Energy savings in heat-integrated distillation columns

The heat-integrated distillation column (HIDiC) provides one of the most effective applications of heat-pump technologies to industrial processes. It reinforces a separation process and yields larger energy savings than other methods such as overhead-to-reboiler heat pumps, which involve moving heat between the hottest and coldest points in the distillation column. A simulation study of this column has been applied to the benzene-toluene system to evaluate energy consumption and the required number of stages for comparison with a conventional column. In an example, the total energy requirements were reduced about 60% below those for a conventional column. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.