A generalized dynamic model for distillation columns—III. Study of startup operations

Abstract The dynamic behavior of distillation columns during startup operations have been studied and analyzed. A procedure is proposed for determining appropriate startup policies for distillation column operations based on the analysis of the dynamic behavior. The final startup policy consists of three strategies corresponding to the three characteristic stages of the startup operation. The proposed procedure has been successfully applied to a test problem. Numerical results of the dynamic behaviour and the test problem are presented.