Energy Conversion and Management 77 (2014) 287–297

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Energy Conversion and Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enconman

Advances in heat pump assisted distillation column: A review

Amiya K. Jana ⇑
Energy and Process Engineering Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur 721 302, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Progressive depletion of conventional fossil fuels with increasing energy demand and federal laws on
Received 22 April 2013 environmental emissions have stimulated intensive research in improving energy efficiency of the exist-
Accepted 28 September 2013 ing fractionation units. In this light, the heat pump assisted distillation (HPAD) scheme has emerged as an
attractive separation technology with great potential for energy saving. This paper aims at providing a
state-of-the-art assessment of the research work carried out so far on heat pumping systems and iden-
Keywords: tifies future challenges in this respect. At first, the HPAD technology is introduced with its past progresses
Heat pumping
that have centered upon column configuration, modeling, design and optimization, economic feasibility
Distillation
Vapor recompression
and experimental verification for steady state operation. Then the focus is turned to review the progress
Hybrid heat pump systems of a few emerging heat integration approaches that leads to motivate the researchers for further advance-
Batch processing ment of the HPAD scheme. Presenting the recently developed hybrid HPAD based heat integrated distil-
lation configurations, the feasibility of heat pumping in batch processing is discussed. Finally the work
highlights the opportunities and future challenges of the potential methodology.
Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction integration in fractionation units leads to additional equipment

There is a steep rise in global energy consumption mainly be-
cause of the increasing industrialization and motorization of the
world. Fossil fuels meet 80 percent of our primary energy demands
and they are responsible for the major production of greenhouse
gases, leading to a number of negative effects, such as climate
change, receding of glaciers, rise in sea level and loss of biodiver-
sity [1]. Increasing energy consumption, negative growth of fossil
resources and greenhouse gas emissions have led to a move to-
wards the improvement of thermodynamic efficiency of the well
established processes, along with the development of new energy
efficient and cost-effective process technology.
Distillation is the most mature and widely used separation pro-
cess in the chemical and allied industries, accounting for 95% of all
separations in chemical process industries [2], and for an estimated
10% of the US industrial energy consumption [3]. Furthermore, it is
reported [4] that 40% of the energy used by a chemical plant is for
distillation alone. Because of low thermodynamic efficiency, which
is typically in the range of 5 to 20%, and high energy consumption,
the distillation has become a potential candidate for thermal
intensification.
After the oil crises in the 1970s, the interest in thermal intensi-
fication appears to have been resurrected. In separation processes,
the major energy costs are associated with compressors, reboilers
and condensers cooled with refrigerant. Proposing thermal
⇑ Tel.: +91 3222 283918; fax: +91 3222 282250.
E-mail address: akjana@che.iitkgp.ernet.in
costs that are more than offset savings in utility costs. However,
because of increasing utility costs at a faster rate than equipment
costs, along with the environmental alarm due to the greenhouse
gas emissions, the heat integration approach has received consid-
erable research attention in literature and appears to be economi-
cally feasible for distillation processes.
Among various heat integrated distillation techniques, the heat
pumping system has emerged as one of the widely accepted
schemes for continuous flow distillation columns. In fact, practical
studies have shown the potential of this strategy to drastically re-
duce the net energy consumption and hence emissions of green-
house gases. However, continuous efforts need to be devoted to
make the heat pump assisted distillation (HPAD) scheme more
attractive compared to its close competitors. Although a consider-
able progress on heat pumping systems is noticed for continuous
flow operations, there is almost no research attention paid for
batch processing. It is fairly true that the unsteady state behavior
of the batch operation makes the heat integration more challeng-
ing. The objective of this article is to present the recent develop-
ments in the field of heat pump assisted distillation technology,
particularly vapor recompression column (VRC) and its hybrid con-
figurations, and to identify uncovered gaps in this respect.
2. Heat pump assisted distillation (HPAD) columns
As the cost of energy continues to rise, it becomes imperative to
improve overall energy performance of the chemical process units.
With this objective, various energy integration techniques for

0196-8904/$ - see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2013.09.055
288 A.K. Jana / Energy Conversion and Management 77 (2014) 287–297
distillation columns have been explored so far seeking lower en-
ergy consumption and better profitability. Heat pump assisted dis-
tillation (HPAD) column is one of the most promising alternatives
for the conventional distillation column (CDiC) since HPAD has the
potential to separate a mixture with smaller energy consumption
compared to CDiC.
In a conventional distillation column, the heat is supplied at the
bottom reboiler by a hot utility and that is wasted to a cold utility
at the overhead condenser, thus causing a substantial energy deg-
radation. An obvious way to reduce the energy consumption is to
couple the condenser and the reboiler which represent the major
source and sink of energy, respectively. In this light, the integration
between a heat pump and the distillation column is well-known as
an attractive terminology.
The heat pumping systems, which can be operated in conjunc-
tion with the distillation columns, can be conveniently lumped into
two categories: mechanical heat pump and absorption heat pump.
