What is the basic principle of a partitioned tower? Where can it be applied in the oil refining industry?

A dividing wall column is generally used for the separation of ternary or multicomponent mixtures. Initially, researchers found that DWC was suitable for systems with low contents of light and heavy components, but now its application has been extended to the separation of many types of systems. The adjacent column was first proposed by Eric Wluster in 1932 for the separation of pyrolysis gases. Its structural feature consists of a vertical partition placed inside a distillation column, which divides the column into an upper common distillation section, a lower common stripping section, as well as distillation feed sections and side-stream extraction sections on each side of the partition. In the case of three components A, B, and C, a clear separation of A and C takes place in the feed section on the left side; component AB is obtained at the top, while component BC is obtained at the bottom. Subsequently, AB and BC enter the right side where they are further separated. As a result, the light component A comes out of the top of the tower, the intermediate component B is obtained from the side streams, and the heavy component C comes out of the bottom of the tower. The heat on the left side comes mainly from the common distillation zone and the common stripping zone, in addition to the heat introduced by the feed. The key to this tower is the position of the partition and the gas-liquid phase distribution on both sides. Academically, it is also known as a thermally coupled distillation column, and its simulation is often modeled as a four-column model or a three-column model. In ASPEN, the Petlyuk module is commonly used for solving such towers. Currently, applications in the refining industry include catalytic cracking, reforming, triphenyl separation, and gas separation. The intermediate component of the component to be separated eventually exceeds 50 wt%, thereby achieving an energy-saving effect of over 30%. The above are my personal opinions and findings from literature reviews; I hope President Hu can provide more guidance.