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Article history: Analysis of purification of potassium nitrate with incorporation of single effect mechanical
Received 16 November 2016 vapor compressor for solvent recovery was done. Analysis focused on the effect of concen-
Received in revised form tration and temperature of mother liquor on the energy efficiency of the process and the
24 May 2017 amount of recovered solvent. Performance coefficient of mechanical vapor compressor
Accepted 25 May 2017 ranged between 1.5 and 7.5 depending primarily on the temperature of mother liquor. It was
found that with increase in temperature of mother liquor through pre-heating, the power of
Keywords: the compressor, compression ratio and amount of heat supplied to the evaporator decrease.
Performance coefficient For a 40% concentrated feed solution and mother liquor temperature above 80 C, perfor-
Mother liquor mance coefficient is higher than 4. It is therefore concluded that preheating mother liquor
Concentrated solution and reduction of the effect of concentration of both mother liquor and concentrated waste
Recovered solvent stream through other methods reduces the power consumption of purification process.
Boiling point elevation © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Institution of Chemical Engi-
Mechanical vapor compressor neers. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
1. Introduction (ii) Potassium chloride react with hot aqueous sodium ni-
trate to produce sodium chloride (NaCl) and potassium
Potassium nitrate (KNO3) is used as a food preservative, fer- nitrate (Eq. (2)) (Jaroszek et al., 2016). NaCl is less soluble
tilizer and heat transfer agent in chemical industries. KNO3 is at elevated temperatures and thus crystallizes out of
also essential in the production of explosives, glass and steel the hot solution rich in KNO3 (Abidaud, 1991; Freilich,
(Abidaud, 1991; Freilich, 2005; Jaroszek et al., 2016). The only 2005; Jaroszek et al., 2016).
known ore of KNO3 is caliche mined in Chile (Freilich, 2005;
Velasco, 1992). Potassium chloride (KCl), also known as pot- NaNO3 ðaqÞ þ KCl ðsÞ/NaCl ðsÞ þ KNO3 ðaqÞ (2)
ash, is another mined compound of potassium. To meet the
high demand of KNO3, the mineral deposits are supplemented (iii) Nitric acid is reacted with potassium chloride to pro-
with the manufactured compound. The following chemical duce potassium nitrate and hydrochloric acid which is
processes have been developed for its production: extracted with an organic solvent (Eq. (3)) (Freilich, 2005;
Jurisova
et al., 2013).
(i) Reaction of potassium chloride with nitric acid at elevated
temperatures (Eq. (1)) (Abidaud, 1991; Freilich, 2005). HNO3 þ KCl /HCl þ KNO3 (3)
100 C
3KCl þ 4HNO3 ! 3KNO3 þ Cl2 þ NOCl þ 2H2 O (1) (iv) Electrodialysis e cation exchange membranes (CEM)
and anion exchange membranes (AEM) alternate in a
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: kippserico86@gmail.com (K.E. Kosgey).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sajce.2017.05.004
1026-9185/© 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Institution of Chemical Engineers. This is an open access article
under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
2 south african journal of chemical engineering 24 (2017) 1e7
PO, xO, tO
L, xL, tL
P, x2, t2
H1
L, xL, tL1
V, hv1, p1 tv1
H2 W, xW, tW2
Compr
E L, xL, tL2
tv2, p2 ,hv2
EV
h3, p3
P, h4, t1, p4
W, xW, tw1
Fig. 1 e Schematic diagram of re-crystallization in which mother liquor L is pre-heated by recovered solvent P and
concentrated solution W.
focus on decrease in total heat transfer area with decrease in crystals S, is fed into evaporator E where most of the solvent is
temperature difference between condensing steam and recovered, leaving concentrated solution W. Vapors P of the
boiling solution. Han et al. (2014) applied self-heat recovery solvent are compressed from pressure p1 to pressure p2 raising
theory in evaporative crystallization of ammonium sulfate. the enthalpy of the vapors from hv1 to hv2. The compressed
Han et al. (2017) demonstrated that in double effect mechan- vapors are then fed into the heating chamber of evaporator E
ical vapor compression, the total power consumption is less where upon condensation boils the mother liquor L. The
than in a single effect mechanical vapor compression system condensate P with enthalpy h3 and the concentrated solution
but compression stages higher than two do not guarantee
reduction in total power consumption with increase in the
number of stages. 120
In this paper, design for purification process incorporating
single effect mechanical vapor compression for solvent re-
covery is developed with analysis of performance based on 100
energy efficiency. This is because purification of KNO3 is
necessary to remove harmful contaminants like perchlorates. 80
In addition, water recovery is essential especially with the
common problem of water scarcity and strict regulations
60
tF , оС
2. Principle of operation 40
W which is rich in impurities exit the evaporator. Pressure of solution respectively; rD is the heat of dissolution of the solid
the condensate P drops from p3 to p4 on passing through feed.
expansion valve EV. Recovered solvent P from the evaporator From Eq. (9), it is possible to define temperature t2 at which
E is hot and if its heat content is higher than the heat needed it is necessary to return the recovered solvent to stage D for
in dissolution stage then it is necessary to cool to the required dissolution of the solid feed so that solution F exits at
temperature t2. For this purpose, the hot solvent is fed to heat temperature tF:
exchanger H1 to pre-heat mother liquor to temperature tL1.
FcF tF þ FT ðrD cT tT Þ PO xO tO
The temperature of mother liquor can further be raised to tL2 t2 ¼ (10)
PCP
by passing it through heat exchanger H2 which is heated by
hot concentrated solution W from the evaporator. Heating The amount of energy QE that need to be supplied to
mother liquor L before feeding to the evaporator, can signifi- evaporator E can be determined from Eq. (11).
cantly reduce the amount of heat needed in the evaporator.