In the mechanical heat pumps, instead of using a separate over-
head condenser and bottom reboiler, the vapor stream leaving
the top tray is compressed to a higher pressure and then used to
heat the bottom liquid, or the liquid stream leaving the bottom
tray is flashed in a pressure reducing valve and then used to cool
the overhead vapor. On the other hand, the later scheme uses a
separate closed loop fluid system to transfer the heat up the tem-
perature scale by means of heat of mixing. In this article, at first,
selected works on both of these heat pump assisted distillation col-
umns and their impact on energy efficiency as well as cost are re-
viewed. Subsequently, we turn our special attention on the recent
developments of mechanically heat pump assisted VRC scheme for
finding the further research possibilities.
It should be pointed out here that the energetic and economic
performances are somewhat case specific and therefore the per-
cent savings shown throughout this paper for several example sys-
tems are intended to indicate trends rather than precise figures.
2.1. Absorption heat pump assisted distillation column
The first absorption heat pump machine was made by the LeC-
arre brothers in 1859 [5]. A historical review of this heat pump sys-
tem dating back to the work of Nairne in 1777 is presented by
Stephan [6]. Recently, Chua et al. [7] have provided a comprehen-
sive update on recent developments in heat pump machines.
As illustrated in Fig. 1, a typical absorption heat pump includes
four main components, namely absorber, desorber (usually called
generator), evaporator and condenser. In the working fluid loop,
Fig. 1. A typical absorption heat pump arrangement.
the generator heats up the solution at high pressure and tempera-
ture, releasing vapor to the condenser. Subsequently, the conden-
sate goes to the evaporator, in which, it evaporates using low
temperature heat and then it is absorbed in the absorption column.
Obviously, the system receives heat in the generator and the evap-
orator, and rejects heat in the condenser and the absorber. The rich
solution is pumped from the absorber to the generator, where the
cycle starts again. In a typical heat pump system, the pressure ele-
vation and the corresponding higher boiling point of the working
fluid are effected by an absorber, a generator and an additional
fluid loop (absorbent loop) between these units.
Fonyo et al. [8] have evaluated six different variants of the heat
pumping system with reference to the base case column with
isomerization reactor. These six schemes include: three forms of
mechanical heat pump system (vapor recompression, bottom
flashing and closed cycle), and three modes of absorption heat
pump system (single stage with parallel and sequential operations,
and double stage parallel operation). It should be noted that the
bottom liquid is boiled up with the use of heat exchangers ar-
ranged either in series (sequential operation) or parallel (parallel
operation) mode. For the case of C4 splitter, it is reported [8] that
the lowest cost is reached by using the double stage scheme,
although its operation is far more difficult. Heat pump assisted dis-
tillation research is also extended to absorption heat transformer
(AHT) [9,10], the reverse operation of the absorption heat pump.
In the transformer (Fig. 2), the absorber and evaporator operate
at higher pressure, whereas the condenser at the lowest pressure.
Tufano [10] has shown that the parallel heat pump – transformer
allows one to exactly match the heat loads of most distillation col-
umns and to reduce the consumption of primary energy by about
40%. A systematic comparison is also presented by Fonyo and Ben-
ko [11] between the different variants of the absorption and
mechanical heat pumps with the transformer arrangement. For a
C4 splitter, their economic evaluations show that the AHT is the
worst performer and the heat pump with sequential arrangement
is the best one. For selecting a suitable scheme, however, a general
guideline is proposed as: (1) larger heat load and smaller column
temperature difference provide shorter payback time for heat
pumping, and (2) the absorption heat transformation cycles have
an even chance for implementation at larger temperature differ-
ence, when the other heat pump configurations are discarded.
Ranade and Chao [12] have also detailed the guidelines for the
use of different kinds of heat pumping arrangements. They have
concluded that if the Carnot efficiency is taken into account, the
vapor recompression approach is the most economical solution,
but the simplest way of introducing a heat pump into an existing
distillation unit is the closed cycle system with working fluid.
However, it is fairly true to say that the performance of the heat
pumps is mostly case specific.
Fig. 2. Distillation column in conjunction with an absorption heat transformer [10]
[A = absorber, B = bottoms, C = condenser, D = distillate, E = evaporator, EC = econ-
omizer, F = feed, G = generator].
 A.K. Jana / Energy Conversion and Management 77 (2014) 287–297
By combining the absorption and mechanical heat pumps, the
hybrid heat pump assisted distillation system has appeared in lit-
erature [13–15]. This advanced multiple-stage distillation scheme
consists of the following principal components, namely absorber,
generator and vapor recompression units. Minea and Chiriac [16]
have explored the feasibility of the hybrid compression/absorption
heat pump for district heating systems. Currently, Li et al. [17] have
evaluated this scheme for the production of freshwater from sea-
water by the use of wasteheat from process industry in the Shef-
field region, UK, showing a substantial energy savings of 80% and
coefficients of performance (COP) of 3.1–12.1 in different stages.
