Open-Loop Analysis for the Stability of Reactive Distillation Columns with Intermediate Condensers for the Production of Silane

The production of cost-effective Silane is paramount for reducing the cost in the solar photovoltaic industry to make it a more competitive renewable energy source. Thus, the production of Silane through reactive distillation (RD) is an alternative that reduces the equipment size, cost, and operation in comparison with a typical reaction-separation process mainly because the chemical reactions are limited by equilibrium. This work presents an open-loop analysis for RD columns with two intermediate condensers (RD-2IC) and different heat distribution in the inter condensers (IC). The open-loop stability of the RD columns analysis is done to understand the relationship between heat distribution at IC and their theoretical control properties to determine which heat distribution conditions result in stable operation. The results showed that RD-2IC columns attained economic savings compared to the RD column. Also, the optimal RD-2IC has better control properties than the RD column in an open-loop analysis. Copyright (C) 2022 The Authors.