COMPARISON OF VARIOUS HEAT-PUMP ASSISTED DISTILLATION CONFIGURATIONS

Various heat pump assisted process configurations are analysed for two industrial case studies using a design strategy based on preliminary screening, rigorous steady state simulation and economic evaluation. T he influence of heat pump type, heat load, column temperature differen ce, utility cost, exchanger minimum approach temperature (EMAT) on the energetic aspects and economic range of application are examined. Thi s paper also provides orientation for process engineers on the current application of heat pumping techniques for large industrial separatio n plants. Certain well designed heat pump options can show better econ omic figures than the base case separation system which uses only stea m and cooling water. Thus, in order to realize enhanced integration at the process design, consideration of the different heat pumping techn iques is highly recommended. The results presented show that (1) large r heat load and smaller process temperature difference provide shorter pay back time for heat pumping, (2) the absorption heat transformatio n cycles have an even chance for implementation at larger process Delt a T, when the other configurations are to be discarded.