Simulation and optimization of extractive distillation for isopropanol-water azeotropic mixture

Extractive distillation for isopropanol-water azeotropic mixture was simulated and optimized. Simulation of extractive distillation was executed by RadFrac module of Aspen Plus simulation software using UNIFAC model and glycol as extractant.Sensitivity analysis was also performed to optimize the operation parameters. The simulation results show that it' s possible to separate opropanol-water azeotropic mixture use glycol as extractant by extractive distillation. When flow rate of opropanol-water azeotropic mixture was 5000kg·h-1 and stage numbers of extractive distillation column was 22,the optimum operation parameters were as follows:number of feed stage 16,number of extractant stage 3,mole reflux ratio1.4 and ratio of extractant to feed 2 ∶1. Under the optimized parameters,mass fraction of isopropanol at column top can reach 0.9981 and both separation effect and heat duty reach the optimization. The results of simulation and optimization will provide fundamental guide for the industrialization design and production.