Article

pubs.acs.org/IECR

Control System Design for Energy Ecient On-Target Product Purity

Operation of a High-Purity Petlyuk Column
Pallavi Kumari, Rahul Jagtap, and Nitin Kaistha*
Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur 208016, India
*
S Supporting Information

ABSTRACT: Energy ecient, on-target product purity operation of a high-purity three product benzenetoluenexylene
ternary Petlyuk column is studied. The basic regulatory control system consists of four temperature inferential control loops with
a xed prefractionator vapor-to-fresh feed ratio. An economic control system on top of the regulatory layer adjusts these ve set
points. It consists of three product purity controllers that adjust three temperature set points along with a reboiler duty reduction
controller that adjusts the remaining two free set points in the regulatory layer. The latter makes these adjustments to prevent the
downward curvature in the prefractionator and main column middle section temperature proles from being too large. Closed
loop results for large feed composition changes show signicant energy savings (up to 15%) are realized via temperature prole
curvature control compared to constant set point column operation. The case study highlights the need for innovative control
strategies for realizing the sustainability benet of the integrated complex Petlyuk column during actual operation.

INTRODUCTION
In the process industry, distillation remains the most preferred
and widely used unit operation for separating liquid mixtures
into constituent pure (pseudo) components.1 The basic idea is to
utilize the dierence in the volatility of the mixture components
to purify it by repeated ashing. This is accomplished via counter-
current vaporliquid contact on the trays of a simple distillation
column with the reboiler providing the vapor stream into the
bottom and the condenser providing reuxed liquid to the top
of the column. The process is then naturally energy intensive
with the reboiler heat driving the separation so that distillation
alone can contribute up to 53% of plant energy costs.2 Thus,
innovations toward energy ecient distillation congurations
for a given separation task have traditionally been of interest
to the process industry. The volatility in energy prices in recent
years has renewed interest in the synthesis, design, operation,
and control of complex column congurations that can be sig-
nicantly more energy ecient than a conventional light-out-rst
(direct sequence) or heavy-out-rst (indirect sequence) train of
simple distillation columns.
In pioneering work, Petlyuk et al.3 suggested a complex
conguration consisting of a prefractionator followed by a main
column with a side draw for separating a ternary ideal mixture
into its constituent pure components (Figure 1a). Compared
to a conventional two-column direct or indirect sequence, the
prefractionator in the Petlyuk conguration mitigates remixing
of the middle boiler, which distributes itself between the
prefractionator top and bottom products. This reduces the
inherent process irreversibility, leading to potentially signicant
energy savings. Literature reports (see e.g. Triantafyllou and
Smith4) indicate impressive energy savings up to 40% for a
Petlyuk conguration over a conventional two-column sequence.
A further innovation to the Petlyuk conguration is incorpo-
ration of the prefractionator within the body of the main column
by inserting an appropriately positioned vertical wall, as in
Figure 1b. This is appropriately referred to as the divided wall
column (DWC). It is conceptually similar to the Petlyuk
conguration with the additional benet of reduced capital cost.
Literature reports suggest that BASF has several (6070)
operating DWCs for improved energy eciency.5
Since Petlyuks original groundbreaking article, researchers
have used its basic idea to develop other energy ecient complex
column congurations.69 The seminal work by Agarwal and co-
workers1012 provides a generalized systematic methodology on
synthesis of energy ecient complex column congurations for
multicomponent mixtures.
The literature on complex distillation congurations suggests a
mature understanding of issues in their synthesis and design.
Even so, the practical realization of signicant energy savings
from such a conguration during actual process operation re-
quires a control strategy that ensures near minimum boil-up
operation regardless of disturbances, particularly in the feed
composition. However, the available literature on minimum
energy and optimal operation and control of complex columns is
quite limited. Most reported studies consider the operation of a
ternary Petlyuk column with a relatively impure side-product
(see e.g. Kaibel et al.13).
In possibly the earliest work on operation and control of a
high-purity ternary Petlyuk column, Wol and Skogestad14
performed a steady-state bifurcation analysis to suggest that only
three product compositions should be controlled and the
remaining two degrees of freedom adjusted to minimize energy
consumption. To keep the column operation near-optimal,
Halvorsen and Skogestad15 suggested holding appropriate
feedback variables based on steady-state analysis. In both these
articles, no closed loop dynamic results were presented so that
the recommendations remain dynamically untested.
Received: May 26, 2014
Revised: September 11, 2014
Accepted: September 17, 2014
Published: September 17, 2014

