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231d

Reduced Order Modeling of Rate-Based Distillation Columns

Martina Liza Suzette Welz1, Klaus Moller2, and Aninda Chakraborty1. (1) Research and Development: Process Development, Sasol, 1 Klasie Havenga Avenue, Andries Brink Building, B floor, Sasolburg, 1947, South Africa, (2) Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7701, Cape Town, South Africa

This work presents an application of orthogonal collocation to a rigorous, nonequilibrium rate-based packed column. The low order model is constructed with a focus on the feed discontinuity, which is treated as a separate adiabatic flash.

An objective function is defined as the model solution to a combination of degrees of freedom. This definition allows for multiple solutions to a single separation specification to be found. The optimal solution can be subsequently found using an optimization routine. The construction of the objective function ensures that there is always a solution to the design problem.

The resulting low order model has potential use in for the design of distillation trains. If a full-order model is used, numerical difficulties ensue due to the resulting high degree of problem stiffness.


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