Consolidation of multiple binary distillation columns for large heat duty savings

ABSTRACT The enormous scales of chemical and petrochemical plants present significant challenges in separating and purifying numerous mixed streams generated within a facility, as well as in achieving effective energy utilization and process intensification. Several binary or pseudo‐binary streams are generally distilled in relatively pure product streams at these plants. This article introduces a strategy for consolidating the separation of seemingly unrelated multiple binary streams into one or fewer distillation columns, thereby minimizing the cumulative heat duty demand. We present a systematic procedure for generating the separation scheme and a case study demonstrating substantial heat‐duty savings. We include a discussion on heat integration strategies for various column configurations, highlighting further savings. A decrease in the number of reboilers and condensers also accompanies the reduction in the total heat duty. The article serves as an effective tool for devising an action plan to separate multiple binary mixtures with significantly lower footprints.