The separation of dichloromethane

acetonitrile

water

and hexamethyl disiloxane mixture with a self-made dividing wall column(DWC)was investigated experimentally.The effects of manipulative parameters

such as azeotropic agent reflux ratio and liquid split

on the separation were discussed.According to the experimental results

the process of azeotropic distillation with DWC was simulated with Aspen Plus.The experimental results demonstrate that the separation effect is better in the range of liquid split(Rl)0.12—0.2 at vapor split(Rv) of 0.5 and entrainer reflux ratio of 3.The simulation results illustrate the optimum operation region and energy saving effect.In the optimum operation region

the thermal load of DWC reboiler is the minimum under specific requirements of separation.In the best operation region

Rl and Rv interrelate with each other.The comparison of energy consumption with that of conventional distillation sequences shows that the reboiler duty is reduced by 32.74%

the condenser duty is reduced by 33.70%

the recovery rate of acetonitrile is increased from 66.47% to 96.01%

and the cost of equipment is decreased substantially.