A Short‐Cut Design Approach to Evaluate Reboiler Designs in Vapor Recompression Scenarios

Abstract Thermal separation processes such as distillation and rectification require significant thermal energy, thereby consuming over 40 % of the chemical industry's global energy. Mechanical vapor recompression (MVR) effectively reduces distillation steam demand by recycling waste heat in the column reboiler. However, reboiler design and feasibility in combination with MVR systems are not well explored. This paper presents a model approach that integrates MVR requirements into reboiler design, useful for initial stages of process development with sparse data or early viability checks. The model builds on a configuration–sizing–selection framework and streamlines complex methods through assumptions and boundary conditions. Using iterative estimation alongside thermodynamic and fluid‐dynamic constraints within set geometric limits, it defines operational ranges and geometry and evaluates feasibility of reboiler designs in MVR scenarios.