Pilot plant scale multiple dividing wall column

• Subject Area: Process Engineering, Technical Chemistry
• Term: Funded in 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 447448188

The subject of the application is the acquisition of a multiple dividing wall column on a pilot plant scale. Simple dividing wall columns for the separation of three fractions in a single column shell have been known for years and are nowadays widely used in industry. Compared to classical column configurations (e.g. direct split), these columns show approx. 30% reduced investment and operating costs. The savings in operating costs are due to the fact that undesirable backmixing in dividing wall columns is avoided to a great extent and the column can be operated close to the thermodynamic (=energetic) optimum. However, compared to a standard column, the complexity increases considerably. Dividing wall columns have 12 degrees of freedom compared to 5 of a standard column.Multiple dividing wall columns are the logical evolution of this technology. The implementation of additional dividing walls leads to the possibility to separate four fractions in a single column. This is accompanied by savings in investment and operating costs of about 50%. However, the complexity continues to increase. A multiple partition column for the separation of four pure fractions has 23 degrees of freedom. This complexity leads to major challenges not only for operation, but also for modeling and simulation and is the reason why no plant has been built worldwide yet.Since its foundation in November 2017, the Laboratory for Thermal Process Engineering of the Institute for Chemical Engineering at Ulm University has been conducting intensive research into questions of modelling, steady-state and dynamic simulation and mathematical optimization of multiple dividing wall columns. The large-scale facility applied for would enable us to investigate the operating behavior of such plants and to validate the models existing so far. Research issues include, for example, the investigation of the stationary and dynamic operating behavior, the development of optimum control strategies and the development and testing of specific components.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Multiple Trennwandkolonne im Technikumsmaßstab
• Instrumentation Group: 1300 Destillier- und Fraktioniergeräte, Rektifiziergeräte
• Applicant Institution: Universität Ulm
• Leader: Professor Dr.-Ing. Thomas Grützner