The absorption heat pumps are mainly used for refrigeration
where the temperature of the heat source is higher than that in
the heat sink [17]. They can be operated by all kind of thermal en-
ergy including waste heat from chemical processes or engines [17]
as well as solar energy [18,19]. In order to utilize the wastewater as
a heat source in the desalination process, however, the tempera-
ture in the heat sink is more than the temperature in the heat
source. It clearly indicates the necessity of an auxiliary heat source
that needs to be coupled to the system to raise the required tem-
perature. Aiming to enhance the heat source temperature, various
possibilities have been explored [17]. Among them, the compres-
sion/absorption heat pump systems have great potential for use
with the distillation column because of their high performance ra-
tio and good energy management [17]. It should be noted that
absorption heat pumps have been applied extensively in desalina-
tion industry [20–23]. The novel application further includes the
use of a two stage compressor heat pump system in restoring the
absorbent used to clean the flue gases in a pulp mill [24].
In recent years, the use of absorption heat transformer is no-
ticed in improving the energy efficiency of desalination plants. Cur-
rently, Gomri [25] has presented a comparative study between the
single effect and double effect AHT systems for the production of
500 L of drinking water per day from the seawater. A number of
experimental studies are also reported [26,27] to show the feasibil-
ity of AHT technology.
The main difficulty of this heat pumping arrangement is associ-
ated with the working fluids. Sulfuric acid–water mixture, used in
the early days of the absorption heat pump technique, has turned
out to be too corrosive and poisonous [6]. Nowadays, the most
widely used working fluid is perhaps the ammonia–water mixture
[17]. However, in spite of the many potential advantages, this pair
exhibits some drawbacks, such as [6]: (i) it is perhaps impossible to
completely remove the water from the evaporator, which leads to
raise the evaporation temperature, (ii) ammonia starts decompos-
ing above 180 °C, (iii) there is a limit of maximum temperature in
the generator, and (iv) ammonia is poisonous. Sulfur dioxide and
pure ammonia [5,15], which act as a refrigerant, are also poison-
ous. Some potential working pairs (working fluid/absorbent)
involving chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) have been investigated in
laboratory size units. Because of current controversy over CFCs
and ozone layer depletion, there is likely to be only limited scope
for pairs involving CFCs. When water absorbed by lithium bromide
is utilized [21–23], the safety problem may be solved, but other
difficulties such as crystallization, arise. Some commercial models
of absorption heat transformers operating with water–LiBr are in
use [28]. Several other working fluids, such as water–LiCl, water–
LiCl/LiBr pairs [28], aqueous NaOH [29], aqueous CaCl2 and CaCl2/
LiCl solutions [30], and their merits and demerits are extensively
covered in literature.
In the view of environmental advantages of the absorption heat
pump systems and, if the question for primary energy consump-
tion is posed, no doubt the absorption systems will gain more
importance in the near future. The scope for the absorption heat
pump must be further broadened if environmentally friendly
working pairs are identified.
289
2.2. Mechanical heat pump assisted distillation column
The mechanical heat pumps are electrically driven vapor
recompression types. Based on the concept popularized in the early
1950s by Freshwater [31], subsequently Null [32] has proposed
three basic schemes, namely direct vapor recompression, bottom
flashing and external vapor recompression. As shown in Fig. 3, all
three mechanical heat pump configurations use an expansion valve
and a compressor to alter condensing and/or boiling temperatures
so that the heat rejected in the overhead condenser can be reused
to provide the heat needed in the bottom reboiler.
In the direct vapor recompression column (VRC), the overhead
vapor is compressed to a higher pressure to utilize its latent heat
for bottoms liquid reboiling. The condensate leaving the reboiler
is then flashed across a throttling valve to column top pressure
for providing reflux and distillate. In the bottom flashing, the bot-
toms liquid is expanded to a pressure corresponding to a saturation
temperature of the distillate and used as a cooling medium in the
overhead condenser. On the other hand, the external vapor recom-
pression, where the heat pump works between the condenser and
the reboiler of a distillation column using some sort of working
fluid, is known as a closed system. Obviously, the whole absor-
ber/generator system of absorption heat pump system shown in
Fig. 1 replaces the compressor of mechanical heat pump system.
When the bottoms product is a good refrigerant, the distillation
column with bottom flashing arrangement is a possible candidate
for enhancing thermodynamic efficiency. Moreover, like other
mechanical heat pumping structures, this scheme shows its poten-
tial in reducing energy consumption, particularly for the separation
of mixtures with close boiling points. It is experienced that when
the bottoms liquid passes through an expansion value, some
amount of liquid is most likely to get vaporized. This, in turn, leads
to reduce the rate of top vapor condensation mainly due to the
reduction of heat receiving capacity of the flashed vapor over its li-
quid state. This problem is further strengthened when the pressure
reduction in the valve has increased, i.e. when the boiling point
temperatures of the components to be separated are far apart. It
should be highlighted that if the additional heat added during isen-
tropic compression is not sufficient to make up the difference be-
tween reboiler and condenser duties, an auxiliary steam-heated
reboiler is required to employ, thereby enhancing both the operat-
ing and capital costs. Several research groups have evaluated this
scheme in terms of thermodynamic efficiency and overall cost.
Fig. 3. Schematic representation of the mechanical heat pump assisted distillation
schemes.
