Energy saving characteristics of the internally heat integrated distillation column (HIDiC) pilot plant for multicomponent petroleum distillation

Internally heat-integrated distillation columns (HIDiCs) are one of 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 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 of the existent CDiC.