2014 American Chemical Society 16436 dx.doi.org/10.1021/ie5021409 | Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2014, 53, 1643616452
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research
Figure 1. Ternary Petlyuk column conguration: (a) conventional conguration and (b) dividing wall conguration.
In possibly the rst article on high-purity Petlyuk DWC
control with closed loop dynamic results, Ling and Luyben16
developed a control structure for a benzenetoluenexylene
(BTX) column, where the principal impurity in the three product
streams is controlled along with the xylene spillover from the
prefractionator top. The work is further extended to tempera-
ture inferential control of the BTX DWC,17 where controlling
the dierence between appropriately chosen tray locations in the
prefractionator top, main column rectication section, middle
section, and stripping section is shown to provide near minimum
energy column operation. However, a closer examination of the
closed loop results in both papers shows that the side-draw
product (toluene) purity shows noticeable deviations from its
99% purity target.
In a very recent paper, Dwivedi et al.18 comprehensively
evaluate four decentralized control structures with appropriate
composition controllers for (near) optimal operation of a ternary
Petlyuk column and show that overrides are needed to mitigate
excessive light component leakage down the prefractionator
bottom for very large feed composition changes. In their work,
too, the side-draw product purity deviates from its target value as
the feed composition changes.
All of the high product purity ternary Petlyuk column control
studies in the literature thus allow the side-draw product purity to
oat away from its target value while pursuing minimum energy
operation. Therefore, the moot question is how to control a high-
purity Petlyuk column for near optimal (minimum energy)
operation with on-target purity of all three product streams.
To the best of our knowledge, this has not been studied in the
extant literature. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate
the challenges in the systematic development of a control
strategy capable of eectively handling large disturbances
while maintaining the purities of all three product streams at
their specied targets with reduced reboiler duty operation
for a high-purity BTX Petlyuk column design. We highlight that
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on-target product purity operation is crucial in todays ercely
competitive markets. In particular, minimum product quality
guarantees to the customer dictate the value-added product
premium that can be charged to the customer. This premium
determines the overall protability of the process. We also note
that the focus of this paper is on control strategy design for
optimal operation of an existing column and not on optimum
column design.
In the following, the BTX Petlyuk column design with base-
case operating conditions is rst described followed by a
systematic synthesis of the regulatory control system for closing
the total material, component, and energy balances. We then
develop the economic control system consisting of the product
quality control loops and temperature prole straightening
loops that adjust free regulatory layer set points for reboiler
duty reduction. Closed loop dynamic results are then presented
to quantify the reboiler duty reduction benet compared to
constant set point process operation. After a brief discussion
of the results, the article ends with the conclusions that can
be drawn.
PETLYUK COLUMN DESIGN
The industrially signicant ternary separation of benzene,
toluene, and p-xylene (BTX) in a Petlyuk column is studied
here. Hysys with the SRK property package is used for steady-
state and dynamic modeling. We want to design a ternary
Petlyuk column, which contains 6 tray sections (TS1TS6) as in
Figure 1, to process 100 kmol/h of equimolar BTX feed into
99 mol % pure constituents. The BTX normal boiling points are,
in order, 79.8, 109.8, and 137.8 C, respectively. A condenser
pressure of 100 kPa is then considered appropriate, giving a con-
denser temperature of 80 C (nearly pure benzene distillate)
for a water-cooled condenser.
At atmospheric pressure, the BTX relative volatility in order, is
about 5.16:2.21:1, implying that the separation is not a dicult
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Figure 2. Petlyuk column design and optimized operating conditions.
one. The design degrees of freedom for the Petlyuk column
for a given pressure is 11. These correspond to the number of
trays in the six tray sections (TS1TS6) and the ve steady-state
operation degrees of freedom. The economic optimum design
problem is a complex mixed integer nonlinear programming
problem and has been well-studied in the literature.19,20 While
solving the problem has its own relevance, operating columns
are almost always reasonable but not strictly optimal designs.
This is because economic prices change over a period so that an
initial optimum design does not remain optimum any longer. In
addition, in many cases, existing distillation equipment is
salvaged and retrotted for a dierent separation application.
Suboptimal but reasonable designs are thus the norm and not
the exception in practice. Accordingly, we use a sequential
design procedure to obtain a reasonable but not strictly
optimum design and then develop a novel control strategy for
reduced reboiler duty operation for large disturbances.
The sequential design procedure applies well-known
heuristics to x the number of trays in the six column sec-
tions, as in Figure 1. This is followed by optimization of the
unconstrained steady-state operating degrees of freedom to
minimize the reboiler duty.
In the prefractionator, TS1 prevents p-xylene from leaking up
the top in its vapor product (VM). Similarly, TS2 prevents
benzene from leaking down the bottom in its liquid product
(LM). In the main column, TS4 prevents the benzene in the
prefractionator top product from moving down and contaminat-
ing the side-draw toluene product (S). Similarly, TS5 prevents
the xylene from the prefractionator bottom product from moving
up and contaminating the side-draw. TS3 prevents toluene
leakage up the top in the benzene distillate product (D), and TS6
prevents toluene leakage down the bottom xylene product (B).
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To x the number of trays in each of the tray sections, we
note that a divided wall arrangement requires the number of
prefractionator trays to equal the number of middle section (TS4
and TS5) trays in the main column. Because the prefractionator
split is much easier (benzenexylene split with large relative
volatility of 5) compared to the middle section splits for TS4
and TS5 (relative volatility 2.22.7), it follows that TS4 and
TS5 together set the prefractionator height. We then need to
obtain only the number of trays in the main column tray sections
(TS3TS6). These are set to twice the Fenske minimum trays
necessary for achieving a principal impurity leakage of 1 mol %
for the particular tray section, which corresponds to a separation
factor of 500. This gives 11, 12, 12, and 11 trays for TS3, TS4,
TS5, and TS6, respectively. The prefractionator then has 24
trays. The feed to the prefractionator is chosen to be on 14th tray,
