Simulation of Divided Wall

Distillation Column
Presented by
G. Lokesh
S. Swami Naidu
K. Jagadeesh
 Introduction
• Divided wall columns integrate two (or more) different separation units into one single
device with one (or more) vertical partitions in the central section.
• Dividing wall splits a single column into two parts:
pre-fractionator section
main column
• It uses only one reboiler and one condenser.

Advantages
• Lower capital investment.
• Reduced energy requirements.
• High purity for all products.
• Less construction volume.
Disadvantages
• Higher columns owing to the
increased number of theoretical
stages.
• Increased pressure drop due to the
higher number of theoretical stages.
• Only one operating pressure is
available.
 Conventional systems
a) Direct a) Sloppy sequence

b) Indirect
Petlyuk column
Dividing wall distillation column

• The feed is introduced into the prefractionator while

distillate, side, and bottom products are removed
from the main column.
• Component B is distributed between the top and
bottom of the prefractionator section. The top of the
prefractionator section contains mainly component A,
a part of component B and a little component C. The
bottom of the prefractionator section contains mainly
component C, a part of component B and a little of
component A.
• The upper part of the main column separates
components A and B and the lower part of the main
column separates components B and C
 Different positions of dividing wall

a) Divided wall column middle b) Divided wall column lower c) Divided wall column upper
DWC for four component system
Design parameters
N1 - N6 – Number of stages of each section
RL – Liquid split
RV – Vapor split
R – Reflux ratio
QB – Energy consumption

Specification
F – Feed flow rate
zA, zB, zC – Feed composition
D – Top product
S – Side product
W – Bottom product
 Simulation Models

Two columns sequence model (prefractionator or side column)

Four columns sequence model

 Simulation

Ideal ternary mixture

Comparison of Simulation results

Thesis results

Simulated results
Thank You