Energy analysis on ethylene back-end separation processes

Introduction
Using this demo file and the walkthrough, the user will learn how to properly use Activated Energy
Analysis in Aspen Plus to revamp the existing heat exchanger network in order to reduce energy
consumption in the developed process model. In order to access Activated Energy Analysis features,
Aspen Plus V8.4 and Aspen Energy Analyzer V8.4 or later version must be installed.

Process Description
The demo file is based on a simplified ethylene back-end separation process in Aspen Plus. Cracked gas
from a furnace is cooled by a methane and hydrogen stream from the top of the demethanizer column
in several heat exchangers, and by refrigerant utilities in chillers. The cold feed is then separated into
ethylene, propylene and C4s in a series column. Depropanizer and debutanizer are not included in the
flowsheet.

Activated Energy Analysis Procedure

Copy Ethylene Demo.bkp file to a writable folder, for example, C:\Demo\Energy Analysis. To begin,
open Aspen Plus. Once Aspen Plus has loaded, open the case Ethylene Demo.bkp from the location
to which the file was extracted. If the Activated Analysis panel is not displayed, initialize the panel by
clicking the Activated Analysis button from the Home ribbon. The location of the Activated Analysis
button is shown in Figure 1.
Even though it is not required to run activated energy analysis, user is strongly recommended to define
all available utilities to the plant in Aspen Plus flowsheet. Then specify the utilities in the Utilities tab in
Input form of the unit operation block.

Figure 1. Location of Activated Analysis Button from Home Ribbon in Aspen Plus
Click Energy Analysis tile to activate Energy Analysis dashboard, circled in Figure 2. Note if the tile is
disabled, check the flowsheet and make sure the simulation converge without errors.

Figure 2. Location of Energy Analysis Tile to Activate Energy Analysis Dashboard

After Energy Analysis dashboard is initialized, click Energy Analysis Options button on the left of the
dashboard to set the process parameters for energy analysis, as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Location of Energy Analysis Options Button

For the purposes of the ethylene separation demo file, specify the process as a Low Temperature
Process and ensure that all sections of the process flowsheet are included in the energy analysis as
shown below. Click OK button at the bottom to update the dashboard.

Figure 4. Energy Analysis Options for Ethylene Separation Demo File

The updated Activated Energy Analysis panel is shown in Figure 5 below. Displayed is the energy and
greenhouse gas cost view.

Figure 5. Energy and Greenhouse Gas Cost View for Ethylene Separation Demo
The numbers on the top of the bars represent either the actual heating and cooling cost for the process
(orange bar), or the actual carbon emission cost for the process (green bar). The cost is calculated based
on the actual energy consumption and carbon emission obtained from the flowsheet and the specified
utility and carbon fee costs.
The numbers to the right of the bar are the target costs calculated by the Aspen Energy Analyzer
analysis engine. The relative differences between the actual and target costs are displayed by a
percentage, shown in the bold number to the right. The percentage values illustrate the energy cost
(21%) and carbon cost (11%) saving potentials.
Clicking the toggle button highlighted in Figure 6 brings up the energy and carbon emission view. The
numbers above the bars show the actual heating (orange bar, in units of energy), actual cooling (blue
bar, in units of energy), and actual carbon emission (green bar, in units of mass flow) for the process.
The numbers on the right show the corresponding target values. The units of measures are consistent
with the simulation units specified in Aspen Plus.

Figure 6. Navigating to Energy and Carbon Emission View

The Saving Potential button navigates to the Saving Potentials form in the Energy Analysis environment.
The Saving Potentials form shows the detailed breakdown of each utilitys usage and target, as well as
the cost saving potential.

Figure 7. Navigating to the Saving Potentials Form

Shown in Figure 8, clicking the blue downward arrow on Energy Analysis dashboard displays the
optimization generation dropdown form. Selecting Generate automatically creates up to 11 possible
design changes to the existing heat exchanger network to achieve the energy saving opportunities.
Three types of retrofit options are explored. These include:

Modify Exchanger Add additional surface areas to the existing heat exchangers to save
energy. This optimization option generates one solution.
Add Exchanger Add one new heat exchanger to the existing heat exchanger network at a
time. This optimization option will provide up to 5 solutions.
Relocate Exchanger Relocate one existing heat exchanger to a different location within the
process. This optimization option will provide up to 5 solutions.

Figure 8. Opening Optimization Generation Form to Create Potential Design Changes

Once retrofit analysis is completed, the table in the optimization generation form is populated with the
retrofit solutions, as shown below. The first row shows the solution summary for modifying exchangers.
In the Ethylene Demo file, 1991 m2 of new area was added to the network to reduce energy by 2.2%,
with a payback period of 0.36 years for this upgrade.
The second row highlights the best solution (lowest payback) for adding a new exchanger to the process.
In Ethylene Demo, the first heat exchanger addition solution reduces energy by 10% (reaching the
energy target) and has a payback period of 0.391 years. In V86 release, improvements to retrofit model
have led to 3 solutions for this retrofit option as compared to a single solution in previous releases.
The third row highlights the first solution for relocating existing CB3 exchanger in the process. In
Ethylene Demo, the relocation of this heat exchanger reduces energy by 8.0% and has a payback period
of 0.243 years.

