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Applied Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apenergy
H I G H L I G H T S G RA P H I C A L AB S T R A C T
• of18 VRC,
previously proposed configurations
BF and EHP were studied.
• All the configurations were designed
for propylene-propane separation.
• Aconfigurations
comparative study among various
was carried out.
• Advantages and disadvantages of each
configuration were identified.
• Based on energy and costs savings, the
most attractive configurations were
identified.
A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T
Keywords: Various configurations of vapor recompression (VRC), bottoms flashing (BF) and external heat pump (EHP) for
Distillation energy and/or costs savings were proposed in literature. Based on published studies, the best configuration for
Energy having the highest performance among the proposed separation systems cannot be easily identified by process
Costs engineers as the basis for comparison were not the same. In this study, a comparative study was carried out
Vapor recompression
among the most recent configurations of VRC, BF, EHP and two previously proposed ideas for thermal en-
Heat pump
hancement of VRC. Based on the schemes and ideas presented by previous researchers, 18 heat pump assisted
configurations were designed for separation of propylene from a propylene-propane mixture. The highest total
energy saving of 93.8% was identified upon application of a configuration, designed based on heat recuperation
ideas. Based on the results of current research, the BF exhibited the best economic performance among the basic
heat pump systems, while the external heat pump system exhibited the worst energy and economic performance
compared to the other designs. The base conventional distillation column was found to have the lowest capital
costs (15.6 mUSD), while a heat recuperated VRC system had the lowest annual operating costs (3.04 mUSD) and
total annual costs (7.63 mUSD).
⁎
Corresponding authors.
E-mail addresses: abolghasem.kazemi@ce.iut.ac.ir (A. Kazemi), arjomand@cc.iut.ac.ir (A. Mehrabani-Zeinabad).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.12.023
Received 19 August 2017; Received in revised form 16 November 2017; Accepted 1 December 2017
Available online 18 December 2017
0306-2619/ © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
A. Kazemi et al. Applied Energy 211 (2018) 1261–1281
Fig. 1. Simplified process flow diagrams of (a) bottoms flashing (BF), (b) vapor recompression (VRC) [18] and (c) external heat pump (EHP) assisted distillation systems [14].
[5–7]. These systems include vapor recompression (VRC) [8–10], bot- conditioning the required thermal energy transfer from rectifying to
toms flashing (BF) [11–13], external heat pump assisted distillation stripping section.
(EHP) [1,14] and internally heat integrated distillation column (i- In BF, pressure, temperature and bubble point temperature of the
HIDiC) [15–17]. These systems were proposed based on the same bottom product are decreased through expansion. This expansion pro-
concepts. In the condenser (rectifying section) of a distillation system, cess makes feasible thermal energy transfer from rectifying to stripping
thermal energy is removed to provide the required reflux (QC). Also, in section of distillation column.
the reboiler (stripping section), thermal energy is supplied to have the In EHP an auxiliary liquid at a low temperature takes thermal en-
require boil up (QH). Heat pump assisted systems were proposed based ergy of the top product and store it by changing of phase to vapor. By
on this idea that QH can be supplied by QC. However, this heat transfer compression of formed vapor, its pressure, temperature and dew point
is not feasible through a regular operation in a distillation column as temperature are enhanced, which supplies driving force for transfer of
the temperature of rectifying section is lower the stripping section. A set adequate thermal energy to the bottom product, for boiling up. In the
of modifications is applied on conventional distillation systems to make next step, the auxiliary fluid is passed through an expansion valve to
this heat transfer feasible. Simplified process flow diagrams of VRC, BF complete the cycle.
and EHP systems are shown in Fig. 1 [14,18]. As shown in Fig. 1, all the Also, the basic configurations of VRC and BF, presented in previous
configurations require compressors. studies differ in details, e.g. VRC schemes in [19,20], and BF schemes in
In VRC, pressure, temperature and dew point temperature of the top [21,22].
