ANALYSIS OF ENERGY CONSUMPTION OF EXTRACTIVE DISTILLATION FLOWSHEETS OF FOUR-COMPONENT SOLVENT MIXTURE

Abstract

A comparative analysis of energy consumption for extractive distillation flowsheets was carried out. This was done by the example of methanol - ethanol - acetonitrile - mixture. These solvents are used in pharmaceutical industries. The basic system methanol - ethanol - acetonitrile - water contains four binary and one ternary minimum-boiling azeotropes. Pressure change has almost no effect on the location of separatric surfaces. Therefore, extractive distillation should be used to separate solvents mixtures of any composition. Industrial entrainers dimethyl sulfoxide and glycerol are considered as selective agents. The effect of entrainer on vapor-liquid equilibrium at 30 and 101.32 kPa was evaluated by the relative volatility of the components forming azeotropes and the selectivity of the agents. The simulation was carried out on the Aspen Plus V.10.0 program environment. Two extractive distillation flosheets for the methanol - ethanol - acetonitrile - water separation are investigated. Both schemes include a two-column complex for the extractive distillation of the base mixture: in the first column, organic solvents are separated from water, and in the second column, the agent is regenerated. For subsequent separation of acetonitrile, extractive distillation with dimethyl sulfoxide or glycerol is also used. But separation of methanol-ethanol - entrainert zeotropic mixtures differs in the order of separation of components in schemes I and II. In scheme I, regeneration of the agent and further separation of the alcohol mixture is provided, in scheme II, methanol is first isolated, and then ethanol is separated from the agent. The optimized results for both schemes at columns pressures 30 and 101.32 kPa are performed. Different sets of selective agents introduced into extractive distillation columns are considered. The concept of an effective set of entrainers is introduced. The evaluation of the design alternatives need the assessment of energy demands. Total energy consumption for separation (reboiler duty) for the scheme II at 35-38% higher than values for scheme I. On the criterion of the minimum total energy consumption for the separation the scheme I was recommended: pressure columns 30 kPa, effective set of entrainers: glycerol for dehydration of the base mixture and dimethyl sulfoxide for acetonitrile isolation.