Heat integration of the azeotropic distillation system with ANN and GA

In this paper, an effective method with artificial neural networks (ANN) and a genetic algorithm (GA) was suggested for modeling the azeotropic distillation system with unknown or complex mechanisms and optimizing its operating parameters to save energy. The satisfactory results of this investigation demonstrated the feasibility and effectiveness of the suggested method. Furthermore, the azeotropic distillation system after optimization results in reduction of heat use by 54.03%. Thus, the study provides means for further optimization of the azeotropic distillation system, and directs practical production for process optimization.