Abstract: A dividing wall column ( DWC) process was proposed for the preliminary separation of mixed alcohols in Fischer-Tropsch water. In the case of neglecting the heat transfer across the dividing wall,the experimental study was carried out using the DWC laboratory scale device for the separation of mixed alcohols,and the four-column model was used to strictly simulate the DWC process by Aspen Plus software. The simulation was set according to the DWC exper- imental parameters. By comparing the simulated and experimental results based on the key composition of products and the temperature distribution in the column,the accuracy of the simulation was verified. The sequential quadratic pro- gramming (SQP) optimization method combined with sensitivity analysis tool from Aspen Plus was used to optimize the parameters of the conventional distillation sequence ( CDS) process and DWC process. The optimization process aimed to seek the minimum reboiler duty,and took the product separation requirements as a constraint. By analyzing the temperature distribution and key components concentration distribution of CDS and DWC under the optimal param- eters,the back-mixing phenomenon of intermediate components in CDS and the feasibility of ignoring the heat transfer across the dividing wall in the DWC simulation were elaborated. Based on the fair optimization and simulation results, the economics and carbon dioxide (CO2 ) emissions of the CDS process and DWC process were compared. The results show that the DWC process could reduce 47. 8% of energy consumption and 47. 8% of CO2 emissions, and save 24． 1% of total investment cost (CTI ) and 47． 5% of total operating cost (CTO ),thus leading to 43． 8% savings in to- tal annual cost (CTA ) compared with the CDS process. Therefore,the application of DWC technology in the separation of mixed alcohols in Fischer-Tropsch water has very significant advantages.