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Chemical Engineering and Processing 107 (2016) 106115

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Chemical Engineering and Processing:


Process Intensication
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cep

Dividing wall column control: Common practices and key ndings


Melissa M. Donahue a , Bailee J. Roach a , James J. Downs b , Terrence Blevins c ,
Michael Baldea a , R. Bruce Eldridge a,d,
a
McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, United States
b
Eastman Chemical Company, Kingsport, TN 37660, United States
c
Emerson Process Management, Round Rock, TX 78681, United States
d
Process Science Technology Center, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78681, United States

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Dividing wall columns (DWC) are an energy-efcient distillation setup that promises capital cost and
Received 4 April 2016 energy savings. This review focuses on DWCs as a ternary separation technology for hydrocarbon mix-
Received in revised form 12 May 2016 tures relevant to the chemical and rening industries. One of the reasons industry adoption of DWCs
Accepted 31 May 2016
tends to be slow is the unique control challenge resulting from DWCs highly integrated nature. This
Available online 1 June 2016
review summarizes available literature on DWC control approaches, from multi-loop linear structures
to advanced model-based control. We conclude that, although achieving stable DWC operation is cer-
Keywords:
tainly possible, the development of a comprehensive framework that incorporates (multiple and often
Dividing wall column
Process intensication
conicting) process operating objectives, and equipment and process constraints, into a transparent
Control control strategy remains an open research question.
Minimum energy operation 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
2. Overview of DWC degrees of freedom and operational objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
2.1. Minimum energy operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
2.2. Process nonlinearities: steady-state multiplicity and infeasible operating regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
3. DWC benchmark mixtures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
3.1. Benzene, toluene, xylene (BTX) mixtures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
3.1.1. Composition control with linear multi-loop controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
3.1.2. Temperature control with multi-loop PID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
3.1.3. Model Predictive Control (MPC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
3.1.4. Further applications of advanced control strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
3.2. Alcohol mixtures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
3.2.1. Experimental studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
3.2.2. Simulation studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
3.3. Other hydrocarbon mixtures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
3.4. Ideal components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
4. Discussion, conclusions and future work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
4.1. Summary of ndings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
4.2. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Corresponding author at: McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, United States.
E-mail address: eldridge@che.utexas.edu (R.B. Eldridge).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cep.2016.05.013
0255-2701/ 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
M.M. Donahue et al. / Chemical Engineering and Processing 107 (2016) 106115 107

