Control structure selection for four-product Kaibel column

Dividing wall column configurations have a large savings potential in terms of capital and energy. This paper uses dynamic simulation to investigate three alternative control structures for one of these configurations, namely the Kaibel column. Four components, here selected as methanol, ethanol, n-propanol and n-butanol, are separated into pure products within a single column shell. Control structure 1 (CS1) uses only temperature controllers and is therefore particularly interesting from an industrial point of view. Since the control objective is to control the four product compositions, the two other control structures use also composition controllers. Surprisingly, for composition control, the simple temperature control scheme (CS1) is almost as good at steady-state and much better from a dynamic point of view than the two other more complex control structures. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.