OPERATION AND CONTROL OF DIVIDING WALL DISTILLATION COLUMNS Part 2: Simulation and Pilot Plant Studies Using Temperature Control

This paper follows on from preliminary work to investigate the theoretical aspects of
control of dividing wall columns in Part 1 of this paper. Two different control
arrangements have been investigated using temperature control. Dynamic simulation
was ® rst used to test the control con® gurations. These were then investigated in a large-scale
pilot plant. The simulation and pilot plant runs show the same basic trends from the control
arrangements. In all cases, the control arrangements investigated proved to give a stable
response to ¯ uctuations in the feed to the column. Temperature control resulted in an off-set in
one of the product purities. This was demonstrated in both simulation and practical runs. A
procedure has been suggested to overcome this off-set by over-re¯ uxing the column. The
procedure allows the column to be designed for minimum over-re¯ uxing.