Between all industrial separation processes, the distillation is one of the largest energy consumers. So is justified the search for methods of energy optimization for distillation columns. The optimization of parameters such feed stage, thermal condition of the feed, use of intermediate reboilers can be obtained analysing the exergy profile of the column, which in turn depends on the determination of consistent thermodynamic properties of all feeds inside the collumn. This work aims to analyze and validate a determination of the exergy loss profile along a distillation column using the software Aspen Plus for the binary system Methanol / Water with a rigorous design method, comparing the simulation results with the results obtained by Faria in his doctoral thesis (Unicamp - 1996) applying the appropriate thermodynamic models and performing the material and energy balances for each stage of the column, then identifying models that result in consistent exergy balances for the column. The results show that appropriate models allow to obtain consistent balances of exergy only in a limited set of cases, and then, to correct this, it is necessary to use models that consider the the values of enthalpy and entropy with excess. The validation of the method allowed us to search optimized operational conditions for the distillation column, which aims to minimize the exergy loss in each separation stage and makes it more efficient thermodynamically.
See more of this Group/Topical: Separations Division