1. Introduction conventional counterparts due to: (i) the loss of degrees of free-
dom due to carrying out multiple conventional unit operations in a
Distillation is the most commonly used technique for the sepa- single physical device, (ii) the nonlinear behavior caused by inter-
ration of multicomponent mixtures in the chemical manufacturing actions between these operations/phenomena, and (iii) faster time
industries. In 2010, there were over 40,000 distillation columns constants due to the smaller physical size [4]. DWC control entails
reported in operation around the world [40]. Distillation is, how- stable operation, upholding product specications in the face of
ever, an energy intensive process, representing more than 40 disturbances, and maintaining energy efciency using the available
percent of the total energy consumption in the rening and chemi- manipulated variables. Successful control has been demonstrated
cal manufacturing industries [19]. Possible solutions to these large in the open literature using several control congurations, vary-
energy demands include the use of Petyluk and dividing wall ing from multi-loop linear control to advanced control strategies,
columns (DWCs), multicomponent separation technologies that conrming that that DWCs are indeed controllable in practical
incorporate process intensication and advanced process integra- settings.
tion concepts. Recent review papers capture the historical development of con-
Petyluk columns and DWCs have lower capital and operating trol structures for DWC, and provide a set of general guidelines for
costs than conventional multicomponent distillation sequences. control structure selection [43,22]. Nevertheless, to our knowledge,
Traditionally, ternary separations are performed in a train of two the body of review literature currently available does not establish
distillation columns, using either the direct sequence (where the explicit connections between the types of mixtures to be separated
most volatile component is separated rst) or the indirect sequence and the performance of the control structures chosen for the cor-
(where the least volatile component is separated rst). While responding DWCs while, on the other hand, cross-referencing the
effective, using a train of distillation columns incurs the cost and availability of experimental data or simulation studies.
space of multiple column shells, reboilers, and condensers. More- This review aims precisely to fulll this need by summarizing
over, it is thermodynamically inefcient: amongst others, remixing the open literature regarding the operation and controllability of
effects caused by thermal inefciencies in conventional multi- dividing wall distillation columns including recent advances and
component distillation sequences increase energy demands and highlighting opportunities for future work. Individual DWC stud-
therefore operating cost [19]. In 1949, Wright introduced the DWC ies are often difcult to compare due to differences in modeling
as an alternative distillation scheme that diminishes this remix- approaches, feedstock selection, disturbances tested, and product
ing effect resulting in a more energy efcient separation [42]. specications. To ensure a meaningful analysis, we organize the
Wrights design consisted of a conventional trayed column shell paper by process objectives. Control structures are presented in a
that contained a vertical wall partitioning the feed and side product way that highlights connections between process objectives and
streams. In a DWC, the feed enters on the prefractionator, or prefrac, control strategy selection.
side of the wall, and the side product is removed on the mainfrac-
tionator, or mainfrac (i.e., the opposite) side of the wall. Similar Minimize energy consumption: Minimum energy operation
to conventional distillation, the light and heavy components are while maintaining product specications is arguably the most
removed as distillate and bottoms products, respectively. Unlike signicant process objective of a DWC. This review begins with a
conventional distillation, the rectifying section liquid is collected discussion on minimum energy operation and the control struc-
at the top of the wall and split as reux between the prefraction- tures proposed to ensure operation within this regime.
ator and mainfractionator sides of the wall. Optimizing the reux Achieve separation performance: Control strategies are orga-
ow rate/liquid split fraction is key to obtaining signicant energy nized by feed stock as a means to include any inherent design
savings in DWC operations [15,39,22]. considerations that could potentially impact control decisions.
The energy and capital savings (the latter derived from reduc-
ing the equipment number and corresponding material and labor
Control strategies are summarized, and reported performance is
costs) promised by using a dividing wall column render it an attrac-
discussed. A particular emphasis is given to experimental studies
tive separation technology for the chemical and rening industries.
and advanced control techniques. Beyond design decisions incor-
Several industrial implementations have been reported in the open
porated in feedstock selection, little focus within this article is given
literature. For example, BASF of Germany operates more than 100
to the design of DWCs.
DWCs around the world and is building as many as 10 per year
[22,34]. ExxonMobil has also demonstrated successful implemen-
tation of DWCs. The companys Fawley Renery near Southampton, 2. Overview of DWC degrees of freedom and operational
England retrotted a trayed xylenes column and achieved more objectives
than 50 percent energy savings [38]. ExxonMobil operates a second
xylenes recovery DWC at their Port Jerome renery and a benzene- Dividing wall columns have a unique set of degrees of freedom
toluene-xylene DWC in Rotterdam [34]. The applicability of DWCs that can be used to meet their control objectives of stability, product
extends to azeotropic [21], extractive [5,21], and reactive distilla- composition specications, and energy minimization.
tion [30,18,36,27]. Germanys Uhde GmbH has commercialized an Fig. 1 provides a schematic of a standard dividing wall column
extractive DWC process which was reported to save approximately with labeled process ows. As in the case of a traditional distilla-
20 percent in both capital and energy costs [34]. The DWC ideas tion column with a side stream, DWC degrees of freedom include
and principles were further expanded to include four-product sep- reux (L), distillate (D), side stream (S), bottoms (B), vapor boilup
arations; this setup, know as the Kaibel column, has two product (V), and condenser duty (QC ). The condenser duty is typically used
sidestreams [9,11,16]. to maintain column pressure, and the ve remaining degrees of
Despite these successes, DWCs still represent a minor propor- freedom are used to control product compositions and holdups in
tion of the eet of distillation trains currently in operation in the the reux drum and reboiler. The reux and distillate can be com-
chemical and petrochemical industries and have yet to gain wide bined as a reux ratio (r = L/D). For consistency, in this work we will
industry acceptance. Controllability concerns, originating in their denote compositions by two sets of letters separated by a comma.
intensied nature, represent a signicant hurdle in the widespread The rst species the stream (D, S, or B), and the second species
implementation of DWCs. Intensied processes, such as dividing the component (A, B, or C for light, middle, and heavy components,
wall columns, are considered more difcult to control than their respectively).
108 M.M. Donahue et al. / Chemical Engineering and Processing 107 (2016) 106115

dividing wall columns is not always ensured. Controls play a key


role in realizing the energy savings promised by DWCs.
Given that the reboiler is the dominant energy sink, the energy
use optimization of DWCs is generally simplied to consider only
the minimum boilup rate, Vmin , or the boilup to feed ratio, V/F,
the latter accounting for throughput. The optimal Vmin cannot be
guaranteed in open-loop operation; among others,

operation is infeasible at low boilup rates, i.e., for V < Vmin ,


the optimal value of Vmin changes with operation, and an appro-
priate model and measurement of disturbances would be needed
to regularly recalculate Vmin ,
actual measurement of V is generally difcult and inaccurate [17].

