Pressure-driven batch distillation optimal control for ethanol-water separation

Ethanol-water separation by pressure-swing batch distillation in a double-batch rectifier system is a process under investigation. In this work, a complete global solution to the optimal control problem in the form of a sequential synthesis of controlled trajectories is derived. During this study, the optimal reflux strategy through cyclic operation was extended to the separation of a second non-ideal minimum boiling azeotrope of industrial significance. Under the pressure force, the process driven by the increasing pressure from different "directions", ie. from atmospheric to high-pressure, is researched.