Techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment of energy-intensified distillation processes
Journal
Separation and Purification Technology
Journal Volume
409
Start Page
139183
ISSN
1383-5866
Date Issued
2026-10-15
Author(s)
Abstract
Distillation is one of the most energy-intensive separation methods in the chemical industry, creating a strong need for economically and environmentally improved alternatives. In this work, techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) were conducted to compare four distillation configurations: a conventional sequence (CS), a dividing-wall column (DWC), a stacked side-stream sequence (SSS), and a heat pump-assisted stacked side-stream sequence (HPA-SSS). All configurations were rigorously simulated and economically optimized, and the environmental impacts were evaluated using the Ecoinvent database and Brightway2 across 18 midpoint categories. The results identify HPA-SSS as the best-performing configuration, achieving a 28.6% reduction in total annualized cost and a 34.9% reduction in GWP100 relative to the CS. The SSS and DWC also improve performance, but to a lesser extent. Contribution analysis further shows that environmental impacts are dominated by operating energy consumption, whereas the contribution from equipment manufacturing is comparatively small. Because HPA-SSS replaces part of the thermal utility demand with electricity through vapor recompression, it represents an electrified and heat-integrated distillation strategy. Scenario analysis also indicates that its environmental advantage becomes greater as the electricity grid is decarbonized. These results support the broader application of electrified distillation for low-carbon chemical manufacturing.
Subjects
BTX separation
Distillation
Heat pump
Life cycle assessment
Process intensification
Sustainability
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Type
journal article