Therefore, closed-loop control is needed to remain close to mini-


mum energy operation. The liquid split at the top of the wall is often
considered the available control parameter that inuences energy
consumption. The vapor split at the bottom of the wall also impacts
the internal trafc of the column and therefore the column energy
consumption.
Before discussing closed-loop control congurations that mini-
mize energy usage, it is important to note the concentration proles
that characterize optimal operation as this process knowledge will
inform control objectives. Specically, at the optimal operating
Fig. 1. Diagram of DWC with degrees of freedom labeled. point, the intermediate boiling component is distributed evenly
around each side of wall as it leaves the prefrac [17]. Equivalently,
for an energy-efcient operation, the liquid split and associated
The dividing wall of DWCs creates an additional degree of free- vapor split should be chosen such that the net ow of the middle
dom that can be used for control. This additional degree of freedom component leaves the prefrac equally at both ends of the wall [13].
is associated with the liquid split at the top of the wall (L ). In pub- Thus, dening the component split as the fraction of intermediate
lished reports, the liquid split is controlled by either (i) collecting component introduced in the feed stream that passes beyond the
the entire amount of liquid from the upper part of the column using top of the wall, a DWC is operating efciently from of energy point
a special tray (trapout tray) or (ii) via an electromagnetic funnel. of view at a value of the component split of 0.5 (allowing for some
The total trapout tray collects all of the liquid from the rectifying tolerance due to uncertainty the in the vapor split).
section of the column and physically removes it from the column. Measuring the component split is not a trivial task. However, its
This liquid may then be placed in an external tank whose level is value can be inferred from temperature measurements, e.g., from a
minimized to the extent that control can be managed. The liquid prefrac temperature measurement located above the feed. The liq-
is returned to the column via dedicated lines and control valves uid split can be used as a manipulated variable for this temperature.
according to the desired liquid split. An electromagnetic funnel col- Indeed, it was found that implementing this temperature control
lects the liquid at the top of the wall just like a total trapout tray. strategy on a pilot-scale column led to 2441 percent energy sav-
However, the funnel is controlled by two electromagnets whose ings when compared to a conventional distillation sequence [13].
cycling time determines the ow of liquid to the two sides of the Moreover, the same study reported that improper values of the liq-
dividing wall, thereby leading to a periodic disturbance in the col- uid split can result in energy demands that are twice to three times
umn operations. as large as those of conventional distillation sequences operating
At the bottom of the wall, the vapor is split to both sides of the at the same capacity.
wall according to the vapor split ratio (V ). However, the vapor split A similar strategy was used by Ling and Luyben, who studied
is not a degree of freedom because it cannot be easily controlled. using a composition [25] or a temperature [26] control loop for
Controlling the vapor split may be impractical or not cost effective. a stage at the top of the prefrac section using the liquid split as
Instead, V is determined by the wall placement or the condition of a manipulated variable to maintain minimum energy operation.
equal pressure drop on both sides of the wall [22,32]. Although this However, in this case the control objective was to achieve a spec-
review will discuss DWCs with the wall placed in the horizontal ied (constant, minimal) heavy component concentration at the
and vertical center of the column, such as in Fig. 1, it should be top of wall rather than to maintain a constant component split.
noted that DWCs may have off-center wall placement, i.e. the wall This study conrmed that manipulating the liquid split to main-
may be placed closer to the feed or side product side or closer to tain a low composition of the heavy component at the top of the
the rectifying or stripping section. wall correlates to minimum energy consumption and that the opti-
mal value of the liquid split changes with feed composition but not
2.1. Minimum energy operation feed ow rates. We note here that the side draw stream in the sys-
tem considered was entirely liquid. In this case, liquid impurities
The reboiler with its associated heat duty is the largest heat from the top of wall affect the side stream composition more than
sink for both dividing wall and traditional distillation columns. vapor impurities from below the wall. However, the side streams
Unlike direct and indirect distillation trains, DWCs generally only of DWCs may be chosen to be in the vapor phase or may be drawn
use one reboiler, though there is a possibility of side reboilers. When as a liquid/vapor mixture. It is not clear whether the decision to
compared to reboiler energy requirements to complete the same control the heavy component concentration at the top of the wall
separation using traditional distillation trains, DWCs have been would lead to minimal energy consumption in these latter cases. It
reported to require thirty to fty percent less energy [14]. How- should be noted that while the overall purity of the side product can
ever, due to process nonlinearity, minimum energy operation of be controlled, there are not enough degrees of freedom to specify
M.M. Donahue et al. / Chemical Engineering and Processing 107 (2016) 106115 109

