Separation of Organic Chlorine Compounds through Batch Distillation Process

Abstract

In the present work simulation studies were carried out focusing on the separation of a mixture of chlorinated hydrocarbons of an industrial process stream by batch distillation process. The effect of different process variables on the performance of the batch separation process was evaluated. Based on the simulation results, it was observed that the column pressure has a significant effect on the condenser operation, indicating that operating pressure equal to 3 bar is more favorable to the process. It was shown that high values of the reboiler heat duty lead to a decrease in the operation time necessary to attain the steady state regime. Regarding the influence of the column reflux, it was also observed that reflux values exceeding 1.0 reduce the separation process performance, leading to a poor recovery of the components in the product tank. It was illustrated the occurrence of multiple steady states as a consequence of nonlinear response of the process to the reboiler holdup, characterized by complex nonlinear phenomena.