product are increased through compression, this compression process Numerous studies were dedicated to enhance performance of
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chemical processes through application and optimization of VRC distillation configuration leads to lower amount of thermal energy
[23–25], BF [21,22], EHP [14] and i-HIDiC [26–28]. VRC gained more sources which in turn results in lower CO2 emissions.
attention compared to the other systems and a large number of studies
focused on VRC due to its simplicity and efficiency. Apart of the pre- 2. An overview of the previously proposed configurations
vious studies were focused on proposal of new configurations for VRC
[29–31], while some of them performed comparative study among The main idea for application of various configurations in published
various configurations [21] and implemented VRC in new applications studies was saving energy and costs on a specific separation system. For
[32,33]. In this field, Han et al. [34] proposed a zero-emission tech- instance, separations of i-butane-n-butane [21], propylene-propane
nology based on mechanical vapor recompression, Song et al. [35] [53], ethane-heavier hydrocarbons [29], methanol-water [7,54] and
utilized vapor recompression in wet microalgae drying and oil extrac- benzene-toluene [40] were studied in some of the previous studies. In
tion. Furthermore, Alabdulkarem et al. [36] evaluated seven config- order to conduct a fair comparison among the proposed systems, it was
urations for integration of heat pumps in CO2 capture of natural gas required to compare the performance of the systems based on the same
combined cycle power plant, Song et al. [33] proposed a natural gas separation system. In all of the related previously published papers,
purification process based on application of a VRC system for a deso- commercial process simulators e.g. Aspen HYSYS and Aspen PLUS were
rption column and a similar applications were investigated by other used to evaluate efficiency of the main ideas in reducing energy re-
researchers [37–39]. quirements. In this research, the same approach was utilized and Aspen
In previous studies various configurations of VRC were proposed by HYSYS process simulator was used as a tool for conducting this com-
other researchers. Matsuda et al. [30] proposed a new configuration of parative study. Thus, before conducting the comparative study, it was
vapor recompression based on utilizing thermal energy of the products considered to check accuracy of simulation results. It should be men-
within the system. Based on the same concepts, new configurations tioned that temperature approach of heat exchangers were set to 7 °C
were also proposed by Long and Lee [31] and Kazemi et al. [40]. Wa- and adiabatic efficiency of compressors was taken as 75%.
heed et al. [29] proposed new configurations of VRC based on addition
of a heat transfer stage to the system. Addition of this heat transfer
2.1. Separation specifications and results validation
stage to the system enhanced separation [29]. Based on the same
concept, another configuration was presented by Fu and Gundersen
In this study, separation of propylene from a binary propylene-
[41]. Fu et al. [42] proposed an air separation processing system based
propane mixture was studied. This separation is required in various
on the idea of self-heat recuperation. Also, Long et el. [43] proposed a
chemical and petrochemical processes such as methanol to propylene
novel configuration of dividing wall column based on self-heat re-
(MTP) process. This is a close-boiling and a rather difficult separation
cuperation. In another research, Asprion et al. [7] proposed a new
system which is a good candidate for application of VRC, BF and EHP
configuration of VRC based on addition of intermediate reboilers to
systems. All the systems were designed based on the same feed and
enhance energy and economic performance. Based on the same con-
product specifications (shown in Table 1).
cepts, Kumar et al. [44] and Jana and Mane [45] proposed new con-
This is a difficult separation task, as distillation columns with
figurations. Furthermore, Jana [46] and Xu et al. [47] presented a new
150–200 stages are usually used. In this study, a distillation column
heat integrated and VRC assisted dividing-wall distillation schemes,
with 180 stages was designed to carry out the separation task. The feed
while Feng et al. [48] and Shi et al. [49] studied application of VRC on
stream was assumed to be available at 10 °C and 15 barg and it was
reactive dividing wall columns. Yang et al. [50] proposed a design
preheated to 39 °C before entering the column at 90th stage. Upon se-
methodology for simultaneous heat integration of distillation, the pro-
lection of a smaller number of stages, larger reflux ratios would be
cessing system and the heat pump systems. It should be noted that in
required. All the configurations were designed on the same basis. The
the most of the mentioned studies, commercial process simulators were
results of this paper can be used for systems with the same ratio of
used as a tool for evaluating the proposed configurations. Also, a
(Condenser duty)/(Reboiler duty) and the same boiling point tem-
number of researchers studied controllability of heat pump assisted
peratures difference.
distillation configurations [13,51,52].