particular values or ratios of light and heavy impurities in the side splits and therefore energy usage. Although this new steady state
product. Halvorsen and Skogestad investigated a fourth composi- will provide sufcient separation to meet product specications,
tion controller that specied the ratio of side product impurities an increased energy requirement may classify it as a sub-optimal
and found that it lead to infeasible operating regions and resulted column operating point. The effect of the vapor split in inuencing
in higher energy usage [41]. multiple steady-states stresses the importance of wall placement
Conversely, Halvorsen and Skogestad [17] considered a par- in the design phase. The effect of the liquid split in transitioning
tially vaporized feed stream (equimolar ideal mixture with relative to new steady states directly affects operation and control choices
volatilities of 4:2:1 and feed liquid fraction of 0.477 however, for a DWC. For a DWC with limited purpose or designed to operate
without explicitly discussing the extra energy required to vaporize at a single steady state, process nonlinearity may not need to be
the feed). The authors evaluated ve candidate variables for self- accounted for in control and dynamic modeling, provided a lower
optimizing control: the main column temperature prole position, energy steady state is selected. However, process nonlinearity sug-
the temperature prole symmetry, the prefractionator impurity gests the need for nonlinear optimization and control for DWCs
outows, the prefractionator ow split, and the prefractionator operated in a transient fashion and/or employed for separating
temperature difference. Similar to [25], it was found that the several different feed streams.
heavy component concentration at the top of the prefraction-
ator has close to ideal properties of a self-optimizing variable, 3. DWC benchmark mixtures
with the disadvantage that implementing self-optimizing control
may require one or more composition controllers. Further stud- Overall, similar systems are explored in the DWC control lit-
ies in this direction sought to identify combinations of controlled erature, but numerous control structures have been investigated
variables that can fulll the self-optimizing control role [3]. Con- (Table 1). In order to provide a better understanding of the selection
trolling the resulting variable combinations yielded good resilience of control structures, we organize control studies according to feed-
to disturbances but proved to be sensitive to measurement stock: presenting structures based on desired chemical separation
errors [2]; furthermore, such variable combinations are not phys- inherently accounts for design choices and process limitations.
ically meaningful and therefore likely difcult to understand by
operators.
3.1. Benzene, toluene, xylene (BTX) mixtures
The above studies highlight the lack of unied framework to
determine proper energy minimization of DWCs. While energy
The control of BTX DWCs has been studied extensively via sim-
savings have been reported using the liquid split as a control
ulation. Control approaches range from conventional multi-loop
parameter, the choice in associated control variable and, more
temperature and composition PID controllers, with and without
importantly, a systematic procedure for determining the proper
energy minimization loops, to optimization-based multivariable
setpoint for this variable remains open research questions.
control structures such as Model Predictive Control. Although the
best PID structure is unclear, advanced control techniques have
2.2. Process nonlinearities: steady-state multiplicity and
demonstrated faster and tighter control than their PID counter-
infeasible operating regions
parts. Though their implementation requires more effort, advanced
control techniques provide better control because they account for
The key impact of the liquid split on energy efciency of DWCs
the strong interactions between process variables that arise due to
has prompted further analysis of its relationship to other operat-
process intensication.
ing parameters, in particular on vapor boilup. Chavez et al. found
multiple steady states for a Petlyuk column through numerical sim-
ulation [8]. These steady states featured the same feed composition, 3.1.1. Composition control with linear multi-loop controllers
product specications, and reux ow but different internal ows Ling and Luyben studied the control of a 30/30/40 mole per-
due to different liquid and vapor split values. It was found that the cent BTX mixture in a DWC [25]. The column was modeled as a
system exhibits a single steady state once the reux ratio reaches pressure-driven system using a set of interconnected conventional
a minimum value and that column operation is infeasible below distillation column models. Four PID composition controllers were
this threshold. Wolff and Skogestad [41] conrmed these ndings, used to maintain the top (benzene), side (toluene), and bottom
showing that multiple boilup values can produce the same prod- (xylene) product compositions and minimize energy consumption.
ucts for the same liquid split. Additional infeasible operating points The four-point structure comprised the following controller pair-
were identied in the case of increasing the side product purity ings: xD,B L (for reux ratios < 3), xS,C S, and xB,B V, or DB/LSV
via a dedicated control loop specifying the ratio of side product (Fig. 2). A fourth control loop maintaining the composition of the
impurities. heavy component at the top of wall by manipulating the liquid split
Further exploring the effect of the liquid split on the optimum (L ) was used to minimize energy consumption. The four-point
boilup, Halvorsen and Skogestad provided a graphical analysis, rep- structure was tested against feed ow disturbances and showed
resenting the steady-state optimal boilup surface as a function of good performance. It was found that the addition of feedforward
liquid and vapor splits for various feed conditions [17]. The results controllers for the reboiler duty and reux reduced settling time
show that the surface is quite narrow and strongly depends on without resulting in any product deviations.
disturbances and design parameters. For example, the surface is Kiss and Rewagad further explored the concept of four-point
shaped like the hull of a ship for a partly vaporized feed and forms PID composition control to include alternate controller pairings
a near-vertical wall near the optimum operating regime for sat- [23]. Examining composition control and inventory control of an
urated liquid feeds. For cases with a saturated liquid feed, even equimolar BTX system, the authors studied the DB/LSV, LB/DSV,
slight changes in the internal splits could lead to infeasible opera- DV/LSB, and LV/DSB congurations (Table 2).1
tion. Multiple steady-state solutions were identied for subcooled
feeds.
Together, these studies show that energy efcient operation of a 1
We use the following notation to distinguish three-point tempera-
DWC is only possible for specic design and process conditions due ture/composition control congurations: the rst two letters note the manipulated
to the nonlinearity of a dividing wall column. Process nonlinearity variable for the reux drum and the column level, respectively, and the following
leads to multiple steady-states that differ in the liquid or vapor three letters denote the top, middle, and bottom compositions, respectively.
110 M.M. Donahue et al. / Chemical Engineering and Processing 107 (2016) 106115

Table 1
Summary of DWC control structures available in the open literature organized by chemical system. TC denotes temperature control, and CC denotes composition control.
The normalized boiling point temperatures are the normal boiling points in degrees F normalized by the boiling point of the middle component. The n-hexanol/n-octanol/n-
decanol and butanol/pentanol/hexanol systems were converted to mole percent from weight percent. Sim. denotes simulation-based studies, and exp. denotes experimental
studies.

Chemical system Normalized boiling point ( F/ F) Feed composition Control structure Reference Method

Benzene 0.76 Equimolar 3 and 4-point CC [23,24] sim.


Toluene 1 MPC [35] sim.
Xylene 1.23 30/30/40 mole % 4-point TC and CC [25,26] sim.
Temperature difference [26] sim.
MPC [10] sim.

n-Hexanol 0.82 41/32/27 mole % 4-point TC [7] exp.


n-Octanol 1 MPC [6] exp.
n-Decanol 1.16

Methanol 0.82 Equimolar 2-point TC [28] exp.


Iso-propanol 1
Butanol 1.18

Butanol 0.87 18/70/12 mole % 3-point PID TC [1] exp.


Pentanol 1 MPC
Hexanol 1.13

Ethanol 0.84 Equimolar 3-point TC [41] sim.


Propanol 1 4-point TC [41,12] sim.
n-Butanol 1.18 20/60/20 mole % 3-point TC [18] sim.

