Process intensification for microdistillation using the equipment miniaturization approach

Process development has gradually been moving to smaller scale test facili-
ties for individual testing of chemical reactions, catalysts, physical properties, phase equilibria, and other aspects of industrial processes. This information has typically been combined with integrated process models developed with process flowsheet simulators and other unified modeling platforms. Despite this progress, pilot plants are often needed to obtain experimental confirmation of longer test runs with recycle streams similar to those in real plant operation. Miniaturized pilots can be used to reduce the high costs of typical pilot operations. These pilots can be smaller than traditional bench-scale test facilities, yet provide similar data quality. Because such a pilot is small and safe to operate, it can be built earlier during the process devel-
opment project, and several pilots can be used for parallel testing of several process concepts. This can lead to significantly reduced time-to-market for new processes.
Miniaturized process units have been available for several years for many operations, such as reactors, mixers, and pumps. However, distillation, perhaps the most often used large-scale separation process, has not been miniaturized successfully to other unit scales. This chapter discusses progress in miniaturization of distillation and integration of distillation as a unit operation in a continuous milliscale pilot with recycle streams.