EMPHATICaL research on energy efficient distillation presented at ESCAPE36

How can distillation become more energy efficient while supporting flexible, electrified industrial processes? EMPHATICaL research is exploring this question through Discretely Heat Integrated Distillation Columns (D-HIDiC).

At the 36th European Symposium on Computer Aided Process Engineering (ESCAPE36) in Sheffield, UK, in June 2026, Lucas Poker from Delft University of Technology presented research on the dynamics and control of D-HIDiC technology.

D-HIDiC is a heat pump assisted distillation technology with the potential to achieve up to 80% energy savings compared with conventional distillation. Understanding its dynamic behaviour and developing effective control strategies are important for enabling flexible operation, particularly as industrial processes increasingly integrate renewable electricity.

Within EMPHATICaL, D-HIDiC is being explored as part of the process chain for e-methanol production from industrial CO₂ and green hydrogen, contributing to the project’s goal of developing more energy efficient and flexible routes to low emission e-methanol.

The presentation at ESCAPE36 also provided an opportunity to exchange insights with the wider process systems engineering community and discuss the further development of advanced separation technologies.