Methanol 0.86 20/60/20 mole % 3-point TC [18] sim.


Ethanol 1 N/A 4-point CC [25] sim.
Propanol 1.2

n-Pentane 0.62 40/20/40 mole % 2-point TC [20] sim.


n-Hexane 1 33/33/33 mole %
n-Heptane 1.34 20/60/20 mole %

n-Butane 0.38 40/20/40 mole % 2-point TC [20] sim.


i-Pentane 1 33/33/33 mole %
n-Pentane 1.18 20/60/20 mole %

i-Pentane 0.85 40/20/40 mole % 2-point TC [20] sim.


n-Pentane 1 33/33/33 mole %
n-Hexane 1.61 20/60/20 mole %

Responses to 10 percent feed ow and composition disturbances Kiss and Rewagad [23], though it is unclear if the type of control
were compared using Integral Absolute Error (IAE), and structure loops, choice of model format, or different column designs are
stability was compared using a frequency-dependent Relative Gain responsible for the discrepancy.
Array (RGA). DB/LSV and LB/DSV had lower IAE values than other
structures, and DB/LSV had the lowest RGA numbers, suggesting 3.1.2. Temperature control with multi-loop PID
weaker interactions and stable control. Online composition controllers are often expensive, require high
A similar analysis was conducted by Koko and Barakat on an maintenance, and can cause long time delays; these reasons have
equimolar BTX system [24]. Simplied material and energy bal- motivated carrying out studies of DWC control based on temper-
ances used for the column trays resulted in a non-linear dynamic ature, rather than composition measurements. Ling and Luyben
model that was then linearized. Proportional level controllers and provided a direct extension of their previous work [25] using tem-
proportionalintegral composition controllers were used to test perature controllers in the place of the composition controllers
the four candidate control strategies: DB/LSV, DV/LSB, LB/DSV, and maintaining the same model and feed composition [26]. The
and LV/DSB. However, an energy minimization loop was not authors compared four-point temperature control and tempera-
implemented. RGA analysis suggested that LB/DSV and DV/LSB ture difference control in the presence of 10 percent feed ow
had the least loop interactions. Disturbance testing of +10 percent and composition disturbances. Sensitivity analysis and singular
feed ow and 10 percent feed quality of the two structures value decomposition (SVD) were used to determine tray locations
suggested LB/DSV to be the better structure with faster settling for both temperature control structures. The absolute tempera-
times. These results are in partial agreement with the ndings of ture control approach was found to handle feed ow disturbances

Table 2
4-Point multiloop control structures.

Loop manipulated based on control selection

Independent loop DB/LSV DV/LSB LV/DSB LB/DSV


Accumulator level Distillate Reux
Top temp. Reux Distillate
Bottom level Bottom Steam Bottom
Bottom temp Steam Bottom Steam
M.M. Donahue et al. / Chemical Engineering and Processing 107 (2016) 106115 111

[35,23]. The controlled variables for the MPC were XD,A , xS,B , xB,C ,
the heavy component at the top of the prefrac, and the liquid
holdups in the reboiler and the reux tank. The manipulated
variables included D, B, L, S, V, and L . A simplied MPC where
the holdups were controlled through PID level control was also
considered. The high-dimensional MPC model was derived from
the linearization of the non-linear distillation column model. The
three control structures were tested against disturbances of 10
percent increases in feed ow and in benzene feed composition.
The product purity setpoints were also varied. The DB/LSV multi-
loop conguration outperformed MPC in the face of benzene feed
composition disturbances, but MPC performed consistently well
overall. The IAE for MPC was the lowest. The combined MPC and PID
structure performed similarly to the larger MPC. Therefore, either
would be favorable in practice. Because the linear and non-linear
dynamic models matched closely in open loop responses and the
authors considered a narrow operating range, non-linear MPC is not
expected to provide signicant advantages in this case. The authors
note that the major drawback of MPC is its burden of implemen-
tation where the controllers performance is dependent upon the
efciency of optimization algorithms, the computational capacity
of the hardware, and the complexity of the model [35]. Neverthe-
less, we note that successful industrial implementations of MPC
Fig. 2. DB/LSV structure showing the distillate and bottoms streams used for level with far larger numbers of inputs and outputs have been reported
control and the reux, side stream, and steam used for composition/temperature
in the literature, and hence MPC applications are well within reach
control. These pairings switch to form the other three structures LB/DSV, LV/DSB,
and DV/LSB. The fourth temperature controller controls the prefrac temperature from a technical perspective as long as the economic motivation is
with the liquid split at the top of the wall and is the same for all four structures. sufciently strong.