as altering its location up or down tends to increase the reboiler
duty (QR).
The next step is to adjust any unconstrained steady-state
degree of freedom (dof) to minimize the reboiler duty. For a
condenser pressure of 100 kPa, a pressure drop of 0.44 kPa per
tray gives a bottom pressure of 120 kPa (Figure 2). For the
given feed and column pressure prole, the column steady-state
operating dof is 5. The specication variables, toluene impurity in
distillate (xD,T), toluene purity of sidestream (xS,T), toluene
impurity in bottom (xB,T), xylene impurity in sidestream (xS,X),
and vapor side draw to prefractionator (VP) are used to exhaust
the ve degrees of freedom and robustly converge the column.
Of these ve specications, three get used up for xing the
three product purities at 99 mol % each. This is most easily
accomplished by setting xD,T = 1 mol %, xS,T = 99 mol %, and xB,T
= 1 mol %. The remaining 2 specications (xS,X and VP) are then
manually adjusted to obtain the minimum boil-up operating
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Figure 3. QR variation with VP for dierent values of xS,X.
condition. This brute-force minimization of QR is shown in
Figure 3, which plots its variation with VP for dierent values of
xS,X. A minimum reboiler duty of 1619 kW is thus obtained for
xS,X = 0.0092 and VP = 111 kmol/h. The column temperature and
composition proles at this base-case are shown in Figure 4. The
design constitutes a reasonable near-optimum design but not a
strictly optimum design.
Note that any xylene (heavy component) that spills over from
the prefractionator top necessarily moves down the main column
and hence contaminates the side-draw. Similarly, any benzene
(light component) that spills over from the prefractionator bot-
tom necessarily moves up the main column and hence con-
taminates the toluene side product. Of these two spillovers, as
insightfully pointed out by Ling and Luyben,16 heavy xylene
would prefer the liquid phase while light benzene would prefer
the vapor phase. Because the toluene product stream is a liquid
side draw, the impurity distribution in the toluene side draw is
then naturally predominantly xylene (0.92%) with some benzene
(0.08%).
CONTROL STRUCTURE DESIGN
The Petlyuk column has eight control degrees of freedom
(independent control valves), discounting the feed valve, which
is set by an upstream process or, equivalently, sets the processing
rate/throughput (see Figure 5). These eight control valves must
be used to eectively close the independent overall component,
material, and energy balances so that all accumulation (total
material, component, or energy) terms are quickly driven to
zero. This constitutes the basic regulatory control system in
which typically fast, cheap, and reliable process variables such as
ows, levels, pressures, and temperatures are controlled using
dynamically fast pairings for eective closure of the material and
energy balances. The regulatory loop set points determine the
process inventory levels and the corresponding steady state at
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which it eventually settles. These set points may further be
adjusted to drive the process to an economically favorable steady
state. The much slower economic or supervisory layer on top of
the regulatory layer performs this adjustment.
Regulatory Control Structure. In the Petlyuk column, the
regulatory control objectives include controlling the reux drum
and main column sump levels (rst and second objectives)
to balance the respective total liquid inventories. It is assumed
that as in a dividing wall column, the liquid from the
prefractionator drains under gravity to the main column so
that there is no control valve on LM. Also, the column pressure
must be controlled to balance the process total vapor inventory
(thrid objective). Further, on the prefractionator, the xylene and
benzene leakage up the top and down the bottom, respectively,
must be regulated (fourth and fth objectives). Similarly, on
the main column, the toluene impurity in the distillate and the
bottoms must be regulated (sixth and seventh objectives).
Finally, the side-product toluene purity must be regulated
(eighth objective). These last ve regulatory objectives (fourth to
eighth) correspond to closing the independent component
inventory balances on the prefractionator and the main column.
Instead of measuring composition, which is typically expensive,
slow, and unreliable, we prefer to use temperature-based mea-
surements to infer the particular component inventory.
Of the eight regulatory objectives, total liquid and vapor
inventory regulation is more important, as large drifts in the total
inventory levels would necessarily lead to safety issues such as an
overowing or dried-up surge drum or a ruptured disc due to
high-pressure dierential, etc. Also, total inventory regulation
indirectly regulates the component inventories. We therefore
pair loops for total inventory regulation rst, followed by loops
for component inventory regulation.
To close the liquid and vapor inventory balances (rst three
objectives), conventional local pairings are used. Thus, the
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Figure 4. Petlyuk column base-case proles: (a) temperature prole and (b) composition prole.
reux drum level is regulated by manipulating the distillate
(D), the main column sump level by manipulating the bottoms
(B), and the condenser pressure by manipulating the condenser
duty (QC).
With the total liquid and vapor balance controllers in place, we
focus attention on component inventory regulation. On the
prefractionator, we have two independent component balances.
Of these, regulating the xylene spillover up the top is critical as
this sets the principal impurity level in the liquid side-draw
product (xS,X). Accordingly, a sensitive prefractionator enriching
tray temperature is controlled for tight regulation of the same.
On the other hand, loose regulation of the benzene spillover
down the bottom may be acceptable as benzene prefers the vapor
phase and is therefore the minor impurity in the side-draw. Given
that the prefractionator is highly overdesigned in terms of the
number of trays for the easy benzenexylene split, regulating the
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top xylene spillover indirectly regulates the bottom benzene
spillover. This may be inferred from the steady-state simulation
data in Supporting Information, which show that even for large
changes in the feed composition (feed rate remains xed at base-
case value), the prefractionator bottom benzene composi-
tion change is small with xD,T, xS,T, xB,T, VP, and xS,X chosen as
the ve convenient column specications and xed at their
respective base-case values. Thus, at a xed feed rate, maintaining
xS,X constant at constant VP provides tight self-regulation of the
benzene spillover down the bottom. Accordingly, we hold VP in
ratio with the fresh feed rate (F), the ratio being necessary for
handling large throughput changes. Maintaining a sensitive
enriching section tray temperature and VP/F thus closes the two
independent component balances on the prefractionator.
On the main column, the three independent component
balances to be regulated correspond to toluene leakage in the
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Figure 5. Petlyuk column regulatory control structure.
