PROJECT :

PRODUCTION OF PROPYLENE GLYCOL

OBJECTIVES

1. To install and converge a Continuous Stirred tank reactor (CSTR)

2. To simulate a process involving reaction and separation
3. To design a distillation column that is capable of producing a product with 99.5% purity.

PROCESS DECRIPTIONS

Propylene glycol (C3H8O2) is a very common organic compound that is used in many applications. It
is used as an oil dispersant, a solvent in pharmaceuticals, an antifreeze, and as moisturizer, and
any other applications. It is produced via the hydrolysis of propylene oxide which is usually
accelerated by acid or base catalysis.

Simulate the propylene glycol production process, including the reaction and separation processes.
Assume a propylene oxide feed stream of 3952 kg/h and a water feed stream of 4990 kg/h. Both
streams have temperature of 25oC and pressure of 1 bar. The goal is to produce a final product
containing 99.5% propylene glycol. Assume a CSTR with a volume of 8,000 L and liquid volume of
85%. The outlet temperature of CSTR is 60oC. The simplified reaction kinetics are shown below.

PROCEDURE
1. First, the hysys application was started and a new icon case was opened by selecting New
Project.
2. Then, the UNIQUAC property package from the Thermodynamics Model drop-down list is
selected.

3. The Component window is chosen. All the chemicals used in this case were keyed in, which are
Propylene Glycol(C3H8O2), Propylene Oxide(C3H6O) and Water(H2O). The settings were
applied.

4. Then an unknown binary coefficient pair in HYSYS was estimated.

 Make sure coeff matric to vie in aij
Coeff estimation > UNIFAC VLE
Click on unknown only.
Hysys will estimate the binary coefficient value.
5. Stream 1 and stream 2 was added into the simulation with the following data;
Stream 1
Stream 2
6. A mixer was added into the simulation in order to combine the two feed stream into one stream
(stream 3) and the necessary data was tabulated.
Model pellet
mixer icon

set the outlet to lowest inlet

6. Then a Continuous Stirred-Tank Reactor(CSTR) then added into the simulation which is
connected to stream 3 for the feed while Stream 4 and stream 5 for outlets. An assumption are
made for a CSTR with a volume of 8,000 L and liquid volume of 85%. The outlet temperature of
CSTR is 60 oC.

CSTR icon
7. Since, CSTR requires reaction set, a kinetic type of reaction was added into the simulation.
Forward reaction for H2O is 0 because the reaction is first order with respect to ethylene oxide. H2O
in excess based on the process.

8. After that, the

reaction set was
added into the
CSTR. And the
necessary data was
also tabulated.
9. a distillation column was then added into the simulation by having stream 5 as an inlet feed and
stream 6, 7 and 9 as an outlet streams. The distillation columns have 10 stages with feed inlet at
stage 5. All the data was added into the DCs parameter as follow;
 Condenser partial reflux
Assume stage 10
Condenser and boiler pressure 100 kpa
Leave pressure drop as default
 Enter reflux ratio = 1.000
 6 (vapor) rate =0
 Distillate (liquid) not
active
Click add spec

select
component
fraction
click add spec

Change comp
fraction to H20
fraction
Stage reboiler
 Move to the Spec Value cell, and enter .005 as the liquid mole
fraction specification value

Click group active

Click run
Worksheet
PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM (PFD)

WORKBOOK

A) UNIQUAC Property Package

B) Lee Kesler Plocker Property Package
QUESTIONS

1. what is the conversion of propylene glycol after reaction in CSTR?

Component Stream 4 Stream 5

Propylene glycol 0.0089 0.2456

2. How you design the distillation column in order to obtain the final product with 99.5% purity?
Explain specification of the distillation column and assumption made.

The design of distillation column in order to obtain the final product with 99.5% purity are;
Design value
Condenser pressure 100 kPa
Reboiler pressure 100 kPa
Number of stages 10 stages
Feed tray 5 trays
Reflux ratio 1.00
Distillate rate 0.995

3. What is the mole fraction for each component at the bottom and distillate of distillation column?

Components Stream 6 Stream 7 Stream 8

Propylene glycol 0.0000 0.0000 0.9950

Propylene oxide 0.9995 1.0000 0.0050

Water 0.0005 0.0000 0.0000

4. Compare your results by using other fluid package.

UNIQUAC

Lee Kesler Plocker Property Package

DISCUSSION

Propylene glycol (C3H8O2) is a very common organic compound that is used in many applications. It
is used as an oil dispersant, a solvent in pharmaceuticals, an antifreeze, and as a moisturizer, and
any other applications. It is produced via the hydrolysis of propylene oxide which is usually
accelerated by acid or base catalysis.

This experiment shows the simulation of production of Propylene Glycol by using propylene oxide
and water as a reactant to synthesis propylene glycol using HYSYS software. The property
package used in this simulation are UNIQUAC and Lee Kesler Plocker property package. Different
types of model give different results thus help for understanding better the effect of models on the
calculation and the output result. However there is still a case where the result shown by the
different property package are slightly similar to each other, which is shown in this simulation
process. The results between using UNIQUAC and Lee Kesler Plocker can be seen from the
workbook. Based on the results obtained, the mole fraction for each component at effluent of
reactor are almost the same:

Components UNIQUAC Lee Kesler Plocker

Stream 6 Stream 7 Stream 8 Stream 6 Stream 7 Stream 8
Propylene 0.0000 0.0000 0.9950 0.0000 0.0000 0.9950
glycole
H2O (water) 0.9995 1.0000 0.0050 0.9998 1.0000 0.0050

Propylene 0.0005 0.0000 0.0000 0.0002 0.0000 0.0000

oxide

Even though there is slight difference in the final mole of each components, they still manage to
make 99.5% conversion of propylene glycol.

There are three objectives that need to be achieve in this simulation. The first objective is to install
and converge a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) which is successfully achieved in this
simulation process, where CSTR was installed and converged. The second objective is to simulate
a process involving reaction and separation which is also successfully achieved, where the kinetic
reaction was added in the CSTR in order to make 100% conversion of propylene oxide. The third
objective is to simulate a process involving reaction and separation and to design a distillation
column that is capable of producing a product with 99.5% purity which is also successfully achieve
since the final mole fraction of propylene glycol from the distillation column are 0.9950 as shown in
the workbook section.

In order to get 99.5% purity of the final product, there are some assumption made on the distillation
column, they are;
 Design value
Condenser pressure 100 kPa
Reboiler pressure 100 kPa
Number of stages 10 stages
Feed tray 5 trays
Reflux ratio 1.00
Distillate rate 0.995

However if the 99.5% purity was still cannot be achieved, there are another alternative can be
used. The alternative is by adding another distillation column into the simulation.

Overall, this simulation was considered successful.

REFERENCES

1. https://processdesign.mccormick.northwestern.edu/index.php/Mixer_and_Splitter
2. https://processdesign.mccormick.northwestern.edu/index.php/Column
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNIQUAC
4. https://www.scribd.com/document/250494188/Lab-Report-Project-4-Production-of-
Propylene-Glycol