Prospectus

Return to Table of Contents Volunteer to help write Position Paper

OR-18 FRI Distillation Sustainability White Paper

Developmental Research Idea

Expected Benefit to Members: Energy efficiency has always been of interest to member companies, but the current global focus on Sustainability has taken these concerns to a whole new level. Some customers may seek other suppliers if they don’t see best-in-class or at least improvements in water usage, energy usage per unit of production, etc. FRI has done many tests which provide insight into efficiency of column internals. However, it is a non-trivial task for member companies to figure out what has been studied, and to then translate that information into insights which can help them quantify the benefit of possible improvements to their existing processes, or design of new ones. A white paper which collects all FRI insights that impact efficiency and provides guidance on the impact of internals selection on energy usage. Just as a starting point, this might include such things as: • Impact of various distributor types on packing efficiency, as a function of packing type (random vs. structured, specific surface area, etc.) with a worked example of how to translate an upgraded distributor into energy savings for a typical column of interest. • Impact of high-surface area tubes on condenser performance, with a worked example of translating that into required cooling water usage. • Impact of bed depth decision on packing efficiency (as far as we are currently able to determine), translating that into energy usage on a constant capital investment basis for a new installation, and using that to provide insight into a new set of sustainability influenced guidelines on maximum bed depth. • Impact of optimizing tray design. • Impact of a retrofit to take advantage of high-capacity trays to decrease tray spacing in a column and increase stage count. Present Situation and Proposed Research: FRI has lots of useful performance data, which currently member companies must translate into ideas. By providing examples of how to translate FRI results into practical improvement ideas, FRI can increase value to membership and encourage them to consider ways to both increase their profitability and reduce environmental impact. Proposed Internals and Test System: No additional research required Estimated Unit Time: None Non-Standard Costs: Considerable staff time to find appropriate examples of existing FRI research that can help members improve Sustainability, and develop examples Background and Discussion: See discussion of present situation.

PROSPECTUS

Page | 64