Heat pump assisted distillation. I: Alternative ways to minimize energy consumption in fractional distillation

A survey is made of the numerous possible ways to minimize the consumption of energy in fractional distillation. Distillation is a highly energy-intensive process in which the actual energy consumed is far greater than the theoretically calculated loss in available work. The methods considered for reducing energy consumption are classified as those which (i) do not require process modifications, (ii) require minor process modifications, (iii) make use of more than one column and (iv) make use of heat pumps.