Dynamic Control Analysis of Internally Heat Integrated-Top Dividing Wall Column

Although The Dividing Wall Column (TDWC) with a top partition is an effective alternative for the separation of ternary mixtures dominated by the lightest component, it can be further intensified by introducing the Internal Heat Integration-The Dividing Wall Column (IHI-TDWC). However, strong internal mass and energy integration complicates the process dynamics and influences the system controllability. In the current work, a kind of decentralized temperature control scheme involving four temperature control loops is developed. The separation of the ternary mixture with methanol, ethanol, and n-propanol is chosen as an illustrative example to evaluate the controllability of the IHI-TDWC through open-loop and closed-loop dynamic process simulation. The results show that the IHI-TDWC keeps good rejection of the throughput and feed composition disturbances.