Process Systems Engineering

A framework for synthesizing the optimal separation process of azeotropic mixtures

  1. Xiao Yang1,
  2. Hong-Guang Dong1,*,
  3. Ignacio E. Grossmann2

Article first published online: 27 JUN 2011

DOI: 10.1002/aic.12677

Issue

AIChE Journal

AIChE Journal

Volume 58, Issue 5, pages 1487–1502, May 2012

Additional Information

How to Cite

Yang, X., Dong, H.-G. and Grossmann, I. E. (2012), A framework for synthesizing the optimal separation process of azeotropic mixtures. AIChE J., 58: 1487–1502. doi: 10.1002/aic.12677

Author Information

  1. 1

    Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116012, P.R. China

  2. 2

    Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213

*School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116012, P.R. China

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 6 APR 2012
  2. Article first published online: 27 JUN 2011
  3. Accepted manuscript online: 9 MAY 2011 10:04AM EST
  4. Manuscript Revised: 3 MAY 2011
  5. Manuscript Received: 21 DEC 2010

Funded by

  • National Natural Science Foundation of China. Grant Number: 20876020
  • Center for Advanced Process Decision-making (CAPD) in Carnegie Mellon University

SEARCH

SEARCH BY CITATION

ARTICLE TOOLS

View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (1416K)

Keywords:

  • process design;
  • state-space superstructure;
  • azeotropic distillation;
  • extractive distillation

Abstract

In this work, a systematic framework is introduced to synthesize the optimal separation process of azeotropic mixtures. The proposed framework, which can handle an arbitrary number of components, consists of two main steps: a system analysis and a state-space superstructure algorithm. The system analysis is composed of some equation-oriented algorithms to supply basic information for the superstructure, including structure of the composition space, existence of unchangeable points and candidate operations. It is shown that the proposed superstructure featuring multistream mixing is superior to previous ones because it significantly expands the feasible area. Moreover, detailed design parameters such as number of stages and reflux ratio are derived. Additionally, flowsheet feasibility test rules are constructed to facilitate the analysis of the process, and are able to be used as heuristic methods to guide the design of ternary or quaternary systems. Three industrial cases are presented to illustrate the proposed framework. © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2012

View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (1416K)