Control and energy analyses of a driving force-based aromatic mixture distillation columns sequence

To minimize the energy usage of distillation systems, past researchers have developed algorithms that exploit the driving force of distillation, which is the difference in vapour and liquid fractions due to relative volatilities. So far, little is known about the degree of controllability of the energy efficient solutions. This paper aims to ascertain that idea by applying a simple methodology on a common mixture as the case study. The methodology is made up of four stages: (1) feed information gathering, (2) sequence determination, (3) energy analysis and (4) controllability analysis. The controllability was analysed in terms of input-output interaction and resiliency using RGAno and MRI, respectively. From the application, it has been found that the sequence determined using driving force algorithm is the most optimal sequence overall, measured by the use of a multi-objective function.