TITLE:
Effect of Two Liquid Phases on the Separation Efficiency of Distillation Columns
AUTHORS:
Gardênia Marinho Cordeiro, Stephanie Rolim Dantas, Luís Gonzaga Sales Vasconcelos, Romildo Pereira Brito
KEYWORDS:
Distillation; Azeotropic; Two Liquid Phases; Separation Factor
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Chemical Engineering and Science,
Vol.3 No.1,
January
11,
2013
ABSTRACT: Distillation is one of the oldest and most important separation
processes used in the chemical and petrochemical industries. On the other hand,
it is a process the thermodynamic efficiency of which is very low, and
therefore reducing the consumption of energy is one of the targets of research
studies on distillation. This article arose from seeking to reduce energy
consumption in a distillation train of 1,2-dichloroethane (ethylene dichloride-EDC)
of a commercial plant producing vinyl monochloride (VMC), which involves an
azeotropic distillation column. The reduction in the reboiler heat duty caused
significant changes in concentration and temperature profiles throughout the
column due to the formation of two liquid phases. The results show that,
although very small in percentage terms (less than 2.5%), the appearance of the
2nd liquid phase causes significant changes in the operation of the
column and the separation achieved.