Determination of a suitable index for a solvent via two-column extractive distillation using a heuristic method

Abstract

The traditional approach to solvent selection in the extractive distillation process strictly focuses on the change in the relative volatility of light-heavy components induced by the solvent. However, the total annual cost of the process may not be minimal when the solvent induces the largest change in relative volatility. This work presents a heuristic method for selecting the optimal solvent to minimize the total annual cost. The functional relationship between the relative volatility and the total annual cost is established, where the main factors, such as the relative volatility of the light-heavy components and the relative volatility of the heavy-component solvent, are taken into account. Binary azeotropic mixtures of methanol-toluene and methanol-acetone are separated to verify the feasibility of the model. The results show that using the solvent with the minimal two-column extractive distillation index, the process achieves a minimal total annual cost. The method is conducive for sustainable advancements in chemistry and engineering because a suitable solvent can be selected without simulation verification.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

heuristic method / solvent selection / extractive distillation / total annual cost

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 21776145 and 21676152).

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-019-1867-3 and is accessible for authorized users.

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