Figure 9. List of Generated Retrofit Options for Energy Savings

Click a design change option to access the solution details in Energy Analysis environment. For example,
shown in Figure 10, if the second row of the table is selected, the Scenario 2, Add E-100 section of the
Energy Analysis environment will be opened.

Figure 10. Solution Details for Adding a Heat Exchanger Retrofit Option for Ethylene Demo File
In the second table in the solution details window, the specific heat exchanger addition solution desired
by the user can be selected using the corresponding radio button, as shown in Figure 11. Note that the
areas (e.g. 5169 m2) listed on the first column in this table are the total areas added to the entire heat
exchanger network, instead of the area added to the new heat exchanger.

Figure 11. Add Heat Exchangers Solutions Generated by Activated Energy Analysis for Ethylene Demo File
The solutions are calculated without actual constraints. For that reason, the new total areas are large in
the initial solutions. The minimum temperature approach is set as 2.4C, which is the value in the
current flowsheet. The maximum new area allowed for each heat exchanger is set to be 10,000 m2. To
refine the optimization solution, tighter constrains can be imposed on each heat exchanger by manually
updating the maximum areas and minimum approach temperatures, as listed in blue font.
To illustrate this, enter 500 m2 in Maximum Extra Area for CB2 and click on Update button, as shown in
Figure 12.

Figure 12. How to Impose Tighter Constraints on a Heat Exchanger in Energy Analysis environment
Upon completing this, the new area of CB2 is reduced to 500 m2, which is the upper bound of the limits
entered. Using this approach to tighten optimization constraints, the retrofit solution can be fine-tuned
and the capital cost expenditure can be reduced, keeping in mind that energy cost saving could also be
diminished through more stringent constraints. An equation oriented nonlinear optimizer helps to
achieve the optimum tradeoff between extra capital cost expenditure and energy cost saving.
User can also perform multiple retrofit operations in each scenario, for instance, adding a new
exchanger after modifying exchangers in scenario 1 as shown in Figure 13.

Figure 13. Perform multiple retrofit operations in each scenario

The generated solution for the Ethylene Demo file indicates that a new exchanger E-100 could be
added at five possible locations after performing a Modify Heat Exchangers optimization, which would
get the user close to the target percentage of energy reduction. The results of modifying heat
exchanger area, followed by adding a new exchanger to the process shows 10.0% energy reduction in
the process, resulting in reaching the energy target.
The Activated Energy Analysis process described in this guide can be repeated and explored more in
depth for any Aspen Plus simulation.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Q: How are the targeted values calculated in Activated Energy Analysis in Aspen Plus?
A: The targeted values of heating and cooling consumptions are calculated using pinch analysis
through Aspen Energy Analyzer. As the user clicks to activate the energy dashboard, Aspen Energy
Analyzer is launched in the background and reads the flowsheet data to formulate the energy
analysis. The results are then populated back to the energy dashboard once the calculation is
completed.
2. Q: Why are the actual heating and cooling consumptions reported in the energy dashboard almost
doubled compared to the values reported in simulation?
A: As the data is transferred from simulation to Aspen Energy Analyzer, some heating and cooling
information might be double counted because of the way the simulation flowsheet is developed.
We strongly encourage the user to utilize hierarchical/subflowsheeting features in Aspen Plus to
organize entire heat exchanger networks into one hierarchy or subflowsheet. The user can then
select the appropriate hierarchies only in Energy Analysis Option window (Figure 4 in this guide).
3. Q: Are there any online training materials available for Activated Energy Analysis in Aspen Plus?
A: Yes. There is a computer based training material, namely Getting Started with Energy Analysis in
Aspen Plus available via aspenOne Exchange within Aspen Plus.
4. Q: Can I enter custom heat exchanger cost correlations in activated energy analysis?
A: Yes. The user can enter the cost correlations in the Energy Analysis environment under the
Costing tab in the Setup window located in Energy Analysis environment. However, the cost
correlations need to be in the format of exponential functions of new area on the heat exchanger.
5. Q: Can I make additional modifications (e.g. adding multiple heat exchangers or relocating
multiple heat exchangers) on top of the previous modifications to the heat exchanger network?
A: Yes. Even though the retrofit engine only allows user to add or relocate one heat exchanger at a
time, the user can still add or relocate more exchangers sequentially in multiple run. Using the

scenario tree is a great way to organize the revamping options in the Energy Analysis environment.
Multiple designs can be created in one scenario. The energy savings from each design is cumulative
from the base simulation case.
6. Q: Why are the new areas required from the initial solutions so large?
A: The initial solution from automatic optimization design is calculated without any constraints, i.e.
the maximum extra area and minimum approach temperature are not constrained during the
solution generation. As a result, the approach temperature of a heat exchanger could be very small.
Generally, it is best to generate solutions first and then fine tune the solution later, due to the
complex mathematical model.
7. Q: How can I control the new area distribution within the heat exchanger network?
A: The user can impose the limits in Maximum Extra Area column, or Minimum Approach
Temperature column for each exchanger in the heat exchanger details table. Then, click the
Update button on the top left corner of the table to regenerate the solution. However, the energy
savings could be compromised as more and more constraints are imposed on the heat exchangers.
8. Why I see zero cost for GHG emission on the dashboard, even though GHG emission in utilities
specification is activated
A: User needs to specify carbon fee/tax in Aspen Plus at least once, as shown below. By default the
value is zero.