LcL tL þ QE ¼ WcW tW1 þ Phv1 (11)
FRPF=P/F
where dW is boiling point elevation of solution W with con-
2
centration xW and can be calculated using Eq. (17). 0.4
Heat exchange between streams P, W and L can reduce 1
energy demand for solvent recovery. If the energy supplied
0.3
with recovered solvent is not enough for dissolution of solid 10 20 30 40
feed then fresh solvent should be heated up before supplying хL , % KNO3
for dissolution. Heat transfer area for heat exchangers and
2
evaporator can be calculated as described in Ettouney (2006).
1
2.1.3. Performance coefficient of the heat pump
1.5 b
FRWFW/F
The theoretical power of compressor can be determined from
Eq. (20) (Zhou et al., 2014).
1 2
20
20 30 40 50
Table 1 e Boiling point elevation of water at different xF, %
concentrations of potassium nitrate.
Fig. 4 e Change in temperature of recovered solvent fed
Concentration, % 20 30 40 50
to stage D with the concentration of KNO3 solution:
Boiling point elevation, C 2.02 3.03 4.04 5.05
tcr ¼ 1 e 0 С; 2 e 10 С; 3 e 20 С.
6 south african journal of chemical engineering 24 (2017) 1e7
100 50
80 4 a
40
60
3
3
t2 , °С
n = P2 /P1
30
40
1 20 2
20
10
1
0
10 20 30 40 0
хL , % KNO3 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
1 b
1800
QE /F,KJ/Kg
2 8
1600
6 3
1400
3 4
2
ε
1200 1
2
1000 0
10 20 30 40 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
xL , % tL , °C
Fig. 6 e Variation of heat QE in evaporator E with Fig. 8 e Variation of performance coefficient with
temperature of mother liquor (a) and its concentration temperature of mother liquor xF ¼ 40%: xW ¼ 1 e 75%;
(b): xF ¼ 1 e 20% KNO3; 2 e 30%; 3 e 40%. 2 e 65%; 3 e 55%.
south african journal of chemical engineering 24 (2017) 1e7 7
4. Conclusion Han, D., He, W.F., Yue, C., Pu, W.H., 2017. Study on desalination of
zero-emission system based on mechanical vapor
compression. Appl. Energy 185 (Part 2), 1490e1496, 1/1/.
Production of KNO3 through conventional methods with
Jaroszek, H., Lis, A., Dydo, P., 2016. Transport of impurities and
subsequent purification through recrystallization with sol-
water during potassium nitrate synthesis by electrodialysis
vent recovery and incorporation of mechanical vapor metathesis. Sep. Purif. Technol. 158, 87e93, 1/28/.
compressor is energy efficient and it presents good economic Juri
sova , J., Fellner, P., Danielik, V., Lencse
s, M., Kra
lik, M.,
prospects. Analysis has shown that in the considered design,
Sı́po
s, R., 2013. Preparation of potassium nitrate from
the performance coefficient, depending on the temperature of potassium chloride and magnesium nitrate in a laboratory
mother liquor, is between 1.5 and 7.5. Without pre-heating scale using industrial raw materials. In: Acta Chimica Slovaca,
vol. 6, p. 15.
mother liquor, COP is very low. Above 80 C, power con-
Liang, L., Han, D., Ma, R., Peng, T., 2013. Treatment of high-
sumption by the compressor is low and COP is higher than 4. concentration wastewater using double-effect mechanical
Concentration of mother liquor influences solvent recovery vapor recompression. Desalination 314, 139e146, 4/2/.
through elevation of boiling point. A more concentrated Lu, H., Wang, J., Wang, T., Wang, N., Bao, Y., Hao, H., 2017.
mother liquor boils at a higher temperature than a pure sol- Crystallization techniques in wastewater treatment: an
vent and thus consumes more power. As a result, other than overview of applications. Chemosphere 173, 474e484, 4//.
Machuca, L., Cernı́n, A., 2014. A Method of Production of
preheating mother liquor, the rise in power consumption as a
Potassium Nitrate by Electrodialysis and Apparatus for Making
result of boiling point elevation should be minimized through
the Same.
other methods. In instances where KNO3 concentration is Mullin, J.W., 2001. Crystallization. Available: https://books.google.
high and impurities are low, recirculation of mother liquor can co.za/books?hl¼en&lr¼&id¼Et0EtojQmvsC&oi¼fnd&pg¼
be considered whereas if concentration of impurities is high, PP2&dq¼purification%2Bcrystallization%
an additional crystallizer and separator to reduce concentra- 2Bsubstances&ots¼VreA_VNzDM&sig¼w_V4__kxS-
tion of impurities before solvent recovery can be installed. Ta0pyyE6Jy5mWthws#v¼onepage&q¼purification%
2Bcrystallization%2Bsubstances&f¼false.
Nagarale, R.K., Gohil, G.S., Shahi, V.K., 2006. Recent developments
Acknowledgement on ion-exchange membranes and electro-membrane
processes. Adv. Colloid Interface Sci. 119, 97e130, 2/28/.
The authors acknowledge the support given in sourcing some Nosov, G.A., Uvarov, M.E., Myasaedenkov, V.M., 2009.
of the articles given by Jane Avenal Finlayson of Durban Uni- Recrystallization of Substances from Solutions with
versity of Technology Steve Biko campus library. Application of Heat Pumps [Online]. Available: http://elibrary.
ru/item.asp?id¼12981816& (in Russian).
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