Optimization of Styrene Production Process using Divided Wall Column

Styrene which is known to be one of the most expensive monomers is conventionally produced by dehydrogenation of ethyl benzene which generates a mixture of benzene, toluene and styrene. The separation of this tertiary mixture is done through two column distillation by first removing benzene from the first column and then separating toluene from styrene in the second column. The conventional distillation system consumes high-energy and yields low purity of toluene. Therefore to overcome these drawbacks we have proposed the use of a Divided Wall Column. In this work, we have designed a Divided wall column (DWC) for styrene production and compared it with the conventional method. By using DWC arrangement we achieved less energy consumption and higher purity of products compared to the conventional method. The simulation of the DWC was done using four column arrangement in Aspen Plus software. The results show that, energy consumed when divided wall column was considered is far less as compared to conventional system used in industry. With the application of DWC column, higher purity toluene was obtained (76.15 % to 96.00 %) and for styrene purity increased from 99.67 % to 99.99 %.