A Problem Decomposition Approach for the Synthesis of Complex Separation Processes with Recycles PDF Download

Author: Oliver M. Wahnschafft
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Chemical engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 50

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Book Description
Abstract: "We consider the synthesis of separation processes to create relatively pure products while using separation devices that are incapable of sharply splitting their products. The use of distillation for separating azeotropic mixtures is, perhaps, the most prominent example of this class of problems. Economic designs contain recycles, a feature not required, and generally not present, in processes which separate ideally behaving mixtures. Focusing on separating azeotropic mixtures, we propose and illustrate an approach for the systematic conceptual design of these complex separation schemes. Strategic use of recycles permits the design of processes requiring fewer units and often also permitting separation without additional mass separating agents. A key step in our proposed synthesis methodology is the assessment of the products attainable in each separation step. Thus, the synthesis of separation schemes for azeotropic mixtures is an important application of the methods presented in two previous papers (Wahnschafft et al., 1992a; Wahnschafft and Westerberg, 1992) to determine the product composition regions of homogeneous azeotropic distillation columns."