distillate and the bottoms and maintaining the side-draw toluene
purity. To accomplish the same, sensitive tray temperatures in
the enriching, middle, and stripping sections are controlled by
adjusting the reux rate (R), side-draw rate (S), and reboiler duty
(QR), respectively.
The basic regulatory control structure discussed above is
schematically depicted in Figure 5 and is labeled CSR for con-
venient reference. To obtain the sensitive control tray temper-
ature locations, sensitivity analysis with respect to the four
manipulated variables, namely, LP, R, S, and QR, is performed.
Figure 6 plots the temperature sensitivities. From the plot,
prefractionator tray 7 (TP7), main column rectication section
tray 7 (TM7), middle section tray 33 (TM33), and stripping section
tray 40 (TM40) are candidate control tray locations. However,
subsequent dynamic simulations exhibited extreme diculty in
getting the column to settle at a higher throughput steady state
with these four tray temperatures being controlled. To stabilize
the column eectively, we choose to control an alternative tray
temperature, TM16, above the side draw. Note from the base-case
temperature prole (Figure 4) that TM16 is in the region where
the temperature prole is still sharp. It is then an appropriate
location for sensing the movement of the separation zone due to
accumulation or depletion of toluene in the column middle
section and adjusting the side-draw rate for closing the toluene
component balance. Subsequent dynamic simulations showed
that this alternative tray temperature location results in eective
stabilization for large throughput changes in both directions.
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It is useful to understand why the tray temperature location
dramatically aects column stabilization at increased through-
puts. Consider a large feed rate increase of 20%, for which TM33
control fails while TM16 control works well. We take the workable
control system with TM16 being controlled and the column
settled at its increased throughput steady state. We then perform
a series of dynamic simulations changing the set point TM16SP
around its base-case value. Figure 7 plots the variation in the nal
steady-state value of TM33 with respect to TM16SP for dierent
throughputs. The TM33 value at the base case throughput, which
would be the TM33SP were we to control TM33 using the side draw,
is also shown in Figure 7. At 20% higher throughput, clearly
TM33SP is an infeasible set point. If TM33 is controlled, the control
system ends up seeking an infeasible set point and fails.
Trying to control TS1 (tray section above prefractionator
feed) temperature and TS5 (tray section below side draw)
temperature, as dictated by temperature sensitivity analysis, is
prone to temperature set point infeasibility. This is because the
prefractionator and main column middle section temperatures
are highly correlated. Thus, controlling prefractionator top and
middle section bottom temperature forces the temperature
proles across both the prefractionator and the middle section
toward little or no movement (relatively stationary). Because the
pressure prole across the column changes with internal ows
(throughput) for a pressure-driven dynamic simulation, the
temperature prole in the prefractionator and middle section
must be allowed to oat appropriately. Controlling TS1 and TS5
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Figure 6. Petlyuk column tray temperature sensitivities.
Figure 7. Variation in the nal steady-state value of TM33 with respect to TM16SP.
temperature tries to prevent oating, and temperature set point
infeasibility results. On the other hand, if we control TS1 and
TS4 (above side draw) tray temperatures, the temperature
prole toward the lower portion of the prefractionator and
middle section can oat as needed, thus avoiding temperature
set point infeasibility (or vice versa). It thus appears to us that
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making temperature inferential control work on the Petlyuk
column requires that prefractionator and middle section
temperatures toward the same end, and not opposite ends, be
controlled so that temperature set point infeasibility is avoided.
An alternative is to control a dierential temperature (dierence
of two tray temperatures) instead, as has been reported by other
dx.doi.org/10.1021/ie5021409 | Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2014, 53, 1643616452
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research
Figure 8. Quality control system on top of regulatory structure.
researchers (see ref 17, for example). In our case, because we are
able to eectively stabilize the column for large disturbances
using single-point temperature measurements, we do not explore
dierential temperature control and proceed to designing the
economic control system.
Control Structure for Economic Operation. The
regulatory control structure CSR closes the material and energy
balances and drives the process to a steady state. Of the eight
regulatory layer set points, the liquid level set points have only a
transient eect and do not aect the nal steady state at which the
process settles. We also assume the pressure controller set point
is kept xed at its design value to avoid pressure compensation of
temperature set points. The remaining ve set points, namely,
VP/FSP, TP7SP, TM7SP, TM16SP and TM40SP, then determine the nal
steady state at which the process settles. It is desirable that this
steady state be such that the process protability is maximized.
This requires appropriate adjustment of the regulatory set points
by the economic control system.
For the Petlyuk column, the rst and foremost economic
operation requirement is that the purity of the three products
be on-target at 99 mol % each. These would consume three
regulatory layer set points leaving two free set points that may be
further adjusted to reduce or minimize the reboiler duty and
hence the energy consumption per kilomole of feed processed.
The economic control system thus consists of the product quality
control system and the reboiler duty reduction control system.
These are developed in the following sections.
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Product Quality Control System. On-target product
quality control requires that the impurity leakage in the product
streams be tightly controlled. This is accomplished by cascade
composition controllers that manipulate appropriate regulatory
layer temperature set points, as shown in Figure 8. The distillate
product composition controller adjusts TM7SP to maintain the
toluene impurity at 1 mol %. The distillate contains no xylene so
that the distillate purity then is 99 mol % benzene. Similarly, the
bottoms product composition controller adjusts TM40SP to
maintain its toluene impurity at 1 mol % for a 99 mol % pure
xylene product. The side-draw stream contains xylene as the
principal impurity (0.92 mol %) with some benzene impurity
(0.08 mol %). For on-target 99% pure toluene side-draw, the
most convenient option is to maintain both the xylene and
benzene impurities in the side-draw at their base-case values.
This is accomplished by a side-draw xylene impurity controller
which adjusts TP7SP and a toluene purity controller which adjusts
TM16SP. Note that adjusting TP7SP changes the prefractionator top
