(142d) Development of Internal Reflux Splitter for Dividing Wall Column

Dividing wall column (DWC) technology has been successfully implemented in petrochemical processes. It is well known that the DWC can save the energy usage by removing a remixing phenomenon within the conventional two column system for a ternary mixture and minimize the capital investment intensifying a conventional two column system into a single column with a simple dividing wall. One of the major components in a DWC is a reflux splitter, which splits the internal liquid from the column overhead into the two liquid streams, one to the pre-section and other to the main column within the dividing wall section. Optimizing and controlling the liquid split rate is a crucial issue for successful design and operation of the DWCs. Several reflux splitters has been adopted in the industrial applications. It has been found that a more reliable reflux splitting system should be developed to make the entire column system stable and to minimize the process down time. In this article, several types of reflux splitter will be reviewed and compared. A novel development of the reflux splitting system is discussed with its structural details and benefits of the newly devised splitting system. The results from its real application to commercial DWCs show that the developed reflux splitter satisfies all of the technical requirements or specifications and even reduces the costs related to fabrication and installation.