Energy Saving Characteristics of the Internally Heat Integrated Distillation Column (HIDiC) Pilot Plant for Multicomponent Petroleum Distillation

Internally heal-integrated distillation columns (HIDiCs) are one or the most attractive alternatives for the conventional distillation columns (CDiCs) since HIDiCs have very high potential to separate a mixture with smaller energy consumption compared to CDiCs. In order to prove the energy saving characteristics of HIDiCs, a pilot plant of the HIDiC was constructed for the separation of multicomponent hydrocarbon mixture. The HIDiC pilot plant was operated at zero external reflux condition, and achieved more than 50% reduction in the energy consumption compared to the simulation results or the existent CDiC.