Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering

https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-018-3259-2

RESEARCH ARTICLE - CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

Optimal Operation and Control of Four-Product Dividing-Wall (Kaibel)

Distillation Column
Farrukh Abid1 · Mohammad Shamsuzzoha1 · Housam Binous1 · Abdallah Alshammari1

Received: 9 November 2017 / Accepted: 12 April 2018

© King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals 2018

Abstract
Due to globalization and increased market competition, the process industry is seeking to maximize productivity at minimal
operational cost. Distillation operation alone accounts for a significant amount of the world’s energy consumption. This
consumption can be greatly reduced by using a complex distillation column configuration, such as a fully thermally coupled
distillation column or divided-wall distillation column, over conventional arrangements. The divided-wall column offers
potential energy and capital investment savings. In this study, it was shown that energy savings of up to 25% can be achieved
by using a four-product divided-wall distillation column (Kaibel) compared with conventional column arrangements. The
reported capital investment associated with a four-product divided-wall column is approximately 30%. However, design and
operation remain a challenge due to the large number of design and operational degrees of freedom. Divided-wall columns
can be used for multicomponent separation as well. This research demonstrated the steady-state and dynamic behavior of a
Kaibel distillation column using commercial simulation software, i.e., Aspen HYSYS. A self-optimizing control scheme was
implemented to reject disturbances during operation and to meet the required product specifications for a Kaibel distillation
column.

Keywords Distillation · Dividing-wall distillation column (DWC) · Process simulation

1 Introduction growing energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions. For

Among the most important unit operations and processes
that occur in the chemical industry are chemical reactions,
heat and mass transfer, and fluid mixture separation. Distil-
lation operation is the most widely used and preferred liquid
separation technique in oil refineries and the petrochemi-
cal industry worldwide. However, it has been estimated that
approximately 3% of the world’s energy consumption is uti-
lized by this distillation operation alone [1]. It also has been
reported that 70% of the energy expenses associated with a
running process plant are contributed by operational costs
alone [2]. To meet environmental requirements, more effi-
cient designs and operations of distillation columns must
be sought. The result will be optimized approaches to the
B Abdallah Alshammari
alshammari@kfupm.edu.sa
1 Department of Chemical Engineering, King Fahd University
of Petroleum and Minerals, P.O. Box 5050, Dhahran 31261,
Saudi Arabia
multi-product separation, conventional distillation column
configurations (direct, indirect and distributed sequences,
etc.) require a greater number of heat exchangers, distillation
columns, etc., compared with complex distillation column
arrangements (side stripper, side rectifier, fully thermally
coupled distillation column and divided-wall distillation col-
umn). Compared with conventional column configurations,
complex distillation configurations lead to lower capital
investment and energy consumption as well. To save energy
for society, scientists proposed the use of a thermally coupled
distillation column to reduce excess energy consumption,
as presented by Brugma [3], Wright [4] and Petlyuk et al.
[5]. The thermally coupled distillation column involves the
thermal coupling of vapor-liquid streams between the pre-
fractionator and the main distillation column, as shown in
Fig. 1. This arrangement reduces separation losses, dimin-
ishes the remixing effect and forges efficient interactions
between the vapor and liquid phases throughout the column.
The modified form of the thermally coupled distillation col-
umn (FTCDS) is known as the dividing-wall column (DWC).
In the dividing-wall column, the prefractionator is shifted

