A Simulation Study of Enhanced Distillation Using Ultrasound Waves for the Separation of Azeotropic Mixtures

The potential of ultrasound waves to enhance distillation system for azeotropic mixture is examined through process flowsheeting using Aspen Plus. Since sonication is not a standard feature in the software library, a mathematical model of the proposed distillation system is developed based on first principles in Aspen Custom Modeler and later exported to Aspen Plus environment for process simulation and design studies. Ethyl acetate and ethanol mixture is used as a case study, with a target of producing 99% pure top product from a feed containing 65% ethyl acetate. Sensitivity analyses are carried out to examine the influence of various design and operating variables of the top product’s purity and heat duties. When compared to extractive distillation, the proposed ultrasonic distillation process offers a 14.6% savings of operation costs. The proposed distillation system has also been tested for other azeotropic mixtures with similar success.