xylene spillover, which achieves tight control of the principal
xylene impurity in the side draw. When the xylene impurity is
controlled tightly, controlling the side-draw toluene purity is
equivalent to controlling its benzene impurity because xS,B = 1%
xS,X for xS,T = 99%. For convenience, we have chosen to control
xS,T instead of xS,B because then the toluene purity controller set
point, xS,TSP, remains constant at 99% regardless of the choice of
the xylene impurity set point, xS,XSP.
The decentralized quality control structure on top of the
regulatory control system is shown in Figure 8 and is labeled
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Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research
CSCC for convenient reference. The set points xD,TSP, xB,TSP,
xS,TSP, xS,XSP, and VP/FSP correspond to the ve steady-state
operating degrees of freedom. Of these, the rst three set points
are xed for on-target product quality. The last two set points are
then adjustable for reducing the reboiler duty (QR) toward
enhanced process energy eciency.
We can operate the column using CSCC at xed base-case
optimum values for the two free set points, VP/FSP and xS,XSP. The
control system should provide on-target quality control
regardless of changes in the feed composition. However, because
the two unconstrained set points are kept xed postdisturbance
and not reoptimized, QR is likely to be suboptimal, i.e., more than
the minimum achievable reboiler duty (QRMIN) for the altered
feed composition. To get a quantitative feel for the suboptimality
in QR with xed set point operation, Table 1 compares QRMIN
Table 1. Comparison of QR Using CSCC and QRMIN for Feed
Composition Disturbances
QR QRMIN QR QRMIN
disturbance (mol %) % suboptimality
B 39 1859 1600 259 16.19
B 27 1740 1690 50 2.95
T 39 1736 1704 32 1.88
T 27 1758 1576 182 11.55
X 39 1651 1615 36 2.23
X 27 1798 1664 134 8.05
with QR at xed base case values of the two free setpoints for
6 mol % feed composition change in either direction for each
component, with the other two components remaining equimolar.
The table data suggests that the degree of QR suboptimality
depends strongly on the direction of the feed composition
disturbance. It is most severe when the benzene mole fraction in
the feed increases from 33% to 39%, for which QR is a signicant
16% more than QRMIN. Less severe suboptimality with QR
being 12% more than QRMIN is observed for a toluene-lean
feed. For a xylene-lean feed, QR is about 8% more than QRMIN.
For the other composition disturbances, the QR increase over
QRMIN is no more than 3%. This suggests that for particular feed
composition disturbances, xed set point operation can result in
signicant energy ineciency. There then exists incentive to adjust
the two unconstrained set points, xS,XSP and VP/FSP, to reduce QR
toward QRMIN.
Control System for Reboiler Duty Reduction. The
conceptually simplest way of ensuring near minimum reboiler
duty operation is to adjust VP/FSP and/or xS,X to control appro-
priate process variable(s) that remain invariant (or close to
invariant) at the QRMIN solution. Luyben refers to such control
structures as eigenstructures,21 while Skogestad refers to them as
self-optimizing.15 However, what constitutes such a process
variable is not straightforward. For the present case, we avoid
process variables that require tray composition measurements
and limit ourselves to appropriate combinations of tray tem-
peratures. This is a reasonable assumption as todays columns are
quite well-instrumented with multiple tray temperatures across
the entire column being available, whereas composition mea-
surements remain cumbersome, expensive, unreliable, and delayed.
To obtain the appropriate self-optimizing process variable(s),
we compare the column nal steady-state temperature proles
for the feed composition disturbances for (a) xed VP/F and
xS,X and (b) VP/F and xS,X adjusted to minimize QR. In our
simulations, we found that the temperature proles obtained in
Hysys steady-state mode simulations and pressure-driven
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dynamic mode simulations were noticeably dierent. This is
likely because in the steady-state mode, Hysys assumes a xed
column pressure prole regardless of column internal ows,
whereas in dynamics mode, the local tray pressure drops vary
with column internal ows. This variation in the column pressure
prole can cause the temperature prole to be dierent between
the two modes. Because we are interested in operating the
column in dynamics mode, we compare the temperature proles
obtained in dynamics mode and use dierences between the
optimal prole and the prole for xed set point operation to
extract an appropriate temperature-based process variable for
driving QR toward QRMIN.
Figure 9 compares the nal optimum steady-state temperature
proles of the prefractionator enriching section (TS1) and the
main column middle section below side-draw (TS5) for the feed
composition disturbances with the corresponding prole for
xed VP/F and xS,X (i.e., no reoptimization of free set points).
The base-case optimum temperature prole is also shown for
reference. All the optimum temperature proles are relatively
straight, and the QR suboptimality due to xed VP/F and xS,X
operation is most clearly visible in the large downward curvature
of the temperature proles. For the case of a benzene-rich feed,
the TS5 temperature prole is curved signicantly downward.
For a benzene-lean feed on the other hand, the TS1 prole curves
signicantly downward. A careful evaluation of the temperature
proles also shows that at constant set point operation, a large
downward curvature occurs in either TS1 or TS5 for a toluene-
rich or lean feed and a xylene-lean feed but not a xylene-rich feed.
This then suggests that preventing downward curvature in the
TS5/TS1 temperature proles by adjusting the two free set
points should help drive QR toward QRMIN for most of the feed
composition changes, including the most severe disturbance of a
benzene-rich feed.
We now need a convenient metric for TS1/TS5 temperature
prole downward curvature. The simplest method is to draw a
straight line between two appropriate xed tray locations
and obtain the curvature as the deviation of the actual prole
around this line. As shown in Figure 10, when the actual tray
temperatures are all above/below the straight line, the curvature
magnitude would be large. On the other hand, in the case when
some of the actual temperatures are above and others below
the straight line, cancellations would occur and the curvature
magnitude would be small.
More specically, let TM and TN be the chosen lower and
higher tray temperature locations, respectively. Then, the
straight-line interpolated temperature of the ith tray above TM
(i = 1 to N M 1) is
ti = TM + i(TN TM )/(N M + 1)
The curvature (summed deviation) of the actual tray temper-
atures around this line then is
NM1
C= (Ti ti)
i=1
Because we want to make adjustments only when the prole
moves signicantly downward, i.e., the curvature becomes large
negative, the process variable to be controlled, y, is dened as
C + if C <
y=
0 otherwise
The above denition ensures y is zero for positive or slightly
negative (>) curvatures. When we control y with ySP = 0,
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Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research Article