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Fig. 1 Fully thermally coupled distillation column (FTCDC)
inside the distillation column shell in the form of a vertical
partition wall, as shown in Fig. 2. Both configurations, i.e.,
the fully thermally coupled and dividing-wall columns, are
thermodynamically equivalent to each other. Dividing-wall
columns have been increasingly applied in industry due to
their lower energy consumption and investment costs rela-
tive to those of fully thermally coupled columns. According
to Kolbe et al. [6], the use of the dividing-wall distillation
column configuration can lead to savings of approximately
25 and 35% on investment and operating costs, respectively.
The ternary product dividing-wall column is typically
called a Petlyuk column, and the four-product dividing-wall
column is called a Kaibel [7] column. Capital savings are
achieved by using a dividing-wall column because of the
reduced amount of equipment (one column shell, one reboiler
and one condenser) and piping. In addition, the reduced
amount of equipment and piping lead to significant space
saving. Many other possible configurations of multicom-
ponent dividing-wall distillation columns are available, as
presented by Agrawal [8]. Depending on the feed properties
and available energy, multi-partition dividing-wall distilla-
tion columns can also be utilized. Such columns have proved
to be more energy-efficient than single-wall dividing-wall
distillation columns. However, no industrial application for
multi-partition dividing-wall columns has yet been estab-
lished. The optimal operation and control of dividing-wall
distillation columns are slightly more difficult than those of
a simple distillation column. Thus, various industries have
been reluctant to adopt this energy-efficient distillation col-
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Fig. 2 Divided-wall distillation column (DWC)
umn, as a greater number of operational degrees of freedom
must be specified than for a conventional column. The dis-
tillate (D) and bottom (B) are assumed to be used as level
controls for the condenser and reboiler, respectively. Thus,
only six operational degrees of freedom remain for a Kaibel
distillation column, i.e., liquid split ratio (RL ), vapor split
ratio (RV ), reflux flow rate (L), vapor flow rate (V ) and the
flow rates of the two side draw locations (S1 , S2 ). The liquid
split ratio (RL ) can be defined as the ratio of the amount of
liquid introduced at the top of the prefractionator section to
the overall amount of liquid sent to the main column as reflux,
and the vapor split ratio (RV ) can be defined as the ratio of
the amount of vapor sent to the bottom of the prefractionator
section to the overall amount of vapor obtained at the bottom
of the main column from the reboiler.
Therefore, it is important to operate the dividing-wall col-
umn at optimal values of the liquid and vapor split ratios,
as energy efficiency will be lost if the distillation column
is not operated at the optimum vapor split ratio. The main
objective of this study was to examine the steady-state and
dynamic behavior of a four-product Kaibel distillation col-
umn with the help of process simulation software. To operate
the dividing-wall distillation column in an economical, safe
and stable manner, it is necessary to implement a feasible
control structure. The design of control structure includes the
selection of appropriate control variables, manipulated vari-
Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering
ables, a scheme for connecting the associated components
and the design of the controllers.
This work starts with a review of control strategies adopted
for Kaible distillation column. Then, it discusses the opti-
mal operation of DWC for three different mixtures (alcohol,
hydrocarbons and aromatics) in Sect. 4. After determination
of optimal design, the control structure is discussed in Sect. 5
and then the results were explained and discussed in Sect. 6.
2 Literature Review
Researchers have studied the operation of Kaibel distillation
columns in different ways, but the control of these columns
has not been extensively studied. Here, some of the most rel-
evant work performed regarding the operation and control
of Kaibel distillation columns is presented. Kvernland et al.
[9] implemented a model predictive control (MPC) scheme
to control the operation of a Kaibel distillation column by
using a MATLAB simulation and concluded that a supervi-
sory MPC scheme performs better than a single-layer MPC
scheme according to the results of robustness tests. The sys-
tem was also tested under different feed disturbances, and
the response of an MPC distillation column was determined.
Pan et al. [10] studied the two-layer control structure of a
Kaibel distillation column to achieve smooth operation. The
bottom layer of the authors’ control scheme consisted of a
proportional integral derivative (PID) controller and MPC,
while the top layer consisted of predictive functional control
(PFC) or fast model predictive control (FMPC) to detect the
optimization function of operation. Kiss et al. [11] compared
four different control structures based on PID controllers for
a three-product dividing-wall column (Petlyuk) using Aspen
Dynamics software. The authors also used the liquid split
ratio as a manipulated variable to achieve minimum energy
consumption and to control the heavy component compo-
sition at the top of the prefractionator. Dwivedi et al. [12]
studied the dynamic behavior of a Kaibel distillation column
in a practical manner by experimentally verifying the opera-
tion of a laboratory-scale Kaibel column at NTNU, Norway.
The authors tested the operation of the distillation column
by establishing temperature set point changes and feed flow
rate disturbances and operated the column under total reflux.
The control scheme consisted of four temperature control
loops to maintain the composition at the required level. Sim-
ilarly, Strandberg et al. [13] studied the stabilized operation
of a pilot-plant Kaibel distillation column. The authors used
a minimum singular value method to determine the optimal
points for controlling the temperature of the column and then
maintained these values using control loops. The resulting
control scheme was then compared with steady-state and
dynamic simulations of a predefined scheme. Strandberg et
al. [14] demonstrated the practical control of a Kaibel dis-
tillation column with the objective of achieving maximum
product purity at a fixed boilup rate. Three different control
schemes with different numbers of temperature control loops
were implemented, with the vapor split ratio and boilup rate
held constant in all control schemes. The thermodynamic
model used to converge the simulation was a Wilson equa-
tion or model. Ghadrdan et al. [15] also studied the optimal
operation and control of a Kaibel distillation column. They
designed a control structure based on a plant-wide procedure
developed by Skogestad [16]. The authors presented a self-
optimizing control approach for the optimal control of the
parameters of a four-product dividing-wall distillation col-
umn. The basic concept underlying self-optimizing control is
to fix a parameter or variable that defines the optimum opera-
tion of the column; the optimum value of this variable should
be significantly less sensitive to variations in disturbances
compared with the other degrees of freedom. Ghadrdan et al.
[17] studied the operation of a Kaibel distillation column as
