BASIC PRINCIPLES

OF
DISTILLATION AND ‘DWC’

Ali Shoeb Moon

30/10/2010
OUTLINE:
 DISTILLATION:
> Definition and Applications.
> Brief History.
> Basic Types of Distillation.
> Significance of Distillation (Why ‘DWC’??)
 DWC:

> Definition and Basics.

> Commercial Background.
> Principle Behind.
> Appropriate Applications.
DISTILLATION:
 Definition:- A physical unit operation used to separate
the components of a boiling liquid mixture, based on the
differences in their volatilities.
 Applications:- Some important commercial ones include
Crude oil fractionation, Removal of impurities from
water, Separation of Air into it’s components, distilled
beverages with higher Alcohol content.
BRIEF HISTORY:
 Archaeological excavations in northwest Pakistan show
that the distillation of Alcohol was known in the Indian
subcontinent since 500 B.C.

 The evidence comes from Greek alchemists working in

Alexandria as early as 1 A.D.

 Distilled water has been known since 200 A.D.

 Fraction Distillation was developed by ‘Tadeo Alderotti’ in

the 13th Century.
TYPES OF DISTILLATION
 Simple Distillation:- It is practiced for a mixture in which the
boiling point of the components differ by atleast 70 degree
celcius.
Steam Distillation:- Used for the mixture which has temperature or heat
sensitive components.
Steam is introduced by heating water, which allows the compounds to boil
at lower temperature. Thus the temp. sensitive compounds are separated
before decomposition.
Used in large scale separation of Essential oils and Perfumes.
Vaccum Distillation:- Separation at a pressure lower than standard
atmospheric pressure.
Best suited for compounds with higher boiling points(˃200˚C), which tend to
decompose at their B. Pt. ‘Most important example is petroleum Refining’.
Short Path Distillation :- This also used for thermal sensitive compounds.
Separated compounds condensed immediately.
Product loss is minimized .
Condenser is configured in a vertical manner b/w heating and collecting flask.
Used for High Mol. Wt. Organic compounds (Pharma Industries)
Fractional Distillation:- Used in case of mixtures in which the volatility of
the components is nearly similar.
A series of compounds is separated simultaneously one after the other.
With the least B.Pt component at the top and the highest B pt. component
at the bottom.
Generally used for Alcohol purification and in Petroleum refining industries.
SIGNIFICANCE OF DISTILLATION:
( WHY ‘DWC’ ????):
 Studies indicate that separations consume 50%-70% of
capital and energy of a chemical process.
 Distillation makes 95% of all current separation
processes.
 So, Seeking improvements in this area are on the top of
the list.
 A DWC can cut capital and energy costs by
approximately 30% compared to a traditional two
column system and that too with reduced Carbon
Emissions.
DWC BASICS:
 A distillation column with a vertical partition wall in the
central section.
 The feed side acts as the Pre-fractionator and the product
side as the main column.
 It can be used to produce three products from a single
column(in case of sharp split).
 It can bring value to ‘non-sharp’ applications i.e. those
with intermediate component between A-B or B-C.
 The column may contain either trays or packing.
DWC:COMMERCIAL BACKGROUND

 The original patent of the concept was granted to

‘Wright’ of Standard Oil in 1949.

 For the first time, a DWC was built and taken into
operation by BASF in Ludwigshafen, Germany, in 1985.

 Presently, there are around 70 packed DWCs’ in

operation worldwide built by BASF in cooperation with
Montz.
 PRINCIPLE BEHIND ‘DWC’
For a three component
mixture. >Conventional column scheme.
>Loss in the middle component due
to remixing.
ALTERNATE ARRANGEMENT

>Entire A and some fraction of B from top.

>The remaining fraction of B and entire C from bottom.
THERMALLY COUPLED COLUMN

>Thermal integration of the two towers by using a

single re-boiler and condenser.
THERMAL COUPLING APPROACH IN SINGLE SHELL
RESULTS INTO A ‘DWC’.
>Pre-fractionator moved inside the second
tower.
HOW DOES IT LOOK??
APPROPRIATE APPLICATIONS
(GENERAL HEURISTICS):

 DWC should be considered when the middle component

(‘B’) is atleast 20% of the total stream flow.
 It should not be used if the pressure difference between the
conventional sequence is high.
-Because a DWC operates as a single tower, so it
runs at a single pressure.
 Level of energy being used should be carefully evaluated.
THANK YOU!!!!

ANY
QUESTIONS???