Modified method to improve the design of Petlyuk distillation columns

BACKGROUND: A response surface analysis was performed to study the effect of the composition and feeding thermal conditions of ternary mixtures on the number of theoretical stages and the energy consumption of Petlyuk columns. A modification of the pre-design algorithm was necessary for this purpose. RESULTS: The modified algorithm provided feasible results in 100% of the studied cases, compared with only 8.89% for the current algorithm. The proposed algorithm allowed us to attain the desired separations, despite the type of mixture and the operating conditions in the feed stream, something that was not possible with the traditional pre-design method. The results showed that the type of mixture had great influence on the number of stages and on energy consumption. A higher number of stages and a lower consumption of energy were attained with mixtures rich in the light component, while higher energy consumption occurred when the mixture was rich in the heavy component. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed strategy expands the search of an optimal design of Petlyuk columns within a feasible region, which allow us to find a feasible design that meets output specifications and low thermal loads.