In this study, Peng-Rob property package was used for conducting
Process engineers make decisions about the optimum processing
the simulations. Peng-Rob property package is a suitable property
system for a specific separation task. These decisions influence process'
package for modeling thermodynamic properties of non-polar hydro-
requirements of energy resources as well as its CO2 emissions. In the
carbon systems. Adiabatic efficiency of used compressors was assumed
field of heat pump assisted distillation, various processing systems were
to be 75% for all of the cases. Vapor-liquid equilibrium (VLE) data for
proposed by previous researchers. Each of proposed systems was well
propylene-propane system were experimentally measured [55]. VLE
studied and analyzed for a specific separation process. However, in
data were calculated using this property package and the results are
comparison of energy and economic performances of each configura-
compared to the experimental results (Table 2). As shown, the obtained
tion there is a gap in the literature. Based on the published papers,
results are in good agreement with the experimental data.
process engineers and other readers cannot compare aspects of various
In this study, the previously proposed systems were divided into
systems, as each system was proposed and studied for a different set of
three following.
separation specifications. In order to fill this gap, it is required to
conduct a comparative research among the proposed systems based on
a unique set of specific separation specifications. This study provides a 2.2. Basic configurations
comprehensive comparison among the configurations and schemes of
VRC, BF and EHP, proposed by Matsuda et al. [30], Long and Lee [31], Conventional distillation columns can be used to carry out the
Kazemi et al. [40], Waheed et al. [29], Fu and Gundersen [41], Minh
et al. [22] and Diez et al. [21]. Based on the results of the comparative Table 1
Specifications of the feed and products.
study, advantages and disadvantages of these configurations were re-
vealed and the most economically attractive configurations were Feed/Product Flow rate Propylene mole Propane mole Relative
identified. This manuscript can be a basis for process engineers and (lbmoles/h) fraction fraction volatility
other readers to be able to compare performances of several heat pump
Feed 220.5 0.95 0.05 1.21
assisted distillation configurations. Results of this research can be uti-
Light product 202.6 0.995 0.005 1.04
lized in petrochemical processes, containing C3 splitter column such as Heavy product 17.91 0.47 0.53 1.14
methanol to propylene process. Identifying the best heat pump assisted
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Table 2
Comparison of the obtained results by simulation and experiment [55](1 = propylene, 2 = propane), the gained data were converted to SI system of units.
introduced separation process (Fig. 2). However, the system is a close- EHP utilizes the same basic principle: providing column’ reflux and
boiling separation system which results in high energy consumption. boil up streams through heat transfer from top to bottom product.
Basic VRC configurations were presented in published studies [1,20]. However, the configuration of EHP is different compared to VRC and
These basic configurations have only small differences in details. Two BF. In EHP an external fluid (refrigerant) is utilized in a closed heat
basic VRC systems were designed to carry out the separation based on pump cycle. Operating conditions of the heat pump cycle are adjusted
the process flow diagrams (PFD) shown in [18,20]. These configura- in order to have the refrigerant at lower temperature compared to
tions were named VRC#1 and VRC#2, respectively and corresponding temperature of condenser. The refrigerant takes the heat from top
process flow diagrams are shown in Figs. 3 and 4. product in a heat exchanger. This heat transfer provides column’ reflux
BF systems were also studied in published studies [12,21]. The main and results in evaporation of the refrigerant. The vaporized refrigerant
idea of the BF systems is to reduce temperature, bubble point tem- is then passed through a compressor, in order to increase its pressure,
perature and pressure of the bottom product in order to provide the temperature and dew point temperature. The high temperature re-
possibility of heat transfer from top to bottom product. The heat frigerant condenses through releasing the thermal energy content in
transfer from top to bottom product is carried out through a heat ex- order to the bottom product to provide the column’ boil up. The con-
changer, acting as combined reboiler and condenser (CRC) of the densed refrigerant is then passed through a valve in order to by re-
column. Through this heat transfer, required column boil up and reflux duction of its pressure, temperature and bubble point temperature,
are provided. Compared to VRC, one of the advantages of using BF is complete the cycle. Process flow diagram of this system is shown in
operation of some parts of the system at a lower pressure, which leads Fig. 7, based on [1,14]. Economic performance of EHP is usually lower
to a safer operation. For instance, for compression ratio of 2 in VRC and than VRC and BF as the refrigerant somehow acts as a heat carrier. So, it
BF, some parts of VRC are operated at a pressure four times higher than is required to create an adequate temperature differences between the
BF. Two basic BF systems were studied in published papers by Diez refrigerant and top product, and also between the refrigerant and the
et al. [21] and Minh [22]. In this study, two BF configurations were bottom product. In other words, a larger value of compression ratio of
designed based on these studies, which were named BF#1 and BF#2, compressor is required for supplying a certain logarithmic mean tem-
respectively. Process flow diagrams of these configurations are shown perature difference (LMTD) in the heat exchangers.
