[deathcrush]

Hi all
As a homework, I have to create a program in MATLAB that creates the optimal sequence of distillation columns for 5 components using only conventional towers, that means I have to generate all possible sequences, design every column (using shortcut methods like Fenske-Underwood-Gilliland) and calculate their costs.
My problem is that I dont know what would be the best way to represent and generate every possible column and create a structure.

I have to find a way to represent all possible columns with their respective possible splits, for example a column with componentes ABCDE in feed would require splits A/BCDE, AB/CDE ABC/DE and so on, and after that, the unseparated componentes would have to be separated by a corresponding column, until I have only pure components

If anyone can help me find a way to represent and organize this kind of information I would be very grateful.
thanks in advance

[curiouscat]

There's tons of work on this. Look up a book on Separations Design.

A classic is the work by Westerberg n Grossman