Distillation Designer Skill

Purpose

The Distillation Designer Skill performs distillation column design including tray and packing selection, hydraulic calculations, and column optimization for vapor-liquid separations.

Capabilities

• McCabe-Thiele and Ponchon-Savarit methods
• Shortcut design calculations (Fenske, Underwood, Gilliland)
• Tray hydraulics (flooding, weeping, entrainment)
• Packing selection and sizing (HETP, pressure drop)
• Feed location optimization
• Reflux ratio optimization
• Side draw design
• Azeotropic and extractive distillation

Usage Guidelines

When to Use

• Designing new distillation columns
• Rating existing columns
• Optimizing column performance
• Evaluating tray vs. packing

Prerequisites

• VLE data available
• Feed composition defined
• Product specifications set
• Thermodynamic model validated

Best Practices

• Validate VLE predictions
• Consider turndown requirements
• Allow for design margins
• Evaluate energy integration

Process Integration

This skill integrates with:

• Distillation Column Design and Optimization
• Separation Sequence Synthesis
• Heat Integration Analysis

Configuration

distillation-designer:
  internals:
    - sieve-trays
    - valve-trays
    - structured-packing
    - random-packing
  design-methods:
    - rigorous
    - shortcut

Output Artifacts

• Column specifications
• Tray/packing datasheets
• Hydraulic analysis
• Operating envelopes
• Optimization recommendations