By Helmut Jansen, Julius Montz GmbH; Igor Dejanovic, University of Zagreb; Björn Kaibel, BASF SE; Žarko Olujic, Delft University |
A dividing wall column (DWC) is an atypical distillation column with an internal, vertical partition wall that effectively accommodates — within one shell — two conventional distillation columns that are connected in series as required when separating a multicomponent feed mixture into three pure products.
Figure 1. Shown here is a side view of a simple dividing-wall column (DWC) that is equipped with structured packing
Source: Julius Montz
DWC components
Figures 1 and 2 show the anatomy and main components of a conventional packed DWC, with a centrally placed partition wall separating the prefractionator column (feed side) from the main column (product draw-off side), each of which contain just one bed above and below for simplicity. The prefractionator with a rectification section above and stripping section below the feed resembles the configuration of a typical column.
On the main column side, there are two binary separation sections placed above each other. Therefore, the section above the side-product draw-off is the stripping section of the upper column, while the section below the side-product draw-off is the rectification section of the lower column. If a conventional column with an external side-rectifier…
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