290 A.K. Jana / Energy Conversion and Management 77 (2014) 287–297

Importantly, Henley and Seader [33] have presented the applica-

tion of the heat pump with reboiler liquid flashing for the separa-
tion of propylene–propane (P–P) mixture and shown its maximum
thermal efficiency in comparison with other two mechanical sys-
tems. Fonyo et al. [8] have compared six heat pump assisted distil-
lation columns (3 absorption heat pumps and 3 mechanical heat
pumps) for the case of C4 separations and observed that the bottom
flashing scheme is the worst economic performer. Again, for sepa-
rating a close boiling mixture of i-butane/n-butane, Diez et al. [34]
have seen a competitive performance between the VRC and bottom
flashing. All these results confirm that the bottom flashing is not a
good option when the temperature difference between the over-
head and the bottom of the column is reasonably large.
Lynd and Grethlein [35] have proposed different ways of
accomplishing the intermediate heating and cooling in a distilla-
tion process under closed system (i.e. external vapor recompres-
sion) framework. Their distillation configuration (Fig. 4),
consisting of intermediate heat pumps and optimal sidestream re-
Fig. 5. A closed-system configuration of a combined overall heat pump system and
turn, allows heat to be moved between points in a distillation col- intermediate heat exchangers.
umn with greater efficiency than several other methods of
employing heat pumps for distillation. Subsequently, Bjorn et al.
pump compressor case is cheaper than the single compressor case.
[36] have extended this scheme with the additional inclusion of
Annakou and Mizsey [42] have further studied the VRC scheme
overhead condenser and bottom reboiler in the closed system
dealing with P–P system and found that the annual costs get re-
(Fig. 5). Using a mixture of CFC-12 and CFC-114 as a working fluid,
duced by 37%. Their investigation also shows that the heat pump
it is demonstrated that the addition of top condenser and bottom
assisted distillation column of vapor recompression type mini-
reboiler to intermediate heat exchangers in the closed cycle system
mizes about 60% of the flue gas emissions. The application of
leads to enhance the energy efficiency from 30% to 75%. Interested
VRC strategy is extended to ethylbenzene/xylene and ethylben-
readers may consult the work of Mizsey and Fonyo [37] for a sys-
zene/styrene separations, showing a substantial savings [43]. On
tematic design methodology for the energy integrated distillation
the other hand, Canales and Marquez [44] have designed and built
system enhanced by closed cycle heat pumping. However, this
a laboratory-scale vapor recompression column for separating a
external vapor recompression scheme, like the absorption heat
binary mixture of ethanol–water. They have reported a reduction
pump system, involves the use of working fluid and hence suffers
in energy consumption ranging from 45% to 56%, as compared to
from the same drawbacks associated with the working pair. This
the conventional column. As mentioned previously, Diez et al.
closed system approach is generally preferred when the column
[34] have selected an i-butane/n-butane mixture to compare the
fluid is corrosive or is not a good refrigerant [38].
direct VRC, bottom flashing and absorption heat pumps. Perform-
Several research groups are actively involved in making the di-
ing simulation experiments, it is shown that the distillation with
rect VRC technology more attractive from the early 1970s to till
both top vapor recompression and bottom flashing configurations
date. Danziger [39] has studied distillation columns with vapor
allow reduction of operating costs by 33% and 32%, and capital
recompression and based on his result, the energy saved is over
costs by 9% and 10%, respectively. They have concluded that the
80% compared to a conventional standalone column. Comparing
absorption heat pump is not worthy for this close boiling system
the most frequently used single compressor and double compres-
because of its large steam consumption compared to the CDiC col-
sor assisted VRC schemes, Quadri [40] claims that the former
umn. Very recently, Kiss et al. [45] have proposed a set of guide-
scheme is about 50% cheaper than its double compressor counter-
lines to select the most promising thermally integrated
part in case of the splitting of propylene–propane system, a close
distillation column based on the following criteria: type of separa-
boiling mixture. Interestingly, based on a Union Carbide plant, Par-
tion tasks, product flow and specifications, operating pressure, dif-
ker [41] has arrived at the opposite conclusion, i.e. two stage heat
ference in boiling points, reboiler duty and its temperature level.
In addition to the economic feasibility study of VRC, this scheme
has been a subject of widespread research, focusing on design and
optimization (e.g. [40,43,46,47]), modeling (e.g. [48,49]), operabil-
ity analysis (e.g. [42,50]) and control (e.g. [38,51–53]).
The direct vapor recompression machine is the simplest appli-
cation of heat pumps in distillation [54] and perhaps the most pop-
ular all over the world [15]. In comparison with the absorption
heat pump, the VRC offers a number of appealing advantages, such
as simple structure, small ground space requirement, ease of de-
sign and operation, low initial capital investment and no involve-
ment of working fluid that creates a lot of troubles. In this
article, the vapor recompression distillation has been selected as
a potential candidate for review to explore the possibilities of fur-
ther advancements.

