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The use of conventional reactive distillation columns for silane production has the disadvantage of large consumption of refrigerant because the silane is produced in the dome of the column and this must be condensed at about -78 °C. The incorporation of intercondensers may improve the cost and safety of the system; however, a proper study for the system is needed to determine the associated effects. Therefore, in this paper is presented an optimization approach for the silane production accounting simultaneously for economic and safety issues incorporating intercondensers. The presented approach is based on a software link between Microsoft Excel (for implementing the optimization algorithm based on differential evolution), Aspen Plus (for simulating the process), and SCRI (for quantifying the associated risk). The results show that the addition of intercondensers minimizes the total annual cost, because the amount of needed refrigerant is reduced. The safety analysis also shows that the use of intercondensers improves the risk of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thispaper presents a reactive distillation column for the catalyticdisproportionation of trichlorosilane to silane which includes threeconsecutive reversible reactions with a thermodynamic conversion tosilane as low as 0.2% and is of no practical significance using theconventional reactors. This reaction system is however characterizedby a large distinction in the boiling points of the components, whichmakes the reactive distillation extremely favored. Nevertheless, thenormal reactive distillation column possesses the shortage of highrefrigeration requirement as the standard boiling point of the overheadproduct silane is −112 °C. A novel reactive distillationcolumn with intercondensers placed within has been simulated usingAspen Plus package for a feasible alternative to alleviate this drawback.The calculated results show that a reduction in the refrigerationload of more than 97% can be obtained when one intermediate condenseris inserted between the rectifying and reaction zones, and that anothernormal intermediate condenser equipped within the reaction sectioncan further decrease the condensation requirement of the first intermediatecondenser by 50%. Effects of the configuration parameters and operationalconditions have also been investigated for optimal design and operationof the proposed reactor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]