Figure 9. Variation in steady-state temperature prole with feed composition change for CSCC operation at constant set points (dashed lines) and
reoptimized set points (solid lines).

control action gets taken only when y becomes large negative, i.e., In this example, yTS1 is dened as taking the tray immediately
the temperature prole curves signicantly downward. The above the feed tray as the lower tray (TM) and the prefractionator
parameter may be used as a controller tuning parameter for top tray as the higher tray (TN). For the TS5 downward
enhanced reboiler duty reduction while avoiding limit cycles curvature, yTS5, TM is taken as tray 36 (middle section bottom
because of the ono switch inherent in the denition of y. tray) and TN is taken as tray 29 (ve trays below side-draw). This
We are interested in regulating the temperature prole choice of tray locations allows for easier temperature prole
downward curvature of the prefractionator enriching section curvature-based distinction in the fresh feed composition. This is
(TS1), yTS1, and middle section below side-draw (TS5), yTS5. evident from Figure 11, which plots the curvatures, CTS1 and
16445 dx.doi.org/10.1021/ie5021409 | Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2014, 53, 1643616452
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research
Figure 10. Quantifying curvature in a temperature prole.
Figure 11. TS1/TS5 curvatures for the dierent feed composition
changes for xed and reoptimized VP/F and xS,X.
CTS5, for the dierent feed composition changes with xed or
reoptimized VP/F and xS,X. The large negative curvatures in either
CTS1 or CTS5 for xed set point operation correlate to changes in the
feed composition (except a xylene-rich feed). The absence of the
large negative curvature in the corresponding optimum proles
implies that curvature may be used to infer suboptimality in QR and
make appropriate adjustments in the available free set points to drive
the operation toward optimality (QRMIN).
The QR reduction control system then consists of manipulat-
ing the two free set points, VP/F and xS,X, to maintain yTS1 and
16446
Article
yTS5. The straightforward decentralized pairing is to maintain
yTS1 by manipulating VP/FSP and regulate yTS5 by adjusting xS,XSP.
Because the xS,XSP controller is likely to be slow because of large
lags associated with composition measurements, a dynamic
improvement is to let the yTS5 controller bypass the xS,X con-
troller and directly manipulate the prefractionator tray temper-
ature controller set point, TP7SP. This completes the overall
control system with the regulatory control loops, the quality
control loops, and the reboiler duty reduction loops. The full
control system for economic operation, CSEC, is shown in Figure 12.
DYNAMIC SIMULATIONS AND CLOSED LOOP
RESULTS
To test the proposed control system, a rigorous dynamic
simulation is built in Hysys, and closed loop results are obtained
for principal disturbances, namely large changes in the fresh feed
composition and a 20% step change in the fresh feed rate
(throughput). Feed composition changes are tested for each
component (B, T, or X) changing as a step from 33 mol % (base-
case) to 39 mol % or 27 mol % with the other two components
remaining equimolar.
Equipment Sizing and Plumbing. The equipment is sized
using heuristics to x hold-ups and hence the equipment
dynamic time constants. The prefractionator and main-column
inner diameter (ID) are chosen for a 0.6 m/s maximum vapor
supercial velocity assuming 20% coverage by the tray down-
comers. The condenser and reboiler are sized for 10 min liquid
residence time at 50% level at the base-case conditions in Figure 2.
For a pressure-driven simulation, the tray resistance to vapor ow is
calculated at the base-case steady-state vapor owpressure prole.
Appropriate plumbing (pumps and valves) is provided on the
distillate, side-draw, and bottoms lines. Note that Hysys allows
direct setting of the reux rate and the vapor and liquid rate to the
prefractionator so that no plumbing is congured on these lines.
Controller Tuning. After appropriate sizing and plumbing
modications for a pressure-driven simulation, the regulatory
and economic layer controllers are installed and tuned. A 2 min
lag is applied in all temperature loops to account for sensor and
heat-transfer dynamics. The composition measurements have a
5 min delay and are sampled every 5 min. The PI pressure
controller uses a large gain and small time constant for tight
column pressure control. The two level controllers are P with a
gain of only 2. The feed ow controller is PI and tuned for a fast
but nonoscillatory servo response. The four temperature
controllers are PI and tuned sequentially using the Hysys
autotuner with further renement of the tuning for a slightly
underdamped servo response. First, the prefractionator temper-
ature loop (TP7LP) is tuned (all other temperature loops on
manual) followed by the main column loops in bottom-up
sequence, i.e., TM40QR, TM16S, and TM7R, in that order, with
previously tuned loops on automatic. The composition
controllers are PI and tuned individually by rst setting the
reset time to approximately the 2/3rd response completion
time and the controller gain to the inverse of the process gain.
These tuning parameters are then further rened for a slightly
underdamped servo response. The two temperature prole
downward curvature controllers (yTS1VP/F and yTS5xS,X) are
PI and tuned by hit-and-trial for a fast and not-too-oscillatory
regulatory response to the principal disturbances. The curvature
oset, , described previously, is chosen based on Figure 8 so that
the y for the optimal conditions map to 0. To avoid a limit cycle
due to the ono nonlinearity in the denition of y, the for yTS1
dx.doi.org/10.1021/ie5021409 | Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2014, 53, 1643616452
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research
Figure 12. Petlyuk column control system for QR reduction.
is relaxed a bit. The controller parameters of the salient loops
used in this work are reported in Supporting Information.
Closed Loops Results. Closed loop dynamic simulation
results for the principal disturbances are now presented and
discussed. To better appreciate the incremental improvement by
the use of additional loops on top of the regulatory control
system, results are presented for each of the three control
structures CSR, CSCC, and CSEC.
Figure 13 plots the transient response of salient process
variables to the throughput and feed composition disturbances,
obtained for the basic regulatory control system, CSR. The
response curves suggest that the four-point temperature
inferential control structure, CS R , robustly handles the
throughput and feed composition changes in either direction
with smooth changes in the manipulated process ow and the
transient response is completed in about 6 h. Nonlinearity is
evident in the response to feed composition changes with the
total change in QR and LP, which set the column internal ows,
exhibiting asymmetry.
Table 2 reports the purity of the three product streams for the
principal disturbances using CSR. Noticeable product purity
deviations are evident for the feed composition change
disturbances. This is expected because a change in the feed
composition requires a readjustment in the prefractionator and
16447
Article
middle-section split requiring the temperature proles to shift, as
in Figure 8, which is prevented by holding TP7 and TM16 constant.
Quality deviations are also observed for throughput changes.
This is attributable to variability in the column pressure prole at
the altered internal ows so that the composition of the tray,
whose temperature is controlled, is slightly dierent, implying a
slightly altered split and hence product purity deviations. Because
the column top pressure is controlled, the eect is naturally more
pronounced toward the ends of the column, which show larger
local tray pressure deviations. The product purity controllers in
CSCC and CSEC should appropriately adjust the temperature set
points for zero-oset in the product purities at the nal steady
state.
The transient response of CSCC and CSEC to benzene, toluene,
and xylene composition step changes in the fresh feed is shown in
Figures 14, 15, and 16, respectively. The solid and dashed lines
correspond to CSCC and CSEC responses, respectively, while the
black and gray lines are for a composition increase and decrease,
respectively. In all cases, the response completes in about 20 h
with the nal total impurity in each of the product streams
settling at 1 mol % for on-target product purity of 99 mol % each.
The QR responses show that the nal steady-state QR using CSEC
(dashed lines) is always less than CSCC, implying that the
temperature prole curvature control helps improve the process
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Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research Article

