Pro/IIAssignmentEthanolDistillation

RafaelaLimaSantosdeSouzaID1497995
Themarketnowrequestsaproduct(ethanol+water)with85%ethanolfraction.The
methodofachievingthisisbydistillationofadilutefeedwith10%molethanol,90%mol
water,thatoriginatesfromafermentationprocess.Thedefinitionofdistillationis:unit
operationinwhich,bytheapplicationandremovalofheat,aliquidorvapourmixtureoftwo
ormorecompoundsisseparatedintoitscomponentfractionsofdesiredpurity.
Theavailabledistillationcolumndelivers80%ethanolfractionatthetopsstream,
withfeedrateof100kmol/h.Thebottomsdrawoffrateis90kmol/handrefluxratioof3,
thereare14traysandfeedarrivesinthe8thtray.Inordertoachievethenewspecifications,a
newcolumnmustbeoptimisedbasedontheexistingone.
Themostimportantspecificationisachievingthe85%ethanolfractionvalue.Other
desirablefeaturesincluded:
increasingtheethanolrecoveryto13kmol/h;
tonotletanyfractionofenteringthecolumnethanoltogototheeffluent;
tomaketheethanolconcentrationintheeffluentbecomesmallerthan100
ppm;
andtonotreducetheheatefficiencyfromthecurrentvalue.
Theprimaryconditioncanbeachievedbyreplacingthefollowingparameters:
Changetherefluxratioto5.73,thedrawoffrateto92kmol/h,andthefeedtrayto13.The
otherswillbediscussedlaterinthistext.Productsflowratewillbe8kmol/hwith85%mol
ethanol.
Theexistingcolumnlookedlike:

Figure1Existingcolumn80%ethanolproducts

Thecolumnnowlookslikethis:

Figure1Finalsolution,withfeedarrivingattray13.
Itsheatefficiencyis11.24kmol/h(MW),fractionofethanolwastageis0.32,theconcentration
ofethanolineffluentis34787ppmandethanolfractioninthetopsproductexactly0.85.The
heatduty0.717MWisandthecondenserdutyis0.507MW.
Inordertoachievethis,theparameterswereslowlyalteredincasestudiesinPRO/II.
Firstofall,thetraynumberwasalteredmaintainingallotherparametersthesame.Thereason
oneshouldpreferthefeedtoarriveatalowerpartofthecolumnisthatthisway,thereis
moremixingbetweentherichinethanolvapoursandthefeed,providingahigherethanol
fractioninthefinaldistillate.
STEP
TRAY_FEED
ETOH_FRAC

Table1:TraynumberxEthanolfraction
1
2
3
4
5*
6*
7*
8
9
10
11
12
13
14.
0.808
0.815
0.821
0.825
0.758
0.931
0.876
Note:stepswithan*havenotconverged.

Thentherefluxratiowasraisedto4.0.Therefluxratiomeansthequantityofdistillatethat
goesbacktothecolumnforfurtherdistillationoverthequantityoftopsfinalproduct(L/D
usually,inliterature).Increasingtherefluxratioimpliesinapurerproduct,butalsoinbigger
heatandcondenserduties.
STEP
TRAY_FEED
ETOH_FRAC

Table2:TraynumberxEthanolfraction(Refluxratio=4)
1
2
3*
4*
5*
6*
7*
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
0.817
0.825
0.831
0.903
0.723
0.880
0.937
Note:stepswithan*havenotconverged.

Asthe10thtrayandforwarddidnotconverge,thebottomsflowratewaschangedto91kmol/h.
Thiswasdonebecausewithagreaterdrawoffrate,moreoftheheavyproduct(water)istaken
offthecolumn.Thiscauseslessvapourtogoabovethecolumn,sothevapourgetsmore
concentratedonthemostvolatileproduct(ethanol),andsoitiseasierforthesimulationto
converge.
Table3:TraynumberxEthanolfraction(Refluxratio=4,Bottomsflowrate=91kmol/h)
STEP
1
2
3
4
TRAY_FEED
8
9
10
11
ETOH_FRAC
0.817
0.823
0.829
0.834
Note:stepswithan*havenotconverged.

5
12
0.839

Inordertogetafurtherincreaseintheethanolfraction,andasaguessforthe13 thtrayto
converge,thebottomsflowratewasraisedto92.
Table4:TraynumberxEthanolfraction(Refluxratio=4,Bottomsflowrate=92kmol/h)
STEP
1
2
3
4
5
6
7*
TRAY_FEED
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
ETOH_FRAC
0.817
0.824
0.830
0.833
0.837
0.841
0.857
Note:stepswithan*havenotconverged.
The13thtrayseemstobegettingclosertothedesiredsolutionnow.Therefluxratiowasthen
raisedto5,inordertohavearicherinethanoltopsproduct.

