A combined method for the design and optimization of intensified distillation systems

• A combined method is proposed for the design of intensified distillation sequences.
• The MODE algorithm avoids high computational time from the SDM initilization.
• The SDM presents the values of the design parameters from structural evolution.
• The combined method overcomes the drawbacks of the individual methods.
• 36% computational time reduction and limited error propagation are achieved.

The sequential design method (SDM) is a recently introduced distillation column design method based on the correspondence between the simple column and the alternative sequences design parameters. It can be defined as a method that combines the alternatives generation step with the design procedure. The Multi-Objective Differential Evolution (MODE) algorithm instead, is based on the minimization or maximization of a defined objective function; it is a strong method that allows the evaluation of a large number of alternatives.The SDM is characterized by a poor control of the error propagation among the sequences, the MODE algorithm by a high computational time. It was obtained that a proper combination of the methods allows the compensation of the drawbacks of the stand-alone procedures. For the case study considered, when the MODE algorithm is initialized with the SDM, a 39% reduction of the computational time was observed. If the combination between the methods is realised at the beginning of the design procedure, the reduction of the computational time was of about 28%. The time reduction was due to a narrower initialization of the MODE algorithm with the parameters obtained applying the SDM. Moreover, when some overestimated design values where used to initialize the MODE algorithm, it is still possible to identify a configuration very close to the optimum.