A Comparison of the Exergy Efficiencies of Various Heat-Integrated Distillation Columns

Areej Javed; Afaq Hassan; Muhammad Babar; Umair Azhar; Asim Riaz; Rana Mujahid; Tausif Ahmad; Muhammad Mubashir; Hooi Ren Lim; Pau Loke Show; Kuan Shiong Khoo

doi:10.3390/en15186498

Energies (Sep 2022)

A Comparison of the Exergy Efficiencies of Various Heat-Integrated Distillation Columns

Areej Javed,
Afaq Hassan,
Muhammad Babar,
Umair Azhar,
Asim Riaz,
Rana Mujahid,
Tausif Ahmad,
Muhammad Mubashir,
Hooi Ren Lim,
Pau Loke Show,
Kuan Shiong Khoo

Affiliations

Areej Javed: School of Chemical Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore 540000, Pakistan
Afaq Hassan: Chemical Engineering Department, Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology, Rahimyar Khan 64200, Pakistan
Muhammad Babar: Chemical Engineering Department, Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology, Rahimyar Khan 64200, Pakistan
Umair Azhar: Chemical Engineering Department, Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology, Rahimyar Khan 64200, Pakistan
Asim Riaz: Chemical Engineering Department, Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology, Rahimyar Khan 64200, Pakistan
Rana Mujahid: Chemical Engineering Department, Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology, Rahimyar Khan 64200, Pakistan
Tausif Ahmad: Chemical Engineering Department, Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology, Rahimyar Khan 64200, Pakistan
Muhammad Mubashir: Department of Petroleum Engineering, School of Engineering, Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation, Kuala Lumpur 57000, Malaysia
Hooi Ren Lim: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Semenyih 43500, Malaysia
Pau Loke Show: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Semenyih 43500, Malaysia
Kuan Shiong Khoo: Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Yuan Ze University, Taoyuan 32003, Taiwan

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/en15186498
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 15, no. 18
p. 6498

Abstract

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Distillation has relatively low thermodynamic efficiency, so it is a prime target for process intensification studies. The current research aims to study exergy losses in various heat-integrated distillation columns. A conventional industrial-scale i-butane/n-butane fractionator has been selected as a case study for the comparison of the performances of various heat-integrated designs. The Aspen Plus® process simulator is used to perform steady-state simulations and exergy analyses of the conventional distillation column (CDC), internally heat-integrated distillation column (iHIDiC), externally heat-integrated double distillation columns (EHIDDiC), and vapor recompression (VRC) systems. The results of these exergy analyses show that a modified VRC system (ηE = 10.69%) is the most efficient design for this separation. The exergy efficiency of the conventional VRC system is the same as that of the CDC (ηE = 9.27%). The EHIDDiC system (ηE = 9.77%) is somewhat better than the CDC, whereas iHIDiC shows poor exergy efficiency (ηE = 8.09%), even lower than the CDC.

Published in Energies

ISSN: 1996-1073 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Technology
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/energies

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