Thermodynamic analysis and hydrodynamic behavior of a reactive dividing wall distillation column

A complete thermodynamic analysis of a reactive dividing wall distillation column and an equilibrium reactor followed by a dividing wall distillation column was conducted for several equilibrium reactions using data of a real pilot plant for the distillation column. In addition, several aspects related to the hydrodynamic behavior of the implemented reactive dividing wall distillation column were analyzed in order to prevent operation problems with regard to hydraulics. Results indicate that the reactive dividing wall column presented both higher thermodynamic efficiencies and lower exergy losses than those obtained in the classical configurations of a reactor plus a distillation column. The reactive dividing wall distillation column also required lower energy consumption compared to that required by classical processes. These facts confirm the higher energy efficiency of reactive dividing wall designs. Results also indicate that the reactive dividing wall column meets process intensification goals: i) it requires lower energy consumption, which can be translated into lower carbon dioxide emissions, and ii) the reduction in energy consumption can be associated with lower traffic of liquid in the column and reduction in column diameter (miniaturization). Finally, it was observed that proper collection of the liquid in a side tank and an adequate split to both sides of the dividing wall play an important role in hydraulics. The manipulation of this split enables minimum energy consumption and high thermodynamic efficiency.