well. In their study, the amounts of energy consumed by dif-
ferent distillation column configurations were compared. The
optimal distillation column was designed using a Vmin dia-
gram. Although researchers have studied the operation and
control of four-product dividing-wall distillation columns in
various ways, a feasible control strategy for Kaibel distilla-
tion columns remains to be studied.
3 Optimal Operation of Kaibel Distillation
Column
The core objective of any distillation column is to separate a
given feed mixture into its respective fractions, which satisfy
customer requirements and other environmental regulations.
However, the core objective will shift if the distillation unit
is running at a financial loss even as the required prod-
uct specifications are met. Thus, two other goals emerge:
first, the operation of the distillation unit should be prof-
itable, and second, the unit should be capable of meeting the
required product specifications. When optimal operation is
the objective, it is usually considered that the level of product
purity should be achieved as required and energy consump-
tion should be minimized. However, before the operation of
a column, optimal design is important to obtaining efficient
results. In this respect, the minimum vapor flow rate diagram
(Vmin diagram) presented by Halvorsen et al. [18] for design-
ing dividing-wall distillation columns is a very helpful tool.
However, in this study, column design was performed by the
shortcut distillation technique using Aspen HYSYS.
The DWC features nine design parameters, i.e., the total
number of stages in the prefractionator and main column, the
feed location in the prefractionator, the liquid and vapor draw
rates from the main column, the liquid and vapor feed loca-
tion in the main column and two side draw locations from
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the main column. Based on the shortcut method, we obtained
the preliminary design parameters for a rigorous DWC. The
minimum number of trays (Nm ) can be obtained using the
Fenske equation under total reflux conditions, and the mini-
mum reflux (Rm ) can be determined for an infinite number of
stages using the Underwood equation. In this study, the actual
reflux ratio was chosen to be R = 1.2Rm . In the next step, the
preliminary design parameters were used to initiate the rigor-
ous steady-state simulation of the DWC to obtain the nominal
design parameters. As previously mentioned, the DWC fea-
tures nine design parameters, two of which have little effect
on energy. These two parameters were optimal when we used
the shortcut method to obtain the total number of stages in the
prefractionator and main column. Therefore, we optimized
the remaining seven design parameters for the optimal design
of the column. These design parameters were then used to
simulate and operate the Kaibel distillation column. Conven-
tional distillation column configurations, i.e., direct, indirect
and distributed sequences, were also simulated by using the
shortcut distillation tool in Aspen HYSYS.
The preliminary design parameters required to simulate
the dividing-wall distillation column were obtained from the
simulation results of the distributed sequence. These param-
eters were manipulated to obtain the optimal operation of
the Kaibel distillation column. Operation of the DWC was
studied under two different modes:
(i) To achieve the defined product purities by providing
minimum energy.
(ii) To achieve the maximum product purities with a fixed
available energy value.
The first mode requires specifying all the required product
purities, which should be obtained with minimum available
energy. In the second mode, the available energy should be
specified, and maximum product purities should be obtained
with this available energy. The objective functions of the two
modes can be defined as follows, respectively;
J = V where product purities ≥ 0.95 (1)
J = D(1 − x D) + S1(1 − x S1)
+ S2(1 − x S2) + B(1 − x B) (2)
The optimal operation was studied using both of the above-
described modes. In the first mode, all required product
purities were kept fixed and heat energy was treated as a vari-
able. However, the objective cost function for the first mode
needs to be minimized. In the second mode, the objective
cost function called for the minimization of the sum of the
impurities in all four-product streams. None of the product
purity compositions was kept active during the steady-state
simulation; only the available energy and five other parame-
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ters were modulated. The process simulation software Aspen
HYSYS was used to perform the steady-state simulations.
The dividing-wall distillation column was used to reduce
energy consumption and to obtain nearly pure products by
determining liquid and vapor split ratio (RL and RV, respec-
tively).
For example, in alcohol case, the effect of vapor split ratio
(RV) on product composition is studied. The behavior of
product composition with the manipulation of vapor split
ratio is shown in Fig. 3. At low values of vapor split ratio, the
product specifications are not acceptable. The compositions
of side draw products are very sensitive to manipulation of
vapor split ratio comparing to top and bottom product compo-
sition. Desired product specifications with minimum energy
consumption can be achieved at vapor split ratio around 0.63.
In Fig. 4, energy consumption is almost decreasing with the
increase of liquid split ratio at fixed vapor split ratio of 0.63.
The optimal value of liquid split ratio, at which the desired
purities can be achieved by simulating different values of liq-
uid split ratio. Its values ranging from 0.22 to 0.40 lead to
less energy consumption, but they do not provide the required
product specifications as shown in Fig. 5. However, it has
been observed that at RL = 0.42, the simulation results
lead to minimum energy consumption with fulfilling product
specifications. Therefore, at these, split ratios offer efficient
or optimal column design and operation.
3.1 Mixture of Alcohol
To examine the operation of the Kaibel distillation column,
the test feed consisted of four equimolar components, i.e.,
methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol and 1-butanol, introduced at
30 ◦ C and 112 kPa. The Wilson model was used as a ther-
modynamic model to calculate the flash calculations. First,
conventional distillation column arrangements, i.e., direct,
indirect and distributed, were studied by using the shortcut
distillation technique in Aspen HYSYY, as shown in Fig. 6a,
b and c, respectively. The process flow diagram for the Kaibel
distillation column converged in HYSYS is shown in Fig. 7,
and the inside column environment of the Kaibel distillation
column is presented in Fig. 7a. The first tray section of the
flow sheet acts as the partition wall and tries to flash the feed
in the flash zone of the distillation column. This behavior
enables the maximum amount of lighter components of the
feed to move toward the top of the section and the heavier
portion of the feed to move toward the bottom section. The
converged composition and temperature profiles through the
97 trays are shown in Figs. 8 and 9.
3.2 Mixture of Hydrocarbons
To validate the performance of the Kaibel distillation col-
umn, the column was tested by introducing different types of
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Fig. 3 Effect of vapor split ratio on product composition

