The Role and Challenges of Industrial Scale Distillation Research

It is crucial in industrial distillation column designs to predict the liquid/vapor distribution, tray/packing hydraulics, and concentration gradients, etc., which affect the performance of column internals. However, all of these phenomena cannot be studied in small laboratory columns due to the significant difference in the ‘shape of a theoretical stage’ between laboratory and industrial scale distillation research. Fractionation Research, Inc (FRI) has been embarking on industrial scale distillation studies since 1952. In this presentation, the role of the large scale distillation studies at FRI will be discussed. The challenges and difficulties associated with the large scale research will be described and discussed. The measures and solutions to address those challenges and difficulties will be presented in detail.