Reactive dividing wall column for hydrolysis of methyl acetate: Design and control

The reactive dividing wall column (RDWC) for methyl acetate (MeAc) hydrolysis is designed and its control strategy is studied. Firstly, this advanced process is designed and optimized. The result shows that 20.1% energy savings can be saved by the RDWC process. Then the control strategy of RDWC is studied and a feasible control structure is obtained. The manipulated variables and controlled variables are selected and paired. Two kinds of disturbances are employed to test this control configuration and the result shows that a simple PI control scheme with three temperature loops can obtain reasonable control performance and maintain the desired purity of two products and stoichiometric balance between reactants.157