3. Heat integration in distillation column: emerging approaches

Among the various energy integration techniques scrutinized

Fig. 4. A closed-system configuration with optimal return of the side-stream. for distillation processes, most important ones include dividing
 A.K. Jana / Energy Conversion and Management 77 (2014) 287–297 291

wall column (DWC) [55–59], internally heat integrated distillation

column (HIDiC) [54,60–66] and of course, heat pump assisted VRC
scheme [8,33,34,53,67]. After several decades of research, the di-
vided wall column (Fig. 6), which integrates two columns of a Pet-
lyuk system into one column shell, has been successfully
commercialized. At present, there are more than 70 packed DWC
columns operated by BASF worldwide [68]. Recently, DWCs make
a successful inroad into the refinery world dominated by complex
columns, and this is becoming a fast developing application field. It
is true that prediction of overall performance is becoming a routine
calculation; however, the predictive models capable of dimension-
ing a DWC are still not publicly available [68].
The DWC approach, which is applicable to a specific class of dis-
tillation columns, is capable of reducing the energy requirement by
around 30% compared to its conventional two-column configura-
tions. Aiming to extend the heat integration concept to a general
class of distillation processes, the HIDiC scheme (Fig. 7) that com-
bines the vapor recompression and diabatic operation has ap-
peared with greater promise [69]. An excellent overview of the
HIDiC structures can be found in Nakaiwa et al. [70] and Jana [3],
and references therein. Performing bench-scale experimental tests Fig. 7. Schematic representation of the HIDiC scheme.
for the separation of a binary mixture of benzene and toluene, it is
shown [61] that the HIDiC column can achieve more than 40% naturally one question arises: why we should go for the VRC?
reduction in energy consumption. Furthermore, Horiuchi et al. We can find the answer from:
[71] have operated a HIDiC pilot plant at zero external reflux con-
In the case of a stand-alone unit or where there are severe restric-
dition, and claimed more than 50% savings in energy requirement.
tions on the integrability of the distillation column, the realization
Currently, many pilot and industrial-scale projects of HIDiCs are
of heat pump assisted distillation is the most promising energy sav-
underway in Japan and in the Netherlands [68].
ing technique.
In HIDiC column, the vapor flow decreases from the bottom to
the top of the rectifier and increases as it flows up towards the Fonyo and Benko [11]
top of the stripper. Usually, the vapor inflow rate to the compressor
of a HIDiC is larger than that of a typical vapor recompression col-
umn. On the other hand, the VRC involves comparatively large 4. Can we make the VRC scheme a strong competitor to the
compression ratio (CR). Although the small vapor flow through HIDiC column?
the compressor can provide benefits for the VRC, the large CR has
a negative impact on the compressor power requirement. It is a Earlier, it was highly recommended to exhaust the thermal inte-
well-known fact that the electricity required for driving the com- gration possibilities first before the use of VRC since the thermal
pressor is several times more expensive than the thermal utility integration is usually cheaper and more economical than heat
used to run the reboiler as well as condenser. However, in compar- pumping [11]. Even before adopting the VRC scheme, we should
ison with VRC, the HIDiC column can achieve better economic ben- take into consideration its limitation that the VRC is an economic
efits owing to its lower compression ratio [72]. If this is so, way to conserve energy when the temperature difference between
the overhead and bottom of the column is reasonably small [42].
However, these conceptions concerning the limitation of VRC tech-
nology have changed with time and now we are in a position to
realize that no single heat integration scheme is always the most
energy efficient [54]. It is worth noticing that the advanced forms
of VRC scheme have proved to be a strong competitor to the HIDiC
column and in many situations, even they perform better.
For boosting the thermodynamic efficiency of the classical VRC
column, the use of intermediate heat exchangers is introduced a
Distillate
long back by Flower and Jackson [73]. It is fairly true that to supply
heat at any point in the lower part of the column, the overhead va-
por should be compressed to such a pressure that there exists a
Feed certain driving force between the saturation temperature of the
Side product
compressed vapor and the temperature at the point in question.
In order to supply heat to a number of intermediate points by com-
pressing parts of the overhead vapor stream to appropriate pres-
sures, they [73] have suggested the employment of a multistage
compression system.
In fact, the use of intermediate heat exchangers in regular dis-
tillation column is beneficial, particularly when the components
being separated have widely different boiling points. Luyben [74]
has designed a conventional distillation process with intermediate
reboilers for separating a wide boiling mixture, showing a 6.6%
Bottoms
lower total annual cost. Recently, Jana and Mane [67] have evalu-
Fig. 6. Schematic representation of the divided wall column (DWC). ated the VRC scheme having intermediate reboilers (Fig. 8) for a to-
292 A.K. Jana / Energy Conversion and Management 77 (2014) 287–297
Fig. 8. Heat pump assisted vapor recompressed RD column with intermediate
reboiler [67].
tal reflux multiple feed reactive distillation (RD) column. For ethyl-
ene glycol system, a wide boiling mixture case, this heat pump as-
sisted column appears overwhelmingly superior to its
conventional counterpart securing an energy savings of 46.2%
and a payback period of 2.74 yr. They have further commented that
it is economical to use the compressed overhead vapor as a heating
medium in the intermediate reboiler and steam in the bottom
reboiler; this is exactly what Flower and Jackson [73] have realized.
