ISSN:
0001-1541
Keywords:
Chemistry
;
Chemical Engineering
Source:
Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000
Topics:
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Process Engineering, Biotechnology, Nutrition Technology
Notes:
High-purity distillation columns are typically difficult to control because of their severely nonlinear behavior reflected by their sharp composition and temperature profiles. The dynamic behavior of such a column, as characterized by the movement of its sharp profile, was elucidated by a nonlinear wave theory established previously. With binary alcohol mixtures, this study provides an experimental observation of such wave-propagation dynamics of a 40-tray stripping column and a 50-tray fractionation column in response to step disturbances of feed composition, feed flow rate, and reboiler heat supply. Our experimental results have verified that the sharp profile in a high-purity column moves as a constant-pattern wave and that the nonlinear wave theory predicts its velocity satisfactorily with very simple mathematics. Our results also demonstrate the asymmetric dynamics of the transitions between two steady states.
Additional Material:
10 Ill.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aic.690421006
