A simple heuristic method to select heat-integrated distillation schemes

The new rules of thumb and the straightforward heuristic algorithm described here are capable of ordering heatintegrated distillation structures according to their economic advantage. The separation schemes created by the new method without making tedious computational efforts are identical to the best systems obtained by other synthesis strategies with a rigorous mathematical background. In the separation problems of light hydrocarbons the resultant schemes proved to be the global optimum is not guaranteed. The heat-integrated schemes obtained can be applied to evolutionary synthesis strategies as initial structures. Since the new algorithm does not utilize the simplification of sharp separators, distillation systems with nonsharp separations can also be considered.