Now, it can be concluded that the VRC configuration is capable of
achieving thermal efficiency and cost benefits for all types of mix-
tures, including close-boiling and wide-boiling components.
Very recently, Kumar et al. [75] have explored and analyzed
various heat pump arrangements with intermediate reboiler(s) un-
der the VRC framework. An industrial RD column producing ethyl
tert-butyl ether (ETBE) is simulated to illustrate the proposed
schemes for the separation of a mixture with widely different boil-
ing points. The multi-stage vapor recompression column shown in
Fig. 9, which addresses a number of practical concerns, secures a
substantial energy savings (= 50.60%) and a reasonably low pay-
back period (= 3.23 yr).
Shenvi et al. [54] have worked on developing the multi-stage
vapor recompression scheme with intermediate exchangers for a
binary distillation column. Several alternative configurations of
VRC have also been developed to perform a comparative study
with the HIDiC column. The authors have finally come to the con-
clusion that no single heat integration scheme is always the most
energy efficient. For an economically optimal distribution of inter-
mediate heat exchanging arrangements, one may consult the
guidelines proposed by Agrawal and his coworkers [76,77].
Interestingly, in spite of the encouraging outcomes, no indus-
trial application of HIDiC column exists on plant scale [78], and
one of the primary reasons lies in its complex design and structure
[79]. Actually, the HIDiC design requires the implementation of
internal heat exchangers along the height of the column that is still
a challenging problem in the aspect of equipment design. However,
it is inspected by several research groups [54,66,80,81] that the
reduction of heat transfer locations to a small number has a negli-
gible impact on the economic performance. For example, Harwardt
and Marquardt [78] have shown that the cost-optimal HIDiC de-
signs require only a few heat exchange locations. Even, it is sug-
gested to use a single heat exchanger in the HIDiC configuration,
which eventually gives rise to a structure similar to the direct
VRC scheme. Now, it becomes obvious that to make the HIDiC col-
umn implementable in industrial scale, we may need to reconfig-
ure its design that tends to a heat integrated configuration close
to the VRC column.
5. Introduction of VRC in HIDiC column: hybrid system
One key approach to improving the thermodynamic efficiency
of many industrial processes is to recover every possible sources
of waste heat and turn them to useful outputs. It is interesting to
note that because of the operation of HIDiC rectifier at an elevated
pressure, the temperature difference between the rectifier top va-
por and stripper bottom liquid may be positive, if not, negative
with a reasonably small magnitude. It opens up the possibility of
further intensification in the HIDiC column by introducing the
VRC scheme. As shown in Fig. 10, in this intensified scheme (int-
HIDiC), a certain amount of thermal driving force is attempted to
maintain by the use of a second compressor in order to ensure
the optimal use of latent heat of rectifier top vapor for stripper bot-
toms liquid reboiling.
This novel combination of internal and external thermal inte-
grations in the int-HIDiC technique is first evaluated by Mane
and Jana [82]. This hybrid system is demonstrated by a simple bin-
ary column for the fractionation of an equimolar benzene/toluene
mixture. In comparison with the general HIDiC that shows 19.9%
energy savings and a payback period of 6.75 yr, they have found
that the intensified strategy can significantly improve the effi-
ciency of energy utilization (61.12% savings) and cost savings
(11.45%).
Subsequently, this concept is further reported by Shenvi et al.
[54]. However, they discuss the rational of thermal coupling be-
tween the overhead vapor of rectifier and the bottom liquid of
stripper with no internal heat exchangers between two diabatic
sections. For this configuration, one is no longer constrained to
operate the entire rectifier at high pressure. The two columns
may be run at the same pressure, and only the amount of vapor
needed for reflux and boilup needs to be compressed. This avoids
compression of the entire vapor that flows through the rectifier.
Obviously, we would expect power savings from this simple heat
pump strategy compared to the HIDiC-equivalent scheme.
Recently, Kiran et al. [83] have extended this technique to ex-
plore the two forms of int-HIDiC for the fractionation of a multi-
component hydrocarbon system. Their intensified scheme is
classified mainly based on the use of number of compressors. It
is examined that the int-HIDiC with single compressor and that
with double compressor systems appear superior to the general
HIDiC and the conventional column in terms of energy consump-
tion and economic figure. In their single compressor scheme, the
rectifier is operated at a reasonably high pressure so that a certain
thermal driving force between the rectifier top and the stripper
bottom is maintained. Without running the rectifier at so high
pressure, alternatively the same thermal driving force is main-
 A.K. Jana / Energy Conversion and Management 77 (2014) 287–297
Fig. 9. Schematic representation of the double-stage vapor recompression RD column with double intermediate reboiler [75] [B = bottoms rate, D = distillate rate,
IR = intermediate reboiler, P = pressure, T = temperature, TV = throttling valve, Comp = compressor, V = vapor flow rate, x = liquid phase composition].
tained by the employment of a second compressor in the HIDiC
with double compressor system. Among these two investigated
schemes, the authors [83] have shown that the double compressor
assisted column provides the maximum energy savings of 59.15%
and a least payback time of excess capital (3.44 yr). It should be
noted that the single compressor scheme is a feasible option only
when there exists a positive thermal driving force between the
heat source and the heat sink; otherwise, the driving force has to
make positive by enhancing the compression ratio.
