Optimization Study for Pressure Swing Distillation Process for the Mixture of Isobutyl-Acetate and Isobutyl-Alcohol System

In this study, an optimization process design has been performed to separate 99.9 mol% of Isobutyl Ace- tate from binary azeotropic mixture of Isobutyl Acetate and Isobutyl Alcohol system using a Pressure Swing Distillation (PSD). PSD is used to separate binary azeotropic mixtures using the difference between the relative volatilities and azeo- tropic compositions by changing the system pressure. Non-Random Two Liquid (NRTL) model for liquid phase and the Peng-Robinson equation for vapor phase are used. An optimization study for the reflux ratio and feed stage locations which minimize the total reboiler heat duties are studied. Since PSD process consists of two columns, i.e. high pressure and low pressure, the effect of column sequence on the optimum conditions is reported.