Application of a new startup procedure using distributed heating along distillation column

This study proposes the use of distributed heating applied to the sieve trays along distillation columns, aiming to evaluate a new experimental configuration and procedure applied to the startup. Through this new configuration it is expected that the column heating time and energy will be reduced. Due to the characteristics of the process, such as inertia and non-linearity, almost all the process variables change rapidly, which increases the time required to reach the steady state. These factors make the objective of this study even more challenging. Most of the previously published studies on startup involve simulations, whereas the main contribution of this paper is that it provides experimental results. The experiments were carried out on a pilot distillation column with 13 sieve trays processing a binary mixture composed of water and ethanol, with a flow rate of 300 L h−1 in the fourth tray. It was verified that the use of a heating system which is able to act in a distributed way allows a reduction in the time (40%) and energy (33%) required for the startup procedure, compared to a conventional approach.