Analysis and Optimization of Cryogenic Distillation Systems: For Reducing Distillation Energy Consumption

Abstract

Carbon capture utilization and storage-enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is often considered the most promising technology for utilizing CO₂. Cryogenic distillation is also viewed as the most reasonable separation option for handling CO₂-EOR gases, despite being an energy-intensive process. The main challenge for this technology is energy loss. To overcome this challenge, one potential alternative is to optimize the system processes and parameters. This study proposes a new process to reduce distillation energy consumption by refluxing the distillate back to the distillation column. Operational parameter optimization was performed using the commercial simulator Aspen HYSYS for modeling and sensitivity analysis of process parameters using orthogonal experimental methods. The simulation results indicate that after optimization, the energy consumption in the distillation process decreased from 0.207 to 0.196 MJ kg⁻¹, whereas the purity decreased slightly from 94.63 % to 94.52 %. However, the recovery increased from 97.8 % to 97.88 %, and the total energy consumption decreased from 0.772 to 0.761 MJ kg⁻¹.