotropic mixtures. In this study, the optimization and rigorous design of the three-phase distillation process of the highly non-ideal mixture of ethanol/ethyl acetate/water was carried out based on conceptual design principles. Initially, the possibility of separating this highly complex mixture (at multiple concentrations) with four azeotropic points and three distillation regions was evaluated using different purification patterns. According to the results of this section, it was determined that the second distillation region (that is, the region the stable component of which is ethanol) is the best region for the process. Then, the effect of operating pressure and reflux ratio on the conceptual design of the three-phase column in the optimal distillation region was investigated. In the following, based on the conceptual design results, the rigorous simulation of the process was performed and using the distinct and simultaneous sensitivity analysis methods, the operative variables and system design were optimized. Based on optimized values, ethanol with a purity of ۹۸.۷ mol% was separated with a duty of ۴۷۵۴.۱۴ kW. Finally, with the rigorous design of the column, it was revealed that to reach the mentioned purity, the packed columns with Mellapak ۶۴x packing are smaller in size than the tray columns with sieve trays.

کلیدواژه ها:

Three-phase distillation ، Ethyl acetate process ، Conceptual design ، Sensitivity analysis ، Rigorous simulation and design