Figure 13. CSR transient response to (a) throughput disturbance and (b) feed composition disturbance.

energy eciency. The savings in QR are particularly signicant for a
benzene-rich (Figure 14, black dashed line) and a toluene-lean feed
(Figure 15, gray dashed line) with marginal savings for the other feed
composition changes. The transient responses also show that
the curvature controllers, through their manipulation of VP/FSP and
TP7SP and the consequent nested action of the product purity
16448
controllers, cause the appropriate shift in the prefractionator and
middle section temperature proles for QR reduction. This is evident
in the mostly large dierences between the nal steady-state TP7 and
TM16 values for CSEC (dashed lines) and CSCC (solid lines).
For a quantitative comparison of the energy savings resulting
from using the temperature prole downward curvature controllers,
dx.doi.org/10.1021/ie5021409 | Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2014, 53, 1643616452
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research Article

Table 2. Purity of the Three Product Streams for Principal which alters the prefractionator top xylene spillover and hence
Disturbances to CSR the side-draw purity. The deviation in the side-draw purity is
detected by its purity controller, which would adjust TM16SP. It is
disturbance (mol %) xD,B xS,T xB,X
then expected that the nal steady state at which the column
B 27 0.9928 0.9869 0.9893 settles would have an altered impurity mix in the side-draw. Thus,
B 39 0.9859 0.9758 0.9910 for example, for the benzene-rich feed composition disturbance,
T 27 0.9875 0.9866 0.9891 at the nal steady state with only yTS5 regulated, xS,X changes from
T 39 0.9916 0.9863 0.9909 0.92 mol % to 0.88 mol % (xS,X + xS,B = 1 mol % for 99 mol % pure
X 27 0.9885 0.9831 0.9917 toluene side product). This readjustment of the product impurity
X 39 0.9912 0.9936 0.9882 distribution corresponds to QR reducing from 1859 kW to 1652
F 20 0.9921 0.9961 0.9916 kW, which is quite close the QRMIN value of 1600 kW. Even as the
F +20 0.9885 0.9739 0.9879 absolute change in the benzene and toluene impurity mole
fractions appears small, the relative change in the impurity
Table 3 compares QR for CSCC, CSEC, and CSEC with the yTS1 (TS1 distribution is quite substantial with the xS,B:xS,X ratio changing
downward curvature) controller on manual (i.e., VP/FSP kept xed from 0.087 to 0.133. This then suggests that the side-product
at base-case value) and CSEC with yTS5 (TS5 downward curvature) impurity distribution (which is constrained by the side-product
controller on manual (i.e., xS,XSP is kept xed at base-case value purity target) is a key determinant of the reboiler energy con-
with xS,X controller manipulating TP7SP). The quantitative data sumption. Its proper adjustment with feed composition is then
shows that the two curvature controllers together help critical toward energy ecient operation, and any meaningful
signicantly reduce QR toward QRMIN for the benzene-rich and control strategy must necessarily address the same to realize the
toluene-lean feed composition disturbances with marginal energy eciency benet of the complex column conguration,
improvement for the other feed composition disturbances. The particularly when large changes in the feed composition are
results also suggest that a substantial fraction of the QR reduction expected.

benet can be attained from only the yTS5 controller with the yTS1
controller achieving only marginal improvements in QR. For the
system studied, downward curvature in the temperature prole
of the middle tray section below side-draw product (TS5) thus
appears to have a more signicant impact on QR reduction.
To explain the results, consider regulating only yTS5 by directly
adjusting TP7SP while holding VP/FSP constant. A large negative
yTS5 indicates substantial suboptimality in QR. To bring yTS5 back
toward zero, the direct acting yTS5 controller would reduce TP7SP,
DISCUSSION
On the basis of the results presented, some comments on the
operability of a ternary Petlyuk column vis-a-vis a conventional
direct or indirect sequence are in order. The basic argument in
favor of a Petlyuk column is that an optimized design for a given
throughput and feed composition is signicantly more energy
ecient and less capital intensive than an optimized direct or

Figure 14. CSCC and CSEC transient response to benzene composition disturbance.

16449 dx.doi.org/10.1021/ie5021409 | Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2014, 53, 1643616452

Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research Article

Figure 15. CSCC and CSEC transient response to toluene composition disturbance.

Figure 16. CSCC and CSEC transient response to xylene composition disturbance.

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Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research Article

Table 3. Comparison of QR for Dierent Operating Strategies

CSCC CSEC CSEC: yTS1 manual CSEC: yTS5 manual
disturbance (mol %) QR % sub optimality QR % sub optimality QR % sub optimality QR % sub optimality
B 39 1859 16.2 1652 3.3 1652 3.3 1863 16.4
B 27 1740 3.0 1690 0.0 1740 3.0 1690 0.0
T 39 1736 1.9 1712 0.5 1736 1.9 1714 0.6
T 27 1758 11.5 1608 2.0 1608 2.0 1760 11.7
X 39 1651 2.2 1650 2.2 1650 2.2 1650 2.2
X 27 1798 8.1 1735 4.3 1735 4.3 1800 8.2

indirect sequence. However, the energy eciency of the op- control performance degradation. We also highlight that dierential
timized high-purity Petlyuk column design deteriorates signi- temperature measurements would also mitigate inadvertent changes
cantly (up to 16% for the example case study) unless the two free in the tray section splits due to variability in the column pressure
set points (unconstrained degrees of freedom) are readjusted to prole.

