Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol.37, No.2, 528-534, 1998
Plantwide design and control of processes with inerts. 2. Heavy inerts
This is the second paper of a series that explores the design and control of processes containing inert components. Three strategies for removal of heavy inerts from a process are compared both from the standpoint of steady-state economics as well as from the standpoint of dynamic controllability. These processes are essentially the "inverses" of the processes discussed in the first paper of the series. It is shown that the best structure for the case of heavy inerts is the inverse of the best light inert structure (the reader is referred back to the first paper of the series). A reactor and full column with side draw is used. The heavy inert is removed as the bottoms product, the sidestream is recycled back to the reactor, and the overhead is the plant product.