3.1.4. Further applications of advanced control strategies


well but not disturbances in feed composition. Conversely, the
Frequency-domain multi-variable techniques have been tested
temperature difference approach handled both disturbances well
and show improvements in performance over multi-loop con-
because of its ability to handle column temperature deviations and
trollers [40]. However, these techniques require high order
pressure disturbances. The temperature difference between two
controllers (in this case, greater than or equal to 25) which makes
trays does not signicantly change for feed disturbances, and since
their implementation difcult and unlikely to be widely used in
temperature difference control maintains temperature deviations
industrial practice.
rather than absolute temperatures, setpoints do not have to change
with feed composition disturbances. In addition, tray pressures
change with changes in liquid and vapor ow rates. Differential 3.2. Alcohol mixtures
temperature control accounts for this to an extent because both
temperatures are affected by pressure in the same manner. Numerous theoretical and experimental studies have examined
the separation of alcohol systems using DWCs.
3.1.3. Model Predictive Control (MPC)
MPC offers numerous advantages over multi-loop PID control 3.2.1. Experimental studies
structures, including the ability to handle constraints on inputs, While experimental studies are in general lacking from the DWC
states, and outputs and to coordinate optimum setpoint and con- open literature, their signicance cannot be underestimated in the
trol calculations. These features, along with the ability to capture march towards a complete understanding of the process. Although
dynamic and static interactions in the process, make MPC an attrac- differing in chemical systems and column design (Table 3), the
tive control strategy for DWCs, where process intensication leads experimental studies reviewed in this work show that three or
to variable interactions. In general, dynamic simulations compar- more temperature controllers are needed for successful operation
ing MPC to PID controller performance for a BTX DWC show that in the presence of disturbances. In addition, these studies conrm
MPC results in tighter and faster control. that MPC provides tighter control and shorter settling times over
Dohare et al. compared the performance of a 3 3 (3 control PID.
variables 3 manipulated variables) MPC to Ling and Luybens PID
temperature control structure on a simulated 30/30/40 mole per- 3.2.1.1. n-Hexanol, n-octanol, and n-decanol. Fieg et al. conducted
cent BTX system [10,26]. The three temperatures controlled via a multitude of studies on the industrially-relevant mixture of
MPC were the uppermost rectifying temperature, the side stream n-hexanol, n-octanol, and n-decanol in both a pilot plant and simu-
temperature, and the bottom stage temperature in the stripping lation environment. The experimental system comprised a stainless
section, and the manipulated variables were L, S, and V. The MPC steel column that was 11 m tall and 68 mm in diameter with a
exhibited good performance in the face of 10 percent feed ow and welded wall in the center [7]. The column used a total condenser
composition disturbances and liquid split setpoint changes. MPC and electrical ange reboiler and was operated under vacuum using
showed shorter settling times and smaller offsets than PID control. a rotary vane vacuum pump. Montz structured packing provided 20
For example, MPC had one-fourth of the settling time of PID control theoretical stages in the column, and there were three temperature
for changes in benzene feed composition. transmitters per element of packing. Two pressure differentials and
Rewagad and Kiss compared the performance of a 6 6 (6 con- thirty six temperatures were measured along the column. Stable
trolled variables 6 manipulated variables) MPC to the DB/LSV operation was ensured by pressure control using a magnetic valve
PID control of their earlier paper for an equimolar BTX system and level control of the reux drum and reboiler using the reux
112 M.M. Donahue et al. / Chemical Engineering and Processing 107 (2016) 106115

Table 3
Experimental studies.

Chemical Normal Column diameter Theoretical Control Disturbances Reference


system BP ( F) stages structure

Feed ow Feed composition

n-Hexanol 315 68 mm 20 Trectifying D Successfully 15% Successfully +20%XB [7,6]


n-Octanol 383 Tstripping S
n-Decanol 444.2 Tprefrac V
Tmainfrac L
MPC

Methanol 148.5 305 mm 32 T14 L N/A XD,A offset for XF,B [28,29]
Iso-propanol 180.7 T28 V
Butanol 243.3 T14 ML
T28 V

Butanol 243.3 40 mm wall, 55 mm N/A Tprefrac r T = 68 K for 20% F T = 46 K for XF,B [1]
otherwise
Pentanol 280 Tmainfrac L
Hexanol 315 MPC T = 23 K for 20% F T < 2 K for XF,B