Fig. 4 Effect of liquid split ratio on reboiler duty

Fig. 5 Effect of liquid split ratio on product composition

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Fig. 6 a Direct sequence for

conventional distillation
columns. b Indirect sequence
for conventional distillation
columns. c Distributed sequence
for conventional distillation
columns

feed consisting of more than four components. For exam-
ple, a hydrocarbon-rich stream (methane to octane) [19]
obtained from an oil exploration facility was introduced. The
objective was to obtain four different, nearly pure products,
i.e., an ethane-rich stream from the top of the column, liq-
uefied petroleum gas (LPG)- and pentane-rich streams as
side draw products, and the heaviest (C6+ ) stream from the
bottom of the distillation column. The Peng Robinson ther-
modynamic model was used to perform flash calculations
in Aspen HYSYS. A number of valuable products, such as
LPG and natural gas liquid (NGL), can be produced from
this hydrocarbon stream, and the products can be sold as

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Fig. 7 Four-product divided-wall (Kaibel) distillation column. a Inside column environment of Kaibel distillation column

domestic or any other type of fuel. In industry, certain pro- ulated using different arrangements of distillation columns.
cess plants are dedicated to processing such exit streams to For example, the distillation columns were first converged as
convert them to valuable products. Such a system was sim- a direct sequence, then as an indirect sequence and finally as a

