Pressure-driven batch distillation optimal control for acetone-methanol separation

Over the last fifteen years, immense progress has been made in the research of pressure-swing batch distillation. The challenge lies in the fact that certain pressure-sensitive azeotropic mixtures cannot be separated in a regular open batch mode, with an acceptable outcome. Throughout most of this text, findings are to contradict previously grounded facts. Acetone-methanol separation by pressure-swing batch distillation in a mixed double system consisting of a regular and inverted double column is a process under investigation. In this work, a complete global solution to the optimal control problem in form of a sequential synthesis of controlled trajectories is derived. During this study, the optimal reflux strategy through cyclic operation was extended to the separation of a non-ideal minimum boiling azeotrope of industrial significance. The influence of the liquid ratio and tank volume on the control pattern and energy requirement is evaluated as well.