Ph.D student Eva-Katrine Hilmen

Status

I started my Ph.D. research in February 1994 and plan to finish in 1997. The doctoral work is financed by the Research Council of Norway through the user-directed program on Fine and Speciality Chemicals. My supervisor is Prof. Sigurd Skogestad.

Research area

The working title of my thesis is ``Batch distillation - control and optimization'' with a focus on separation of nonideal (azeotropic) multicomponent mixtures. Dr. E. Sørensen's work on optimal operation and control of batch distillation columns was limited to ideal binary mixtures (constant relative volatility). However, separation of nonideal mixtures (e.g. azeotropes or low relative volatility) is far more common in industry. I will continue on the line of research on this topic.

During the academic year of 1995-96 I am a ``Visiting Research Scholar'' at the Process Design and Control Center, Department of Chemical Engineering, the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, USA. My advisors here are Prof. M. F. Doherty and Prof. M. F. Malone. They are recognized as leading experts in the field of design and synthesis of distillation processes of nonideal and azeotropic mixtures. A concrete aim of the stay is to write a joint paper with Hilmen, Malone, Doherty and Skogestad as co-authors. I have received a Fulbright Fellowship to cover some of my expenses while conducting research in the USA.

In 1995, I started to look at the effect of holdup on the trays in batch distillation of nonideal mixtures. Modeling of batch distillation while ignoring column holdup, may in some cases lead to significant error. Batch distillation is inherently an unsteady state process. The liquid holdup in the system affects the rate of change of flow, hence the whole dynamic response of the system. This has not been examined for multicomponent separation of nonideal mixtures.

Course work:

In the spring term I took examinations in the following graduate courses at NTH: Advanced Process Synthesis (Prof. K. Lien) and Optimization of Dynamical Systems (Prof.T.Hertzberg). During the fall term I followed a course on classical thermodynamics at the University of Massachusetts (Thermodynamics I by Prof. P. R. Westmoreland, graduate level).

Activities

• Visited Prof. M. F. Doherty and Prof. M. F. Malone at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA, for two weeks in March-April to prepare the co-operation of our research activities . In the same period, Prof. S. Skogestad visited from California for three days to assist in the preparation.
• Attended the DYCORD+ '95, 4th IFAC Symposium on Dynamics and Control of Chemical Reactors, Distillation Columns and Batch Processes, Helsingør, Denmark, June 7-9, 1995.
• Hosted Dr. V. Kiva's visit to NTH from Karpov Institute of Physical Chemistry, Moscow (Head of Laboratory on Mixture Separation), August 21 - 26. Dr. E. Sørensen also visited NTH from Imperial College, London, in this period.
• Arranged two meetings on my industrially related Ph.D. project ``Batch distillation - control and optimization'' with representatives from Nycomed, Borregaard Fine Chemi cals and Norsk Hydro. The last meeting was extended due to the visit by Dr. V. Kiva who gave two talks on alternative configurations of batch distillation columns and thermodynamic - topological analysis.

Publications

• Lindheim, C., Sund, E. B. and Hilmen, E. K., ``Optimalisering av tø rrgassproduksjo- nen ved Statoils gassterminal på Kårstø'', Paper on the course project in Advanced process synthesis, NTH, Trondheim, May 1995.

Plans for 1996

• Attend the AIChE Spring Meeting in New Orleans, February 25 - 29 and/or the 13th IFAC World Congress in San Fransisco, June 30 - July 5.
• Hopefully submit an abstract/paper to the PSE/ESCAPE'97 by June 10 and attend both conferences in Trondheim, May 26-29, 1997.
• Complete my research at UMass by the end of June and return to NTH (NTNU), Trondheim, in August 1996.
• Dr. V. Kiva from Karpov Institute of Physical Chemistry, Moscow, plans to spend his sabbatical in the Process Control Group of Prof. S. Skogestad from the fall of 1996. Hopefully, we will work together on problems concerning azeotropic and extractive batch distillation, focusing on alternative operation strategies and column configurations for such systems.
• Possibly co-advisor for a Diploma student (Fall) and/or undergraduate project (Spring).
• Research assistant for the Process Control course (Prof. S. Skogestad) at Department of Chemical Engineering - NTH (NTNU) (Fall).
• Work on the graduate course Multivariable Frequency Analysis (Prof. S. Skogestad) and take an examination in December 1996 (or spring 1997). This will finish my course work.