Table5:TraynumberxEthanolfraction(Refluxratio=5,Bottomsflowrate=92kmol/h)
STEP
1
2
3
4
5
6
7*
TRAY_FEED
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
ETOH_FRAC
0.820
0.830
0.833
0.840
0.843
0.846
0.875
Note:stepswithan*havenotconverged.
Thenanothercasestudywasset,nowhavingtherefluxratioasthevariableandthe
13thtrayasthefeedtray.
Table6:RefluxratioxEthanolfraction(Feedtray=13,Bottoms=92kmol/h)

STEP

REF_RAT

5.0

5.1

5.2

5.3

5.4

5.5

5.6

5.7

5.8

ETOH_FR
AC

0.846

0.846

0.848

0.847

0.849

0.849

0.850

0.849

0.849

Itseemsthatthesolutionissomewherebetweentherefluxratioof5.5and5.8.Using
asmallerstep:
Table7:RefluxratioxEthanolfraction(Feedtray=13,Bottoms=92kmol/h)
STEP
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
REF_RAT
5.60
5.61
5.62
5.63
5.64
5.65
5.66
5.67
5.68
ETOH_FRAC
0.849 0.849 0.848 0.849 0.850 0.849 0.848 0.849 0.850
STEP
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21

10
5.69
0.850
22

11
5.70
0.849
23

REF_RAT
ETOH_FRA
C
STEP
REF_RAT
ETOH_FRA
C

5.71
0.84
9
24
5.83
0.84
9

5.72
0.850

5.73
0.850

5.74
0.849

5.75
0.849

5.76
0.850

25
5.84
0.850

26
5.85
0.850

27
5.86
0.850

28
5.87
0.850

29
5.88
0.850

5.77
0.850

5.78
0.849

5.79
0.849

5.800
0.850

5.81
0.850

5.82
0.849
30
5.89

0.850

Thensomevalueshavegotthedesiredfractionof0.85ethanolfraction.However,
whenapproachedassingleruns,thevaluesbelow5.72withthefeedtray13andbottoms
flowrateof92kmol/hgaveanethanoltopsfractionsmallerthan0.849.Runningwithreflux
ratioof5.73bringsatfirstthewantedsolutionof0.85.Valueshigherthan5.73arenot
interestingbecausetheyimplyinbiggerheatandcondenserduties,largercostsforachieving
thesamepurity.
Thesecondarywishlistisnotpossibletoaccomplishunderthegivenconditions.The
feedcomesfromafermentationprocessupstream,soitscompositionisfixed.Byasimple
massbalance,andknowingthatadistillationcolumnoperatesundersteadystateregimen,
oneshouldseethatitsimpossiblefor13kmol/hofethanoltocomeoutofthecolumnifonly
10kmol/hofethanolareentering.
Massbalanceforethanol:
In:10%x100kmol/h=10kmol/h
Outofthenewcolumn:85%x8kmol/h+3.5%x92kmol/h=10kmol/h=maximumethanol
possiblygoingout,asansteadystateoperation(noaccumulation).
Itisimpossiblethatnoethanolinthefeedgoesintotheeffluent.Thathappens
becauseifamoreethanolrichproductisdesired,andalteringtherefluxratioonlycantdo
that,itisimperativetoremovewaterfromthetopsfraction.Butbyincreasingthedrawoff
ratetoanyvalueabove90kmol/h(orevenless,becausenoperfectseparationcouldoccur
betweenethanolandwater,whichformazeotrope)oneexcludesthepossibilityofallalcohol
thatgoesintothecolumn(10kmol/h)exitingfromthetops.Thisway,thereisalwaysgoingto
existethanolwastage.Itsvaluehaschangedfrom0.19to0.32.
Theconcentrationofethanolineffluentisdirectlylinkedtotheethanolwastage,and
itsnotpossibletokeepitunder100ppmifitiswantedan85%ethanolfractionattops,for
thesamereasons,thereforeithasincreasedfrom21232ppmto34787ppm.
Theheatefficiencycouldnotbemaintainedthesame.Inordertohaveahigher
fractionethanolproduct,thereboilermusthavealargerdutybecauseofthelargerrefluxratio
number(moreliquidgoesbacktothecolumnforfurtherdistillation,somoreliquidneedsto
bevaporised).Also,thereislessproductgettingoutofthisnewcolumn.Theformulaforheat
efficiencyistotalproductflowrate/reboilerduty,andthenumeratorgotsmallerandthe
denominatorgotbigger.Thisway,theheatefficiencyobtained(11.24kmol/hr(MW))hasto
besmallerthanthatofthestartercolumn(17.74kmol/hr(MW)).
Toachievethiskindofoptimisationsolution,thevariablecostsmustbebalanced.
Thereisalwaysgoingtoexistatradeoffbetweenthequality(purity)oftheproduct,the
quantityofethanolobtainedandtherunningcostsoftheoperation.Onecouldhavethesame
fractionofethanolinthetopsbutwithahigherrefluxratioandahigherdrawoffrateatthe
bottoms,thereforehavingsmallerheatefficiencyandbiggerethanolwastage.Achievingjust
therequiredfractionofethanoliswhatmakesitpossibletolowerthecostswhilestillinside
themajorspecification.Theresolutionpresentedinthisstudyisonlyoneofthepossible
solutionstothemarketdemands,butitiscertainlyaveryefficientone.

References:
M.T.Tham(1997).Distillation,anintroduction.http://lorien.ncl.ac.uk/ming/distil/distil0.htm
Visited25/11/2014
McCabe,W.andSmith,J.(1976).Unitoperationsofchemicalengineering.NewYork:
McGrawHill.
Appendix

Figure1:Traynumbercasestudy

Figure2:Refluxratiofirstcasestudy

Figure3:Refluxratiosecondcasestudy

Figure4:Trayandflowratespecifications

Figure5:Performancespecifications