Optimal Design and Control of a Catalytic Distillation Column. Case Study: Ethyl Tert-Butyl Ether (ETBE) Synthesis Column

摘要

Most of the chemical processes include two of the most important operations, chemical reaction and thermodynamic separation. These two operations are used to be carried out in different equipment. The reactions take place in different equipment, called reactors (continuously stirred tank reactors -CSTR-, tubular reactors or batch reactors, among others), and are operated under different conditions. On the other hand, the separation is usually made by different unitary operations (distillation, extractions, crystallization, absorption, among others) being the distillation by far the most common one [1]. Distillation is the most popular liquid mixture separation technique in the chemical and in the oil industry. The energy requirement of this operation can represent up to 40% of the whole plant’s energy requirement [2], [3].