Distillation of multicomponent mixtures of higher aliphatic acids in thermally coupled distillation systems

A method is proposed to calculate the characteristics of distillation of multicomponent mixtures of higher aliphatic acids in distillation systems with reversible mixing of flows and coupled heat flows. The method is based on the use of the Underwood equations and the Thiele-Geddes method for independently determining the concentrations. Application of the method is illustrated by the example of calculating the characteristics of distillation of a mixture of coconut oil fatty acids into four fractions (C-6-C-10, C-12, C-14, and C-16-C-18 acids) in a system containing three columns, one reflux condenser, and two reboilers.