This white paper from DWC Innovations describes the first commercial installation in which a network of four dividing wall columns replaces an entire seven-column separation train — here in an acetone-derivatives unit. Dividing wall columns have almost always been applied one column at a time, capturing only the remixing loss inside the single column they replace. Here the whole separation section was instead treated as a single design problem, with each duty mapped to the best-suited wall arrangement: two advanced dual DWCs together with a middle and a top single-wall DWC. Because the columns are coupled through recycles, all four walls must hold their splits simultaneously to keep every product on specification. Commissioned in June 2026, the network cut capital cost by about 30%, utility consumption by 28% and plot space by roughly 40%, delivering a permanent reduction in operating cost and carbon intensity while meeting every product guarantee.
~30%Lower capital cost
28%Lower utility use
7 → 4Columns in the train
~40%Less plot space
The network
Four dividing wall columns, one design problem
DWC 01
Acetone stripper — a middle DWC takes the reactor effluent, returns a 97 wt% acetone recycle overhead and draws an intermediate side-cut, removing water before the product columns.
DWC 02 & 03
Two dual dividing wall columns consolidate the light- and intermediate-by-product recovery and the main-product purification, each making three or more cuts in a single shell under vacuum.
DWC 04
A top DWC recovers the heaviest ends, producing two independent overhead products at different temperatures over a heavy-by-product bottoms.