(for reux ratios > 3.3) and bottoms streams, respectively. Product composition. There were negligible oscillations and little overshoot
samples were analyzed through gas chromatography (GC), and the as temperatures were kept constant and product purities stayed
liquid split at the top of the wall was controlled using an electro- within specs.
magnetic funnel. A companion mathematical model was developed
and validated for multiple operating conditions and disturbances 3.2.1.2. Methanol, iso-propanol and butanol. Mutalib et al. tested
[31,33]. an equimolar mixture of methanol, iso-propanol, and butanol on
Relying on the same experimental setup and model, Buck an experimental column and compared the results to a dynamic
et al. used an equal weight percent feed mixture to develop a simulation [28]. The experimental DWC was 10.97 m tall with a
systematic procedure for the design and analysis of decentralized 0.305 m diameter and structured packing. The liquid split was
control structures for dividing wall columns [7]. Three-point and imposed using a total trapout tray, and the wall was positioned
four-point temperature control structures with and without auto- closer to the feed side of the column. Products were recycled to a
matic set point adaption were compared using sensitivity analysis, feed tank, and a portion of the side product was recycled to the col-
RGA, and experimental studies. The set point adaption was carried umn as a middle reux (ML). Temperature was used to infer product
out using a linear function that captured setpoint dependence on compositions that were analyzed via GC.
the feed ow and composition. The fourth temperature controller The authors employed a two-point temperature control strat-
manipulated the liquid split to ensure energy optimal operation. egy. Locations for temperature measurements were determined
Temperature measurement locations and loop pairings were deter- two ways: SVD and column temperature prole analysis, in which
mined using the slope criterion and sensitivity analysis on the only the product side of the dividing wall was studied. Temper-
experimentally validated mathematical model. The resulting pair- atures were paired with two of the three remaining degrees of
ings were Trectifying D, Tstripping S, Tlowerprefrac V, and Tuppermainfrac freedom to form the structures L/V, ML/V, and L/ML. Only L/V and
L . RGA analysis of the four-point temperature control structure ML/V were used for analysis due to temperature measurement loca-
showed interactions between the heat duty and the liquid split. tions. RGA analysis for both structures showed values close to one
Therefore, an alternative four-point structure where these pair- for the chosen loops. The dynamic simulation and the pilot plant
ings were switched was also studied. Simulation was used to test showed stable responses and little interaction in the face of feed
the four control structures against disturbances of a 10 percent composition changes. Both cases demonstrated stable control of
increase in feed ow and 10 percent increases in the weight per- bottom and middle purities but large offsets in the top product
cent of each component. For feed composition disturbances, the purity. However, this offset may be a result of poor packing per-
three-point structure performed more poorly in regards to purity formance rather than controller error. Steady-state studies of the
and heat duty. The structure with setpoint adaptation performed same column resulted in side product purities inferior to design
slightly better (however, the fact that it required online feed ow specications. The authors suggested overreuxing to avoid adding
and composition measurements and its increased implementation additional temperature controllers, a strategy that proved to be
effort make it less attractive for industry). Due to its superior per- successful in simulation studies.
formance, the four-point structure was tested on the pilot scale
column against feed ow and composition disturbances. For a 15 3.2.1.3. Butanol, pentanol, hexanol. Adrian et al. investigated a
percent increase in feed ow, the controls returned the column to 15/70/15 weight percent butanol/pentanol/hexanol mixture using
stable operation within an hour with minimum overshoot. a pilot scale column to compare decentralized control and MPC [1].
Linear MPC was employed on the same feed system that was The pilot column was 11.5 m tall and well insulated. The divided
used for decentralized control studies [6]. The manipulated vari- section was 40 mm in diameter and consisted of two independent
ables for the MPC were D, S, V, and L , and the controlled variables columns in parallel. The upper and lower sections of the column
for the MPC were the same: Trectifying , Tstripping , Tlowerprefrac , and had a diameter of 55 mm. The PID pairings were Tupperprefrac
Tuppermainfrac . Once again, temperature locations were selected by L, Tuppermainfrac L , and Tstripping S. It was found that without
slope criterion and sensitivity criterion. A linear model was built including feed to reboiler feedforward control in the multi-loop
by performing system identication on the rigorous mathematical structure, feed disturbances caused the heavy component to move
model, and the tuning parameters for the MPC were also cho- up the column and increase stage temperatures. The manipulated
sen based on simulations. The MPC was tested experimentally and variables for MPC were V, L , S, and the reux ratio. The MPC
demonstrated successful control against feed disturbances includ- model was obtained using system identication techniques sim-
ing a 15 percent increase in ow and 20 percent increase in octanol ilar to [6]. Though MPC required approximately three times the
M.M. Donahue et al. / Chemical Engineering and Processing 107 (2016) 106115 113

Table 4 performance suggests that the DB/LSV setup is amenable for imple-
Third composition controller for three-point composition control of Dwivedi et al.
mentation in DWCs separating a variety of systems [25].
[11].

CS1 (XS,A + XS,C S)


