MODELING THE CONFIGURATION CHARACTERISTICS AND OPERATING REGIMES OF A BINARY DISTILLATION COLUMN FOR CONTROL

This work describes a mathematical model for a distillation column which includes mass, composition, and energy balances, where the thermodynamic and equilibrium properties are represented by an equation of state. This model focuses on the specific configuration of the boiler (container plus boiling vessel) and the vertical condenser (with an external cooling jacket plus a helical pipe) and also on the effect of atmospheric and subcooling conditions in the condenser. For the sake of flexibility and to represent consistently the semi-continuous conditions during the startup, the equations are solved as a DAEs set. Results are compared with experimental data from a Methanol-Ethanol mixture in a 10-tray distillation column. The effects of configuration and operating conditions on the model fidelity are discussed. The model describes the semi-continuous hydraulics and the desired temperature profile that is expected to be used for process control.