Petlyuk Columns in Multicomponent Distillation Trains: Effect of Their Location on the Separation of Hydrocarbon Mixtures

Thermally coupled distillation columns (TCDC) are used to reduce energy requirements on the separation of liquid mixtures, which also reduces the environmental impact. The Petlyuk column is one of the TCDC with the highest reductions on heat duty. The use of distillation trains with Petlyuk columns is proposed to purify a multicomponent hydrocarbon mixture. Different sequences are studied, varying the location and number of Petlyuk columns to achieve separation of the components. Studied sequences are then optimized and compared in terms of energy requirements, environmental impact, and dynamic performance. The stream on which the component with the highest feed composition is separated has a great influence on the total heat duty and environmental impact. Nevertheless, the correlation between location and number of Petlyuk columns in the sequences and their control properties is low. The optimal design of thermally coupled distillation systems is important because of the necessity for low‐cost, clean processes. The optimum separation system for a multicomponent hydrocarbon mixture involving a sequence of one or more Petlyuk columns is systematically investigated to obtain a balance between energy requirements and controllability.