in Figs. 5 and 6. It should be noted that the number of published papers In published studies various ideas were proposed for improving
on BF are very limited compared to VRC and a limited number of basic performance of VRC systems. In this research, these ideas are divided
configurations are available. into three main categories: utilizing intermediate reboilers, heat
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Fig. 3. Process flow diagram of basic VRC#1, designed based on [18,56] (Configuration_2).
Fig. 4. Process flow diagram of basic VRC#2, designed based on [20] (Configuration_3).
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Fig. 5. Process flow diagram of basic BF#1, designed based on [21] (Configuration_4).
recuperation idea#1 and heat recuperation idea#2. In following sec- compression ratios are required for the three systems. Some of the
tions, these ideas are discussed and related configurations are pre- previously published papers focused on new configurations of VRC for
sented. wide boiling systems [7,44,45]. The main idea was the addition of in-
termediate reboilers to the column. The intermediate reboiler was
2.3. Configurations with intermediate reboilers added at a stage where a steep change of temperature in the column
was observed. The VRC system was then implemented between the
Performances of the VRC, BF and EHP systems are strong functions condenser and the intermediate reboiler. In other words, the inter-
of the temperature difference across the column. These systems exhibit mediate reboiler was utilized to reduce temperature difference across
their optimal performance at the lowest temperature difference across the VRC system. However, the VRC in this case covers only a fraction of
the column. The temperature difference affects the required compres- the stages of the column. Based on results of published studies, appli-
sion ratio of the compressor. For large temperature differences, large cation of this system can enhance performance of wide boiling
Fig. 6. Process flow diagram of basic BF#2, designed based on [22] (Configuration_5).
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Fig. 7. Process flow diagram of basic EHP, designed based on [14] (Configuration_6).
Fig. 8. Process flow diagram of VRC with an intermediate reboiler, designed based on [7].
distillation systems [7,44,45]. Process flow diagram of this configura- temperature profile of the distillation column is checked (Fig. 9). Based
tion is shown in Fig. 8. on Fig. 9, there is a stage at with a steep temperature change, while the
In order to evaluate the possibility of enhancing performance of temperature difference across the column is very small (about 3 °C).
propylene-propane separation by utilizing this configuration, This small temperature difference implies that, implementation of an
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Fig. 10. Process flow diagram of Matsuda#1 with heat recuperation idea#1, designed based on [30] (Configuration_7).
intermediate reboiler cannot have a great influence on performance of transfer, required hot utility for preheating the feed was reduced. A
the propylene-propane separation system in comparison with the basic short description for each configuration is provided in Table 3, while
VRC. Thus, this configuration and other related proposed configura- advantages and shortcomings of each configuration are presented in
tions in published studies were not investigated in this study. Table 4, Application of this configuration results in a change in tem-
perature and/or vapor fraction of the products, which can make pro-
blems in operation of the next unit. Furthermore, only fractions of top
2.4. Configuration designs based on recuperative vapor recompression
and bottoms streams were utilized for preheating. It seems that there is
idea#1
the possibility of storage of more thermal energy from the top and
bottoms streams. This issue will be discussed in next configurations.
