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Engineering

Optimizing Distillation Column Tray Spacing to Reduce Energy Consumption

Quick fact

Reducing tray spacing by just 10% can increase pressure drop by 25%, which may raise reboiler duty by several percent—sometimes enough to outweigh the savings from a shorter, cheaper column.

Why this is interesting

What if the distance between trays in a distillation column could make or break the energy bill of an entire chemical plant? It's a hidden design lever that many engineers overlook.