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Fig. 8 Composition profile of main distillation column
Fig. 9 Temperature profile throughout the main distillation column
distributed sequence. Finally, the complex dividing-wall dis-
tillation column (DWC) was simulated as shown in Fig. 10;
the column environment shown in Fig. 10a elaborated inter-
nal features such as the number of trays in the prefractionator
and in the top, bottom and side draw sections. The converged
composition and temperature profiles through the 97 trays are
shown in Figs. 11 and 12.
3.3 Mixture of Aromatics
The third feed mixture is representative of an oil refinery plant
effluent stream containing a number of aromatic components
[20]. In an oil refinery, the crude distillation unit (CDU) is
one of the key units of the facility that separates all valu-
able products from crude oil. However, some of the products
(naphtha, kerosene, furnace oil, etc.) obtained from the CDU
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require further processing to be used as consumer products.
Thus, all these products are sent to other processing refin-
ery units (platformer unit, merox unit, Vacuum distillation
unit, etc.) to obtain final usable products such as gasoline,
kerosene, diesel, light diesel oil and furnace oil. In this case
study, an effluent stream obtained from a platforming unit
was examined. This refinery unit increases the octane num-
ber of straight run naphtha and removes sulfur content. This
aromatic-rich stream can yield many valuable components
such as benzene used in many petrochemical industries.
Thus, this valuable stream was tested in conventional and
complex distillation column arrangements. The feed spec-
ifications and product compositions obtained from direct,
indirect, distributed and dividing-wall columns are tabulated
in Tables 1 and 2. Figures 13a, 14 and 15 show snapshots of
the simulated Kaibel distillation column, the inside column
Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering
Fig. 10 Kaibel distillation column processing hydrocarbon as feed. a Inside column environment of Kaibel distillation column
environment and the associated profiles of temperature and
composition determined using Aspen HYSYS, respectively.
4 Control Structure for Kaibel Distillation
Column
It has been very difficult to achieve the required perfor-
mance of process plants because regulatory environmental
conditions, variable economic conditions, market competi-
tion and safety regulations are the key factors that usually
make it difficult to target the required product specifications.
Another complication has been that modern plants featur-
ing highly integrated processes and complex operation are
not easy to operate. For such process plants, it is not easy to
eliminate disturbances without interfering with the other con-
nected process units. To overcome such complications and
unsafe plant operation, it is necessary to consider the con-
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Fig. 11 Temperature profile throughout the main distillation column
Fig. 12 Composition profile of main distillation column
trol and dynamics of a process plant. Here, the steady-state
model of Kaibel distillation was modified into a dynamic
model with the same design and feed conditions. The objec-
tive was solely to study the dynamic behavior of the Kaibel
distillation column. Converting the steady-state model to a
dynamic simulation requires the following key steps. The
process flow sheet in the steady state is modified by adding
suitable equipment, such as valves, pumps, heat exchangers,
and compressors, to develop a pressure-flow relationship.
The pressure drop is specified by the user in the case of
steady-state simulations, while in dynamic simulations it is
calculated using dynamic hydraulic calculations. After mod-
ifying the flow sheet, all process equipment, e.g., columns
and vessels, requires sizing. For example, the Kaibel distil-
lation column requires tray sizing for its main distillation
column and the tray present in the prefractionator section.
Additionally, the condenser and reboiler must be sized. Then,
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controller operations are added before switching to dynamic
mode. Here, level, flow, pressure, ratio and temperature con-
trollers are used to maintain the process variables at the given
set points. Only the level controllers installed in the Kaibel
distillation column are proportional integral (PI) controllers;
the rest are PID controllers. After defining the pressure-flow
specifications of all the streams, the flowsheet environment is
allowed to switch to the dynamic mode. The modification of
the flowsheet to dynamic mode in Aspen HYSYS is shown
in Fig. 16, where the condenser level is controlled by a level
controller (LIC-101) that manipulates the distillate flow rate
and the reboiler vessel level is maintained at its set point with
the help of another level controller (LIC-100) by adjusting
the flow rate of the bottom product.
The ratio controllers, i.e., RATO-100 and RATO-101, are
responsible for adjusting the liquid and vapor split ratios
at their given set points, respectively. The pressure of the
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Table 1 Results of direct and indirect arrangements of distillation columns for aromatic case
Direct sequence Indirect sequence

Feed C5 −C6 BRC Toluene Heavies C5 −C6 BRC Toluene Heavies

Temperature (◦ C) 37 78 110.3 157.10 204.8 89.45 148.2 158.5 201.2

Pressure (kPa) 310 280 270 320 370 320 370 317 345
Molar flow (kg mol) 343 66.3 56.66 85.27 134.8 84.08 118.5 5.295 135.20
n-Butane 0.0190 0.098 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.0776 0.00 0.00 0.00
i-Pentane 0.0641 0.331 0.0001 0.00 0.00 0.2614 0.00 0.00 0.00
n-Pentane 0.0450 0.233 0.0005 0.00 0.00 0.1837 0.00 0.00 0.00
2-MPentane 0.0801 0.278 0.159 0.00 0.00 0.3126 0.01 0.00 0.00
n-Hexane 0.0430 0.046 0.2066 0.00 0.00 0.1243 0.0364 0.00 0.00
Benzene 0.0861 0.013 0.5055 0.0003 0.00 0.04 0.2208 0.0016 0.00
3-Mhexane 0.02 0.0001 0.1182 0.0019 0.00 0.0004 0.0576 0.0010 0.00
Toluene 0.2472 0.00 0.010 0.9864 0.001 0.00 0.6746 0.8952 0.001
E-Benzene 0.0350 0.00 0.00 0.0042 0.0865 0.00 0.0003 0.0407 0.0871
p-Xylene 0.0420 0.00 0.00 0.0019 0.1058 0.00 0.0001 0.0156 0.1060
m-Xylene 0.1221 0.00 0.00 0.005 0.3076 0.00 0.0002 0.0420 0.3081
o-Xylene 0.0551 0.00 0.00 0.0004 0.1399 0.00 0.00 0.0038 0.1396
1M2-Ebenzene 0.0470 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.1197 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.1194
135-Mbenzene 0.0771 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.1962 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.1956
14-Ebenzene 0.0170 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.0433 0.00 0.00 0.0 0.0432