V manipulated 3.3. Other hydrocarbon mixtures
CS2 XS,C S
Max select for V : XD,B or XS,A
Kim et al. investigated the relationship between two-point
CS3 XS,C S
V xed temperature control structure, feed composition, and ease of sepa-
CS4 Max select for V : Xlowerprefrac,A , XS,A , or XB,B
rability index for three hydrocarbon systems [20]. The three ternary
mixtures examined were n-pentane/n-hexane/n-heptane, n-
implementation effort, MPC outperformed PID in regards to sett- butane/i-pentane/n-pentane, and i-pentane/n-pentane/n-hexane.
ling time and minimizing offsets from feed ow and composition Each system differs in ease of separability index (ESI), where
disturbances. ESI = AB /BC and denotes the relative volatility between two
components. Each system was studied at three different compo-
sitions: 0.4/0.2/0.4, 0.33/0.33/0.33, and 0.2/0.6/0.2 mole fraction
3.2.2. Simulation studies
light/middle/heavy. The optimum column design for each system
3.2.2.1. Ethanol, propanol, n-butanol. Wolff and Skogestad com-
was determined rst using steady-state simulations. Multiloop PID
pared the performance of three-point and four-point composition
structures were implemented on each system. Holdups in the reux
control of an equimolar ethanol, propanol, and butanol mixture
drum and reboiler were controlled using the distillate and bot-
[41]. RGA was used to determine the control loop pairing, sug-
toms, respectively. Two-point temperature control using either the
gesting the DB/LSV as the most appropriate from a steady-state
reux, side draw rate, or boilup as manipulated variables was inves-
analysis point of view. The fourth composition loop was used to
tigated. Temperature locations were determined using steady-state
control the ratio of impurities in the side stream by manipulating
analysis tools including SVD, RGA, condition number, and steady-
the liquid split. Simulations of the three-point structure indicated
state gain. The control structures were tested against 10 percent
the column handled feed ow and composition disturbances well.
feed ow rate disturbances and compared on the basis of settling
Some setpoint changes in product purities resulted in infeasible
times and integrals of absolute error. It was found that the choice
operation (as hinted at above), which could also be (in part) due
of best control structure was related to the mixtures ESI rather
to improper staging. Setpoint changes with the four-point control
than feed composition. The L/S structure performed best for large
structure proved infeasible. A change in side draw setpoint resulted
ESI values and ESI values equal to one. On the other hand, the V/S
in unstable operation with the reux and boilup reaching their
structure performed best for small ESI values. The L/S structure for
imposed constraints, again, as hinted at above. For this reason, the
a 0.2/0.6/0.2 mole fraction mixture of n-pentane, n-hexane, and
authors advised against controlling the side draw impurity concen-
n-heptane was compared with the L/S/V structure from Kiss and
tration of a Petyluk column but noted the need to adjust the liquid
Bildea that was tested on the same feed mixture [22]. The two-
and vapor splits to optimize energy usage.
point structure had shorter settling times and lower integrated
Dwivedi et al. modeled a hypothetical, equimolar mixture with
errors because it lacked the interactions that were present in the
relative volatilities close to those of ethanol, propanol, and n-
three-point structure. However, intuitively, the three-point struc-
butanol (4.2:2.1:1) [12]. Four alternate control structures, all with
ture produced less offset in side product composition.
L/V composition control, were compared. The differences between
the structures are summarized in Table 4. The structures that over-
puried one of the products (CS2 and CS4) only resulted in minor 3.4. Ideal components
increases in energy usage. All structures were subjected to 20
percent changes in feed ow and six composition changes. All struc- Serra et al. used an ideal system with constant relative volatil-
tures handled feed ow changes well. CS1 resulted in poor control ity ( = 1:2.15:4.65) to examine the controllability and operation
in the face of feed composition disturbances, and CS3, which was of a DWC [37]. Several combinations of inventory and three-point
based on Ling and Luyben [25], failed when a feed disturbance composition control were studied using linear analysis tools such
made A/B the difcult split. The structures that over-puried one as RGA, SVD, condition number, and the Morari resiliency index
product operated best in the face of disturbances, with CS2 using (MRI). LV/DSB had the largest stability margin and demonstrated
slightly less energy. However, the over-purifying structures manip- the best control.
ulated the vapor split, which is not feasible in actual operation.
Therefore, the authors suggested linear or nonlinear MPC for future 4. Discussion, conclusions and future work
work.
Ignat and Woinaroschy studied a 0.2/0.6/0.2 mole fraction 4.1. Summary of ndings
mixture of ethanol, 1-propanol, and 1-butanol using three-point
temperature control to infer compositions [18]. The structures This review examined the control of DWCs. Important con-
LB/DSV and LB/DVS performed well in the face of 10 percent feed tributions to the eld include the characterization of minimal
ow and feed composition disturbances. energy operation by dening the split of middle-boiling component
around the dividing wall [17,13]. This can be done by controlling
3.2.2.2. Methanol, ethanol, propanol. In addition to their ethanol, 1- a prefrac temperature above the feed using the liquid split or by
propanol, and 1-butanol studies, Ignat and Woinaroschy studied a minimizing the heavy component concentration at the top of the
0.2/0.6/0.2 mole fraction mixture of methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol wall using the same manipulated variable [25,26,35].
[18]. The same controller pairings were used, but the design of the Four-point temperature or composition control structures with
column differed in number of trays and location of streams. This three loops controlling (directly or inferentially) product com-
system was controllable and performed well against 10 percent positions and one loop minimizing energy use were shown
feed ow and feed composition disturbances. to be successful in controlling DWCs for separating BTX and
Ling and Luyben also studied a mixture of methanol, ethanol, alcohol systems in simulation and experimental environments
and propanol using the DB/LSV composition control structure, [25,26,35,24,31]. Conversely, four-point composition control struc-
with a fourth loop for energy minimization. The good control tures proved infeasible in the available literature studies [17].
114 M.M. Donahue et al. / Chemical Engineering and Processing 107 (2016) 106115

Three-point temperature control was shown to perform well for of incorporating any inherent design choices that could potentially
mixtures of hydrocarbons [20] and alcohols [18]. Intuitively, two- impact control decisions. However, due to differences in model-
point temperature control demonstrated shorter settling times and ing approaches, feedstocks, and product specications, separate
lower integrated error than three-point control but did not provide studies are difcult to compare. A rigorous process for determin-
good control of the side product composition in the face of feed ing control structure based on process characteristics and operating
disturbances. Finally, there is a general agreement that MPC pro- objectives is still needed. We believe that developing a comprehen-
vides tighter and faster control than multi-loop linear structures sive framework that incorporates process objectives and process
[10,35,6,1]. and equipment constraints into a transparent control strategy is
the key to widespread implementation of DWCs in the process
4.2. Conclusions industry.

The results available in the open literature indicate that DWCs Acknowledgements
are controllable, provided that the control structure is chosen
appropriately. Choosing the correct control structure, however, is The nancial support provided by Eastman Chemical Company
not straightforward. Numerous choices exist (Table 1). Among the and Emerson Process Management for carrying out this work is
questions to be answered: Which streams should be used for inven- acknowledged with gratitude.
tory control vs. composition control? Should composition control
or temperature control be used? Are advanced control structures
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