Patent ID: 7172686

Claim:
A method of separating components of a mixture comprising: providing a mixture comprising at least one first component, at least one second component and at least one intermediate component; heating the mixture to a temperature sufficient to permit separation of the mixture into a first stream rich in the at least one first component and a second stream rich in the at least one intermediate component upon passage through a column, thereby leaving a heavy residue in a bottom of the column, wherein the heavy residue is rich in the at least one second component; feeding the heated mixture to a column having a flash zone; withdrawing a vapor stream from the column at a position below the flash zone of the column; separating the vapor stream into a condensate and a resultant vapor stream; and recycling at least one of the resultant vapor stream and the condensate to the column; and selectively withdrawing at least one of the first stream rich in the at least one first component and the second stream rich in the at least one intermediate component from the column such that the yield of at least one of the at least one first component and the at least one intermediate components component is increased and the yield of residue is decreased.