The Effect Of Implementing Thermally Coupled Distillation Sequences On Snowball Effects For Reaction-Separation-Recycle Systems

It is known that the steady and dynamic characteristics of processes with recycles can be significantly different from those without recycle streams. Particular attention has been given to the analysis of the reactor-separator-recycle system (RSR); because of the existence of snowball effects, a small load change can translate into a large change in the recycle flow rate, which propagates throughout the whole system. Previous works have analyzed the influence of separators on snowball effects using flash units and conventional distillation columns. This work explores the existence of snowball effects in steady state conditions under the implementation of thermally coupled distillation sequences in RSR systems. In particular, the implementation of coupled systems with side columns (sequences with side rectifiers or side strippers) is studied. The effects of considering thermally coupled systems on snowball effects are compared to those generated by conventional distillation systems.