One of the ideas for improving performance of VRC, presented in
Usually, outlets of the CRC are under saturated conditions. Thus,
previous publications is utilizing thermal energy of the products within
implementation of the valve in the system increases vapor fraction of
the processing system. In this research, the proposed configurations by
the reflux stream. This issue can reduce consumption of cold utilities for
Matsuda et al. [30], Long and Lee [31] and Kazemi et al. [40] were
decreasing of the vapor fraction of the reflux stream back to zero. Thus,
investigated. Matsuda et al. [30] proposed a new configuration of dis-
another configuration is presented based on elimination of the valve in
tillation based on VRC. Process flow diagram shown in Fig. 10 is de-
configuration of Matsuda et al. (Fig. 11) [30]. The two configurations,
signed based on the system presented by Matsuda et al. [30]. In this
designed based on the scheme proposed by Matsuda et al. [30] were
configuration, thermal energy of both top and bottom products were
named as Matsuda#1 and Matsuda#2.
utilized for preheating of the feed to the column. Through this heat
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Table 3
Short descriptions of the 18 heat pump assisted designs.
Table 4
Summary of advantages and disadvantages of the 19 configurations.
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Fig. 11. Process flow diagram of Matsuda#2 with heat recuperation idea#1, designed based on [30] (Configuration_8).
In another study, Long and Lee [31] proposed new configuration expansion valves (Figs. 12 and 13). Also, another configuration was
based on the same idea that were different with the one proposed by designed based on the proposed scheme by Long and Lee and im-
Matsuda et al. [30]. Their configurations were based on splitting the plementation of a valve in the system (Fig. 14) [31]. In their proposed
feed stream. Each branch of the feed was then pre-heated by top and scheme (Fig. 13) the whole top product stream is utilized for pre
bottom products for saving thermal energy. In this research, two sys- heating the feed stream, which can make a difference compared to the
tems were designed based on these configurations without usage of any previous schemes. This scheme exhibits an advantage compared to the
Fig. 12. Process flow diagram of Long and Lee#1 with heat recuperation idea#1, designed based on [31] (Configuration_9).
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Fig. 13. Process flow diagram of Long and Lee#2 with heat recuperation idea#1, designed based on [31] (Configuration_10).
Fig. 14. Process flow diagram of Long and Lee#3 with heat recuperation idea#1, designed based on [31] (Configuration_11).
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Fig. 15. Process flow diagram of Kazemi#1 with heat recuperation idea#1, designed based on [40] (Configuration_12).
scheme presented by Matsuda et al. [30]. The three configurations, propane separation (Figs. 15 and 16). In these configurations, unlike
designed based on the schemes proposed by Long and Lee [43] were the case proposed by Long and Lee [43] (Fig. 13), the feed was not split
named as Long and Lee#1, Long and Lee#2 and Long and Lee#3. and only thermal energy of one of the products was utilized. All the
In another study, Kazemi et al. [40] studied the same concept but presented cases in this sub-section have the same disadvantage. They
through different configurations designs [40]. In this study, two of the cannot have a good performance if the distillation column is a part of a
presented configurations were selected and designed for propylene- large processing system, because in case being a part of a large
Fig. 16. Process flow diagram of Kazemi#2 with heat recuperation idea#1, designed based on [40] (Configuration_13).
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Fig. 17. Process flow diagram of Waheed#2 with heat recuperation idea#2, designed based on [29] (Configuration_14).
processing system, the products are required at certain temperatures 2.5. Configuration designs based on recuperative vapor recompression
and/or vapor fractions for the next unit. The two configurations, de- idea#2
signed based on the configuration proposed by Kazemi et al. [40] were
named as Kazemi#1 and Kazemi#2. Another idea for saving thermal energy was based on addition of a
heat exchange stage for heating the top product of the column before
Fig. 18. Process flow diagram of Waheed#3 with heat recuperation idea#2, designed based on [29] (Configuration_15).