appropriately rebalance the prefractionator and middle section
splits toward minimum energy consumption. This rebalancing
in an automated feedback arrangement is, however, not a
straightforward task. For the commonly applied constant set
point operating policy in the industry (CSCC for the studied
example), the Petlyuk column energy eciency may then
deteriorate signicantly because of large feed composition
changes. Because the split rebalancing readjusts the impurity
distribution in the side draw, the deterioration in energy
eciency may be mitigated if small deviations in the side-draw
product purity from its target are allowed, i.e., the side-draw
product purity is allowed to oat. From the operational
standpoint, it then stands to reason that a high-purity Petlyuk
column would be preferable over a conventional distillation train
when (a) large changes in the feed composition are not expected
or (b) relatively loose side-draw product purity control is
acceptable. Alternatively, the Petlyuk conguration may also be
preferred when the side-draw product purity target is not too
stringent (e.g., 90 mol % pure instead of 99 mol %).
We note that the current study has considered a conventional
Petlyuk column where the liquid and vapor ow rate to the
prefractionator is directly adjustable. In the DWC arrangement,
however, typically only the liquid split ratio (and not ow rate) is
adjustable with the vapor split ratio not being adjustable because
CONCLUSION
This work has systematically developed and evaluated the
performance of a control system for energy ecient on-target
product purity operation of a high-purity BTX Petlyuk column.
Results show that maintaining the four principal impurities
(toluene in distillate and bottoms; xylene and benzene in side
draw) in the product streams at constant prefractionator vapor to
feed ratio (as in CSCC) results in signicant energy ineciency.
For feed composition changes, the reboiler duty is noticeably
higher than the minimum duty possible with on-target product
purities. The suboptimality is particularly severe (16%) for a
benzene-rich feed. It is shown that large downward curvature in
the temperature prole of the prefractionator enriching section
and the middle section below the side draw can be used to infer
the suboptimality. Preventing large downward curvature in these
proles by manipulating the vapor to the prefractionator and the
prefractionator control tray temperature set point, as in CSEC,
signicantly mitigates the suboptimality. The worst-case reboiler
energy consumption penalty is then only 4.26% more than the
minimum possible. The work highlights the need for innovative
control solutions for realizing the energy-eciency benet of the
ternary Petlyuk column for large disturbances.

it is xed by the dividing wall partitioning of the column cross-
sectional ow area. Control system design for optimal operation ASSOCIATED CONTENT
with on-target product purity control of a DWC must then
account for the loss in a control dof. In particular, the feasibility of *
S Supporting Information

the desired product impurity targets becomes an issue, which is
also referred to as the black-hole problem.22 We are currently
researching control strategies for on-target product purity
control with reboiler duty reduction for the ternary Petlyuk
DWC arrangement and hope to report the ndings shortly.
Variation in prefractionator bottom benzene spillover for feed
composition disturbances with xD,T, xS,T, xB,T, VP, and xS,T
constant and salient controller parameters including tuning.
This material is available free of charge via the Internet at http://
pubs.acs.org.

Lastly, we highlight the fact that the prefractionator and
middle section temperature proles shift quite a bit for handling AUTHOR INFORMATION
the feed-composition disturbances (see Figure 8, for example). If
the product composition measurements are very infrequent (e.g., Corresponding Author
once per shift or day), the composition-based updates in the *E-mail: nkaistha@iitk.ac.in. Phone: +91-512-2597513. Fax:
temperature set points would be very infrequent. The column +91-512-2590104.
would then, in-eect, operate at constant temperature set points Notes
for prolonged durations (until the next update). Holding a The authors declare no competing nancial interest.

prefractionator or middle section tray temperature constant
necessarily prevents the respective proles from shifting. This
would signicantly degrade product purity and reboiler duty
reduction control. In such situations, we recommend the use of
dierential temperature dierence in temperature of two trays in
a section17 or double dierential temperature,23 instead of absolute
temperature, to infer the tray section splits to mitigate the economic
16451
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Financial support from the Ministry of Human Resource and
Development, Government of India, is gratefully acknowledged.
The support from Mr. Vivek Kumar in revising the manuscript is
also gratefully acknowledged.
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Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research

Article

NOMENCLATURE (14) Wolff, E. A.; Skogestad, S. Operation of Integrated Three-Product

(Petlyuk) Distillation Columns. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 1995, 34, 2094
CTSi = Temperature prole curvature of tray section i; i = 1 to 6 2103.
(C) (15) Halvorsen, I. J.; Skogestad, S. Optimal Operation of Petlyuk
F = Feed rate (kmol/h) Distillation: Steady-State Behaviour. J. Process Control 1999, 9, 407424.
LM = Liquid rate to main column (from prefractionator) (16) Luyben, W. L.; Ling, H. New Control Structure for Divided-Wall
LP = Liquid rate to prefractionator (from main column) Columns. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2009, 48, 60346049.
QR = Reboiler duty (17) Luyben, W. L.; Ling, H. Temperature Control of the BTX
R = Reux rate (kmol/h) Divided-Wall Column. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2010, 49, 189203.
S = Side-draw rate (kmol/h) (18) Dwivedi, D.; Strandberg, J. P.; Halvorsen, I. J.; Skogestad, S.
Steady State and Dynamic Operation of Four-Product Dividing-Wall
TMk = Temperature of kth tray in main column (top down (Kaibel) Columns: Experimental Verification. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2012,
numbering) 51 (48), 1569615709.
TPk = Temperature of kth tray in prefractionator (top down (19) Caballero, J. A.; Grossmann, I. E. Optimal Synthesis of Thermally
numbering) Coupled Distillation Sequences Using a Novel MILP Approach.
VM = Vapor rate to main column (from prefractionator) Comput. Chem. Eng. 2014, 61, 118135.
(kmol/h) (20) Antonio, C. G.; Ramirez, A. B.; Gutierrez, A. J. Optimization of
VP = Vapor rate to prefractionator (from main column) Petlyuk Sequences using a Multi Objective Genetic Algorithm with
(kmol/h) Constraints. Comput. Chem. Eng. 2011, 35, 236244.
xD,i = Mole fraction of component i in distillate; i = B, T, X (21) Luyben, W. L. The Concept of Eigenstructure in Process Control.
xS,i = Mole fraction of component i in side draw; i = B, T, X Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 1988, 27 (1), 206208.
(22) Wang, Y.; Huang, K.; Luan, S.; Chen, W.; Wang, S.; Wong, D. S.
yTSi = Downward curvature of temperature prole in tray H. Circumventing the Black-Hole Problem in Design and Control of
section i; i = 1 to 6 Dividing-Wall Distillation Columns. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2012, 51,
Superscripts 1477114792.
MIN = Minimum (23) Luyben, W. L. Feedback Control of Distillation Columns by
SP = Set point Double Differential Temperature Control. Ind. Eng. Chem. Fundam.

1969, 8 (4), 739744.

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