1. <I>Reaction-separation interactions</I>: A<I> waste minimisation approach</I> to process design that promotes opportunistic recycling and includes a systematic technique for designing a recycle network in the context of an overall process. 2. <I>Azeotropic separation systems</I>: (a) A novel geometric approach for synthesis of cleaner and cost effective distillation sequences for homogeneous azeotropic mixtures with and without boundary crossing. Important insights include: • a geometric approach for synthesizing and screening the alternative separation sequences which results in a catalogue pairing the RCMs of the ternary systems with their most promising separation sequences: • a novel procedure for entrainer minimisation for azeotropic distillation sequences, and • new evidences linking the <I>type of separation sequence, the azeotropic column feedstage location</I> and<I> the volatility of an entrainer </I>with the separability of homogeneous azeotropic mixtures. These findings conclusively explain the peculiar dependencies of the separability of homogeneous azeotropic mixtures on the reflux ratio and the number of stages. (b) A geometric approach for synthesis of cost effective distillation sequences for heterogeneous azeotropic mixtures which enables the graphical prediction of the <I>absolute minimum number of units, the region and the point of desirable entrainer flowrate, the optimum decanter tie line position, and the distillate composition for the entrainer recovery column</I>. (c) Guidelines for exploiting feed composition flexibility to improve azeotropic separation based on a novel geometric approach. Important insights include: • the significance of the binary, ternary and desirable ternary feed compositions, and a procedure to achieve the desirable ternary feed composition. • the development of a selection catalogue for feed preconcentration based on a novel geometric approach. • the use of mixing and recycling for grassroot design and retrofit.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:640125 |
| Date | January 1998 |
| Creators | Manan, Zainuddin Abdul |
| Publisher | University of Edinburgh |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://hdl.handle.net/1842/11936 |
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