Avaliação do desempenho econômico na implantação da recompressão mecânica de vapor em uma coluna de destilação para a separação de aldeídos

Abstract

The high rate of energy consumption arising from the distillation operations is one of the great motivators of this project, so using methods that introduce cleaner and more conscientious engineering is the main objective. The object of study for this work is a distillation column implanted in the Industrial Pole in the municipality of Camaçari-BA, with the purpose of obtaining a top current rich in isobutyraldehyde and a bottom current in n-butyraldehyde, this column demands a high consumption of steam, as a consequence of a high reflux ratio to perform the required separation. The scheme adopted to make this column technically viable is a mechanical recompression of the top steam, which is a process that aims to return the energy once initially deposited in the column. For this solution, a compressor is installed at the top of the column, which at temperature and pressure levels allow the transfer of condensing heat to the column boiler, avoiding being rejected in the cooling tower. This article presents the computer simulation of two systems, one representing the real operational data of the process and the other including the coupling of mechanical steam recompression, where a comparative analysis was performed, in order to check if there is an economic feasibility in the process.