Table 2 Results of distributed and divided-wall column arrangements of distillation columns for aromatic case
Distributed sequence Divided-wall column

Feed C5 −C6 BRC Toluene Heavies C5 −C6 BRC Toluene Heavies

Temperature (◦ C) 37 81.8 121.3 155.5 204.8 70.48 117.2 148.4 200

Pressure (kPa) 310 270 317 320 370 270 284.6 335.7 370
Molar flow (kg mol) 343 81.14 39.64 87.29 134.9 79.54 22.31 106.2 134.9
n-Butane 0.0190 0.0804 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.0819 0.0001 0.00 0.00
i-Pentane 0.0641 0.2708 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.2730 0.0017 0.00 0.00
n-Pentane 0.0450 0.1904 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.19 0.0013 0.00 0.00
2-MPentane 0.0801 0.3322 0.01 0.0013 0.00 0.2856 0.0654 0.0016 0.00
n-Hexane 0.0430 0.1132 0.1351 0.0025 0.00 0.1318 0.0415 0.0014 0.00
Benzene 0.0861 0.00 0.6481 0.0318 0.00 0.0376 0.6922 0.0312 0.00
3-Mhexane 0.02 0.00 0.1053 0.0308 0.00 0.00 0.1030 0.3110 0.00
Toluene 0.2472 0.00 0.1008 0.9242 0.001 0.00 0.0948 0.9412 0.0958
E-Benzene 0.0350 0.00 0.0002 0.0035 0.0868 0.00 0.00 0.0015 0.0747
p-Xylene 0.0420 0.00 0.0001 0.0015 0.1759 0.00 0.00 0.0011 0.0719
m-Xylene 0.1221 0.00 0.0003 0.0040 0.2378 0.00 0.00 0.0012 0.2874
o-Xylene 0.0551 0.00 0.0001 0.0003 0.1398 0.00 0.00 0.0019 0.1243
1M2-Ebenzene 0.0470 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.1196 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.1146
135-Mbenzene 0.0771 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.1959 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.1885
14-Ebenzene 0.0170 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.0433 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.0427

distillation column is controlled by manipulating the con- important to maintain at the given set point to vaporize
denser duty with the help of a pressure controller (PIC-100). all the lighter components from the bottom of the distilla-
The bottom temperature of the distillation column is very tion column. Therefore, the bottom temperature is controlled

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Fig. 13 Kaibel distillation column processing aromatic mixture as feed. a Inside column environment of Kaibel distillation column
by a temperature controller (TIC-100) by manipulating the
reboiler heat energy.
5 Results and Discussion
Steady-state simulations of conventional and complex dis-
tillation column configurations showed that dividing-wall
distillation columns are an energy-efficient and reliable tech-
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nology. By employing a DWC, we can save approximately
7.5–30% energy compared with the use of a conventional
column arrangement, as shown in Tables 3, 4 and 5. To
validate the simulation results, three different feed mixtures
(alcohol, hydrocarbon and aromatic mixture streams) were
charged into a dividing-wall column, and the desired prod-
uct specifications were obtained with relatively lower energy
consumption. Summary of DWC specifications, energy con-
sumption and split ratios for each case is given in Table 6.
Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering
Fig. 14 Temperature profile throughout the main distillation column
Fig. 15 Composition profile of main distillation column
In case of alcohol mixture, the simulation results obtained
for all possible configurations of the distillation columns
are compared in Table 3. The simulation results show that
approximately 20–23% energy consumption can be saved by
using the Kaibel distillation column compared with the use
of a simple distillation column configuration. The Kaibel col-
umn was then operated in two different modes, i.e., by fixing
the product purities and by fixing the available heat energy.
The steady-state simulation results for the two modes are
shown in Table 7. Because the product compositions were
not active in the second mode, it was easy to operate the
column. One sample application is in petroleum refineries
where the product composition from the atmospheric distil-
lation column does not play a vital role. Operation of the
distillation column becomes difficult when the product com-
position is highly sensitive and cannot be compromised. The
two operation modes differ in terms of the given energy price
(expensive/cheap) and given product purity constraints. The
converged composition and temperature profiles through the
97 trays are shown in Figs. 11 and 12.
For hydrocarbons mixture, the temperature and compo-
sition profiles of the Kaibel distillation column are shown
in Figs. 14 and 15, respectively. The feed conditions and
product compositions obtained after simulating all pos-
sible distillation arrangements are tabulated in Tables 8
and 9. The amounts of energy consumed in all the simu-
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Fig. 16 Dynamic simulation of Kaibel distillation column processing alcohol as feed

