Dynamic optimization of operation of heat-integrated distillation column systems

Because of their higher efficiency of energy utilization, heat-integrated distillation columns are widely used in the chemical industry. The strong coupling of columns due to the heat integration leads to difficulties for control and optimization. This work concerns the dynamic optimization of heat-integrated columns, because such processes are often disturbed by product and feed switchover. We propose to use an efficient sequential optimization approach to determine dynamic policies for minimizing operating costs of such processes. The numerical algorithm for sensitivity computation is improved and the computational expense is significantly reduced. The approach is successfully applied to a rigorous model of a pilot two-pressure distillation column system.