Heat Pumps for Thermally Linked Distillation Columns: An Exercise for Argon Production from Air

Abstract

The use of heat pumps to further increase the efficiency of thermally linked distillation columns for a ternary separation has been studied. Many options which pump heat from an overhead condenser to a bottom reboiler have been put forth for these thermally linked columns. A detailed discussion is presented of the advantages and disadvantages of these options for the side stream rectifier configuration. Applications to enhance argon recovery in an air distillation process are demonstrated.