Table 3 Energy comparison between conventional and complex configurations for alcohol case
Column arrangements Methanol Ethanol 1-Propanol 1-Butanol Heat energy (kW) %Energy saving

Feed properties 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 – –

Direct sequence 0.95 0.82 0.95 0.95 3055.2 22.1
Indirect sequence 0.95 0.86 0.95 0.96 3095.5 23.1
Distributed sequence 0.95 0.92 0.92 0.95 3041.5 21.7
Divided-wall column 0.96 0.92 0.92 0.95 2381 Null

Table 4 Energy comparison between conventional and complex configurations for hydrocarbon case
Column arrangements C2 (ethane) LPG (Propane/n-butane) C5 (n-pentane) C6+ (n-octane) Heat energy (kW) %Energy saving

Direct sequence 0.96 0.4998/0.3390 0.5962 0.4035 2744.5 25.45%

Indirect sequence 0.9534 0.4979/0.3405 0.6372 0.3923 2806.5 27.09%
Distributed sequence 0.8637 0.5015/0.3226 0.5526 0.5621 2187.3 7.53%
Dividing-wall column 0.8558 0.4196/0.3538 0.5007 0.3682 2046 Null

Table 5 Energy comparison between conventional and complex configurations for aromatic mixture
Column arrangements C5 −C6 (C5 family) BRC (benzene) Toluene Heavies Heat energy (kW) %Energy saving

Direct sequence 0.84 0.50 0.98 0.80 7437 29.35

Indirect sequence 0.75 0.22 0.89 0.80 6990.62 24.84
Distributed sequence 0.79 0.64 0.92 0.73 7610 30.95
Dividing-wall column 0.75 0.69 0.94 0.75 5254 Null

lated configurations are compared in Table 4, which shows
that approximately 7–27% energy was saved by using the
Kaibel distillation column and the obtained product com-
positions were nearly the same and acceptable. For the last
case, the amounts of energy consumed by all the simulated
configurations are tabulated in Table 5, which shows that
approximately 30% energy is saved by using the Kaibel
distillation column and the obtained product compositions
are nearly acceptable. Moreover, the capital investment can
be considerably reduced by eliminating excess distillation
columns and heat exchangers.
On the other hand, the control structure design of the
DWC is highly challenging. Because of the interaction of
the control loop in the DWC, it is difficult to establish the

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Table 6 Column specifications

Column Case 1: Alcohol Case 2: Hydrocarbons Case 3: Aromatics
for each mixture
specifications mixture mixture mixture

Number of trays 97 85 101

Internal type Valve Valve Valve
Tray space (ft) 2.0 1.6 1.8
Diameter (ft) 8.5 4.9 4.9
Liquid split ratio 0.42 0.32 0.35
Vapor split ratio 0.65 0.55 0.62
Reboiler duty (kW) 2753 2050 5114
Condense duty (kW) 2234 1822 2951

Table 7 Comparison of two

Mode-I Mode-II
modes of operation of Kaibel
column Distillate flow rate (kmol/h) 24.56 24.61
Side draw-1 flow rate (kmol/h) 25.12 25.01
Side draw-2 flow rate (kmol/h) 25.25 25.18
Bottom flow rate (kmol/h) 25.10 24.99
Mole fraction of methanol in distillate 0.99 0.99
Mole fraction of ethanol in side draw-1 0.95 0.96
Mole fraction of 1-propanol in side draw-2 0.95 0.96
Mole fraction of 1-butanol in bottom 0.99 0.99
Liquid split ratio (RL ) 0.19 0.13
Vapor split ratio (RV ) 0.42 0.25
Heat energy (kW) 2365 2381

Table 8 Results of direct and indirect arrangements of distillation columns for hydrocarbon case
Direct sequence Indirect sequence

