Distillation: Present Status and Future Directions

Abstract

Distillation will undoubtedly continue to be the most-used method for separating liquid mixtures, at any scale of operation. For this reason, and also because of its recognized energy intensiveness, distillation commands continued scrutiny with respect to cost-effective improvements. In this paper, the authors suggest fruitful areas of research that can lead to lower cost distillation separations. The areas of research are classified under the headings of phase equilibrium, material and energy balances, mass transfer efficiencies, equipment design, and system energy consumption. For each of the categories, a summary is given of the present status of the technology as well as directions that improvement-type investigations might take.