• Clean Technology
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.64-70
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• 2010

In this study, we suggest the application of the divided-wall column (DWC) to the existing trichlorosilane(TCS) purification process in the commercial polysilicon manufacturing process. Using Aspen HYSYS V7.1, an extensive simulation study was carried out for the analysis of the energy consumptions and capital cost for the conventional sequential distillation configuration and the DWC for producing a given purity and yield of trichlorosilane. As a result, it is shown that the DWC saves the separation energy by 61% and the equipment cost by 58% compared with the conventional distillation process.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.245-249
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• 2013

The depropanizing, debutanizing and deisobutanizing fractionation steps of processing natural gas liquids were improved through studying complex distillation arrangements, including the double dividing wall column arrangement (DDWC), the sequence including a dividing wall column (DWC) and a bottom DWC (BDWC), and the sequence including a DWC and a BDWC with top vapor recompression heat pump. These arrangements offer benefits by decreasing reboiler and condenser power consumption. Reducing the number of columns and their diameters can potentially reduce construction costs. The result also showed that operating cost could be reduced most significantly through novel combinations of internal and external heat integration: bottom dividing wall columns employing a top vapor recompression heat pump.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.39-45
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• 2007

This paper proposed a shortcut method for the structure design of dividing wall column based on the Fen-ske-Underwood equation by applying it on three conventional simple column configuration. It is shown that the proposed shortcut method can design the column structure including the feed tray, dividing wall section, and side-stream tray in a simple and efficient way in the initial design stage. Simulation study using HYSYS to compare the energy saving performance between the conventional sequential two column system and the dividing wall column designed by the proposed method shows that the proposed dividing wall column system saves from 16% to 65% more over the condepends on the composition of intermediate component while the optimal energy consumption pattern to internal flow distribution on the dividing wall section is characterized by the ESI factor of the feed mixture.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.1017-1022
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• 2008

Though many divided wall columns are implemented in field as energy-efficient distillation columns, its application is limited due to the difficulty of building a new column. A novel energy-efficient distillation system utilizing the existing columns is proposed here. The proposed can reduce the energy consumption by about 39% comparing with the existing system. And it is shown that the proposed improves the column operability over the existing. The tray numbers of the added columns have no significant influence on the composition of a side draw.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.55-60
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• 2012

The energy conservation and exergy loss of a fully thermally coupled distillation commercialized as the divided wall column are compared with those of a conventional two-column system for ternary separation. The used example for the comparison is the benzene-toluene-m-xylene separation process widely used in a petrochemical plant. The design procedure of the fully thermally coupled distillation column is explained, and the energy requirement is compared using the HYSYS. When the same numbers of trays are utilized, the fully thermally coupled distillation column uses 28.2% less energy and 10.4% more exergy loss. The increase of the exergy loss is due to the additional mixing from the bidirectional inter-linking and the temperature elevation in the reboiler from the increased pressure at the bottom of the main column.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.83-94
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• 2019

LPG is increasingly being used as a clean energy source due to the continuous strengthening of environmental regulations. In addition, the demand of propane which is the basic compound for petrochemicals is increasing for propylene production. In the study, a divided wall column was used as de-propanizer and de-butanizer, which is expected to save large amount of energy among the four conventional distillation columns used for processing LPG. The simulation results showed a decrease of energy duty with ESI by 30.30% using two divided wall columns. Furthermore, simulation case studies were carried out with respect to design and operation condition. The main column tray and withdrawal tray were determined from the design case studies while the internal liquid flow and vapor flow were decided from the operating case studies. Also, ESI of 1.06% could be achieved from the case studies. According to the results, the simulation method used showed that it is greatly helpful to the design and evaluate a highly efficient divided wall column.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.236-241
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• 2003

This paper addresses the optimal design of dividing wall distillation column which is rapidly applied in a variety of chemical processes over recent several years because of its high energy saving efficiency. A general dividing wall column model which can cope with the heat transfer through the dividing wall is developed using rigorous computer simulation. Based on the simulation model, the effects of the internal recycle flow distribution around the dividing wall and the heat transfer across the dividing wall on overall system performance are investigated. An improved column design method is suggested to utilize the heat transfer through the wall. The suggested method is compared with the existing method via simulation study in which the proposed design shows improved energy saving result.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.12 no.12
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• pp.1209-1214
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• 2006

This paper presents an application of Dividing Wall Column(DWC) to the recovery of the waste solvent from the film making processes. The waste solvent feed contains MEK(Methyl-Ethyl-Ketone), Toluene, Cyclohexanone, and water. The commercial software $HYSYS^{TM}$ was used for rigorous simulation and analysis. Sensitivity analysis for several major design variables were carried out to achieve the optimal design of the process. Distribution of the internal vapor and liquid flows to the prefractionator and main sections is shown to be the most dominant design factor for energy saving efficiency in the DWC process. The simulation results also show that the solvent recovery process using the DWC significantly improves both the energy efficiency and the compactness of the solvent recovery process.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.342-349
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• 2010

Lactic acid is widely used in the food, chemical and pharmaceutical industries, and there is an increasing demand for lactic acid as the raw material of poly lactic acid(PLA), which is a biodegradable polymer. Lactic acid production has been changing over from production by synthesis to production by fermentation, since the fermentation process is more nature friendly and economic. However, the fermentation method generates excess water and impurities with high boilers. The presence of high boilers and non volatility of lactic acid makes the separation of lactic acid very difficult job. Also, the purification-separation process requires the many investment costs and energy costs. Reactive distillation concept was also introduced for the process, giving higher selectivity and yield compared to the convention method. We introduce a new highly integrated process, reactive diving wall column, to reduce the capital and energy cost for producing a pure lactic acid. The reactive dividing wall column combines reactive distillation and dividing wall column. We compared capital and energy consumption required for the purification of lactic acid the between the proposed design structures. And we examined the effect of major process variables on the process performance and determined optimal process.