Design and hydraulic study of double-partition dividing-wall column

Dividing-wall column (DWC) provides tremendous advantages in terms of energy savings and capital costs for three-component and even multi-component separations. With increasing industrial application of three-component DWCs, DWCs for separation of four-component have received considerable research attention. The aim of this work is to investigate the design of the two-staggered wall region and gas–liquid two-phase flow behavior on the tray in a double-partition DWC (DPDWC). The Aspen Plus was applied to simulate the steady state to obtain the gas–liquid-phase flow rate in each region to serve as the basis for the tray design. In different task regions, the gas- and liquid-phase flow varied in some ways. The drag models have variability for the study of fluid flow, and the Tomiyama model is more appropriate. Moreover, high-velocity gradients and recirculating phenomenon can be discovered owing to the existence of multiple partitions in DPDWC.