Feed C2 LPG C5 C6+ C2 LPG C5 C6+

Temperature (◦ C) 77 1.191 100.2 179.7 264.4 2.801 95.02 176.2 263.2

Pressure (kPa) 2610 2590 2550 2615 2640 2615 2640 2600 2630
Molar flow (kg mol) 250 50.58 169.6 10.74 19.1 50.94 169.2 10.22 19.65
Methane 0.0074 0.0368 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.0366 0.00 0.00 0.00
Ethane 0.1949 0.9630 0.0001 0.00 0.00 0.9534 0.001 0.00 0.00
Propane 0.3390 0.0001 0.4998 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.4979 0.00 0.00
i-Butane 0.1084 0.00 0.1559 0.0003 0.00 0.00 0.1602 0.00 0.00
n-Butane 0.2305 0.00 0.3390 0.0122 0.00 0.00 0.3405 0.001 0.00
i-Pentane 0.0149 0.00 0.0010 0.3293 0.001 0.00 0.0003 0.3596 0.00
n-Pentane 0.0261 0.00 0.0002 0.5962 0.0052 0.00 0.00 0.6372 0.001
n-Hexane 0.0285 0.00 0.00 0.0619 0.3382 0.00 0.00 0.0023 0.3615
n-Heptane 0.0193 0.00 0.00 0.0001 0.2521 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.2452
n-Octane 0.0308 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.4035 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.3923

model of each control loop for tuning. Herein, PID controllers Kaibel distillation column are proportional integral (PI) con-
(self-tuning) are used for level, flow, pressure, ratio and tem- trollers. The operation of the Kaibel distillation column was
perature control in order to maintain the process variables at tested by introducing different types of disturbances after the
the given set points. Only the level controllers installed in the implementation of a feasible control scheme. For example,

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Table 9 Results of distributed and divided-wall column arrangements of distillation columns for Hydrocarbon case
Distributed sequence Divided-wall column

Feed C2 LPG C5 C6+ C2 LPG C5 C6+

Temperature (◦ C) 77 12.14 94.32 177.8 280.4 10 97.91 147.1 255.6

Pressure (kPa) 2610 2550 2600 2615 2640 2570 2594 2626 2640
Molar flow (kg mol) 250 56.41 157 22.84 13.71 67.19 157 4.919 20.89
Methane 0.0074 0.0330 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.0275 0.00 0.00 0.00
Ethane 0.1949 0.8637 0.0001 0.0001 0.00 0.8558 0.0126 0.0018 0.00
Propane 0.3390 0.1033 0.5015 0.0076 0.00 0.1167 0.4196 0.0584 0.0002
i-Butane 0.1084 0.00 0.1649 0.0528 0.00 0.00 0.1690 0.1067 0.002
n-Butane 0.2305 0.00 0.3226 0.002 0.00 0.00 0.3538 0.1237 0.0119
i-Pentane 0.0149 0.00 0.0056 0.1243 0.0002 0.00 0.0185 0.0987 0.0160
n-Pentane 0.0261 0.00 0.0051 0.5526 0.001 0.00 0.0264 0.5007 0.0553
n-Hexane 0.0285 0.00 0.0001 0.2499 0.1019 0.00 0.0001 0.1013 0.3169
n-Heptane 0.0193 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.3348 0.00 0.00 0.0067 0.2294
n-Octane 0.0308 0.00 0.00 0.0002 0.5621 0.00 0.00 0.002 0.3682

Fig. 17 Response of product flow rate upon increasing feed flowrate by 20%

Fig. 18 Response of product composition upon increasing the feed flowrate by 20%

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Fig. 19 Response of product flow rate upon decreasing the feed flowrate by 20%

Fig. 20 Response of product composition upon decreasing the feed flow rate by 20%

changes in product flow rates, compositions and energy con- 6 Conclusion

sumption were examined with the increase and then decrease
in feed flow rate. Figures 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22 show the
responses of the implemented control scheme. The distur-
bance was introduced in the dynamic simulation after 200
minutes of column operation. It was observed that nearly
all controllers rejected the effects of the disturbances, as
shown in the graphs, and attempted to retain their original
position. In some cases, the process value of the controllers
fluctuated only slightly around its set point value, but these
fluctuations can be ignored if the product specifications
allow.
In this work, an energy-efficient four-product dividing-wall
distillation column (Kaibel) was used to separate a multi-
component feed mixture. The results showed that the Kaibel
distillation column can be operated in two different ways,
depending on the circumstances, i.e., by prioritizing saving
available energy or the required product purities. Not only
can nearly pure products be obtained by using a dividing-
wall distillation column, but also, an appreciable amount of
capital investment and energy saving can be achieved. Fur-
thermore, the implementation of a feasible control scheme
makes the Kaibel distillation column more stable against the

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Fig. 21 Response of heat

energy upon increasing the feed
flowrate

Fig. 22 Response of heat

energy upon decreasing the feed
flowrate

disturbances that occur during normal operation. Perfectly
tuned controller parameters will make it possible to achieve
satisfactory performance throughout the operation of a plant.
The disturbance rejection capability of the implemented con-
trol scheme makes it possible to achieve the required product
specifications.
Compliance with Ethical Standards
Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of
interest.
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