It is worth mentioning that the use of more intensified struc-
tures may not always provide cost-effective performance com-
pared to a simpler arrangement. In this context, Bjorn et al. [36]
have stated that:
The use of more elaborate systems involving intermediate heat
exchangers is, theoretically, necessary in order to achieve a higher
thermodynamic efficiency; in practice, however, these systems do
not always turn out to be economically viable when compared with
simpler arrangements.
Moreover, it is fairly true that the degree of heat integration and
controllability are likely to have an inverse relation [84]. It is not
expected that one would build a highly energy efficient process
that is very poorly controllable or even uncontrollable. Therefore,
293
we should take into account the cost and controllability issues to-
gether, along with the energetic performance, when we wish to
introduce further intensification in a standard heat integrated
column.
6. VRC in batch processing
6.1. Vapor recompressed batch distillation (VRBD)
It is recognized that the heat pump systems are easy to intro-
duce and the plant operation is generally simpler compared to
other heat integration schemes. In fact, the vapor recompressed
column (VRC) designs are often more cost efficient owing to sim-
pler equipment [78]. These appealing advantages motivate us to
explore the possibility of VRC applications, particularly in batch
processing.
It has long been recognized that the batch distillation is less en-
ergy efficient than the continuous flow column. As illustrated the
vapor recompressed batch distillation (VRBD) configuration in
Fig. 11, vapor from the top of the batch column is compressed to
the desired pressure (hot stream) and condensed against reboiler
liquid (cold stream). This in turn boils the reboiler content, gener-
ating vapor that enters the rectification tower. Although the over-
294 A.K. Jana / Energy Conversion and Management 77 (2014) 287–297
Fig. 10. Schematic representation of the int-HIDiC column [82].
Fig. 11. Schematic representation of the vapor recompressed batch distillation
(VRBD) column [L = liquid rate; V = vapor rate].
head stream keeps changing its phase to liquid state, it leaves the
still at elevated pressure. Before entering into the reflux drum, the
condensate is therefore depressurized by a pressure relieve valve.
Although the thermal arrangement made in both the VRC schemes
operated in continuous and batch modes seems to be the same, the
operation of VRBD is comparatively much more challenging be-
cause of its transient nature. The author of this review and his team
members are involved in developing the VRC and its hybrid config-
urations for batch operations.
Johri et al. [85] are the first to configure the VRC scheme for
batch processing. In their strategy, the thermal driving force be-
tween the compressed top vapor and the reboiler liquid is at-
tempted to keep constant throughout the unsteady state
operation. In order to meet this operational objective, the compres-
sor needs to be operated at a variable speed mode and therefore,
they prefer to call this structure as the variable speed vapor recom-
pressed batch distillation (variable speed VRBD). To ensure the opti-
mal use of internal heat source, an open-loop control policy is
further proposed by the authors for the VRBD. Along with the CR,
this control mechanism suggests to adjust either the overhead va-
por splitting or the external heat supply to the reboiler. For a reac-
tive distillation (RD) example, Johri et al. [85] have shown that the
variable speed VRBD is capable of reducing about 65.85% energy
consumption. The attractiveness of this new thermally coupled
structure is also measured by its payback period of excess capital
(4 yr).
Subsequently, several interesting applications of the variable
speed VRBD structure are started reporting in literature. Impor-
tantly, Babu et al. [86] have synthesized this heat integrated
scheme for a ternary batch distillation with a side withdrawal,
achieving a 85.97% savings in energy efficiency and 44.67% in total
annualized cost (TAC). For the case of a middle vessel batch distil-
 A.K. Jana / Energy Conversion and Management 77 (2014) 287–297
lation, the variable speed mechanism is also applied [87] and this
example system provides a sharp reduction in energy consumption
(60%) and a payback time of 2.73 yr.
Although the VRC in conjunction with a variable speed com-
pressor is much more thermodynamically efficient for batch pro-
cessing than the conventional batch distillation (CBD), the major
cause of concerns associated in its application is the operation of
compressor at varying compression ratio. For smooth operation
of heat pump in a thermally coupled batch splitter, a relatively
simple VRBD configuration that runs at a fixed CR value is subse-
quently proposed by Khan et al. [88]. By separating a binary mix-
ture of wide boiling components, they have quantitatively shown
how closely the reversible batch operation can be approximated
by using the direct compression of overhead vapor. It should be
noted that the variable speed VRBD shows a little improvement
over its fixed speed counterpart in terms of energy efficiency and
cost, but at the cost of an increased operational complexity.
6.2. Introduction of VRC in an internally heat integrated batch
distillation with a jacketed still (HIBDJS): hybrid system
Fig. 12 schematically illustrates the principles of an internally
heat integrated batch distillation with a jacketed still (HIBDJS).
As shown, this thermally coupled scheme uses a jacket as a reboiler
(or still) that surrounds the rectifying tower. The vapor produced in
this concentric reboiler is compressed and then introduced at the
bottom of the rectifier. As a consequence, there exists a pressure
difference (temperature difference) between the rectifier and jack-
eted reboiler. Accordingly, a certain amount of energy is exchanged
from the HP rectifier to the LP reboiler through the internal wall
and brings the downward liquid flow for the former and upward
vapor flow for the latter. By this way, the reboiler and condenser
heat loads can get lowered.
This new heat integrated batch distillation is originally config-
ured by Takamatsu et al. [89]. After a long gap, Maiti et al. [90]
have systematized their idea and clarified the advantages of this
approach through numerical simulations. The authors have re-
ported their findings for the separation of a binary mixture (etha-
nol/water) that the potential energy integration leads to achieving
about 56.10% energy savings and 40.53% savings in total annual-
ized cost.
For boosting further the thermodynamic and economic perfor-
mance, the same research group [91] has proposed a novel combi-
nation of internal and external heat integrations introducing direct
vapor recompression approach in the HIBDJS scheme (Fig. 13). In
addition to the heat transferred from HP rectifier to LP still through
the internal wall, the latent heat of overhead vapor is also utilized
for liquid reboiling. Aiming to run the column at a constant reboiler
Condenser
Distillate
Heat
Compressor
Fig. 12. Schematic representation of the HIBDJS scheme.
295
Overhead
vapor
Condenser
C2
Distillate
Heat C1
Fig. 13. Schematic representation of the VRC-HIBDJS scheme [C = compressor].
duty throughout the entire batch operation, an open-loop control
policy needs to be devised because of the dynamic behavior of
batch processing. This hybrid VRC-HIBDJS scheme demonstrated
by a butyl acetate RD column shows a dramatic reduction of en-
ergy consumption by 75% and a payback time to 1.74 yr.
7. Scope of future research
7.1. VRC in continuous processing
The heat pump assisted VRC column has been studied exten-
sively, particularly for separating the close boiling mixtures. In
the recent past, the use of intermediate reboiler(s) in VRC technol-
ogy is thoroughly investigated with several numerical examples for
the separation of components having widely different boiling
points. Till now, however, no industrial application of this multi-
stage VRC with intermediate heat exchanger(s) exists according
to the author’s knowledge. Truly speaking, the optimal integration
of the heat pumping system with a distillation column still remains
a challenging R&D task.
Efficient use of energy in distillation columns is crucial to the
reduction of net energy consumption and hence emissions of
greenhouse gases. Recent advances have shown that an intensified
energy integrated distillation configuration leads to a significant
energy and thus cost savings. However, this cost benefit comes at
the expense of operating and control challenges. Tight coupling
of various possible heat sources and heat sinks results in the reduc-
tion of available degrees of freedom and in feedback interactions,
adding further complexities in the process dynamics and control.
Although a lot of progress has been made on VRC technology for
continuous flow distillation columns, some more efforts need to
be devoted to improve their industrial use for separating a wide
range of mixtures, including wide boiling mixtures, and their
closed-loop control performance to run the columns at optimal
states.
7.2. VRC in batch processing
With the eventual acceptance of a carbon/energy tax around the
world, energy conservation has become a major concern in many
industrial applications. Since the VRC column operated in continu-
ous mode has shown promising potential, even in industrial prac-
tice, in terms of both thermodynamic efficiency and cost, it is
therefore strongly suggested to extend this technology for wide-
spread use in batch processing.
296 A.K. Jana / Energy Conversion and Management 77 (2014) 287–297
A remarkable shift toward batch distillation technology has
been noticed during the last two decades because of the exponen-
tial growth of the fine-chemical, food, pharmaceutical and bio-
chemical industries. As presented earlier, the development of
VRC technology for batch processing has just initiated. Therefore,
there is enormous scope and demand for further research in a
number of directions, including the equipment design, process
optimization, thermodynamic and economic feasibility with exper-
imental verification, and controllability analysis.
8. Conclusions
This review paper has portrayed heat pump assisted distillation
as an energy-efficient separation technology with enormous po-
tential to contribute to chemical, refinery, petrochemical, pharma-
ceutical and biochemical industries. Introducing the heat pumping
system with its past progresses, it is demonstrated through various
literature sources how recent efforts have improved the distillation
column energy efficiency by the use of heat pump with intermedi-
ate heat exchangers in conjunction with multi-stage compression
system. Then the focus is turned to review the various recently
developed hybrid VRC based thermally coupled systems, which
have further improved efficient use of thermal heat, reduced the
TAC as well as carbon emission.
Beside the reduction of energy consumption and thereby, over-
all cost, the heat pump systems can be considered in grass-root or
retrofitting design because of ease of their introduction, simple
structure and operation. Keeping these appealing advantages of
VRC in mind, it is suggested that continuous efforts need to be de-
voted in exploring its widespread use, particularly in industrial
applications and batch processing. It is worth noticing that the
development of vapor recompressed batch distillation has just
started and hence a number of potential issues are still remained
untouched.
Through this review paper, we hope to convey one key message
that further efforts in improving the heat pump assisted distillation
technology will optimize the energy use and reduce the carbon
footprint of many chemical, pharmaceutical, biochemical and
refinery industries.
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