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Fig. 19. Process flow diagram of Waheed#4 with heat recuperation idea#2, designed based on [29] (Configuration_16).
entering the compressor [29,41]. One advantage of this idea compared Fu and Gundersen#2. Based on the presented schemes, two systems
to recuperative idea#1 is its applicability in large processing systems were designed for separation of propylene-propane (Figs. 21 and 22). A
because temperature and vapor fraction of the products can be con- short description and a summary of advantages and disadvantages of
trolled. Waheed et al. [29] proposed Models 2, 3, 4 and 5 that as a part the 19 schemes are presented in Tables 3 and 4.
of current research, these configurations were used for separation of Heat integrated distillation columns (HIDiC) are very complex.
propylene-propane (Figs. 17–20). These configurations were named There is a comparative study in the literature between basic VRC and
Waheed#2, Waheed#3, Waheed#4 and Waheed#5, respectively. A HIDiC and the results revealed better economic performance of basic
summary of advantages and disadvantages of these configurations are VRC for propylene-propane separation [53]. Thus, HIDiC system was
presented in Table 4. not studied in this research.
In another study, two schemes were presented utilizing the same
concept [41]. These schemes were named as Fu and Gundersen#1, and
Fig. 20. Process flow diagram of Waheed#5 with heat recuperation idea#2, designed based on [29] (Configuration_17).
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Fig. 21. Process flow diagram of Fu and Gundersen#1 with heat recuperation idea#2, designed based on [41] (Configuration_18).
Fig. 22. Process flow diagram of Fu and Gundersen#2 with heat recuperation idea#2, designed based on [41] (Configuration_19).
3. Results and discussion separation based on the presented schemes in published studies.
Although, in the publications, energy efficiency of the distillation sys-
A set of 19 configurations were designed for propylene-propane tems in each design was evaluated, it was the objective of this
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6000
4000
3000
2000
1000
Configurations
comparative study was evaluation of the designs on a unique basis in requirements of distillation systems, compared to a conventional dis-
order to identify the most energy efficient and the most economically tillation column. In this section, efficiency of each design in reducing
attractive designs energy requirements is presented and compared to the base conven-
tional distillation system. Figs. 23 and 24 show cold and hot utility
requirements of the 19 schemes. Based on Figs. 23 and 24, conventional
3.1. Evaluation of energy requirements of the configurations distillation column requires the highest cold and hot utilities. Compared
to conventional distillation column (Configuration_1), basic VRC, BF
Based on the results of the selected designs in the discussed studies, and EHP systems resulted in considerable reduction of hot and cold
application of each design can be efficient in reduction of energy
5000
4500
4000
Hot utility requirements (kW)
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
Configurations
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700
600
Electrical power requirements (kW)
500
400
300
200
100
Configurations
utilities. Among the presented schemes, Configuration_13 (Kazemi#2 utilities, respectively. However, it should be noted that application of
based on [40]) exhibited the highest values of utility savings by re- recuperation idea#1 is not possible in some of the systems, where the
duction of 95.1 and 100.0% of cold and hot utilities, respectively. Also, products are required at specific values of temperature and/or vapor
next to the conventional distillation system, Configuration_6 (the EHP) fraction.
had the lowest efficiency in reduction of cold and hot utilities, 82.5 and Electrical and total (thermal + electrical) power requirements of
85.3%, respectively. Furthermore, the basic VRC systems are slightly the 19 configurations are represented in Figs. 25 and 26, respectively.
more efficient than the basic BF configurations in reduction of energy Selection of a processing system with the lowest energy requirements
requirements. Also, heat recuperation idea#1 (Configurations_7-13) can lead to the lowest required energy resources for separation and also
exhibit a better energy performance compared to heat recuperation the lowest CO2 emissions associated to the system. All the systems were
idea#2 (Configurations_14-19). Based on energy requirements, the best designed based on the same value of HTDF at early stages of CRC. A
scheme utilizing heat recuperation idea#2 was Configuration_19 (Fu conventional distillation column does not require application of com-
and Gundersen#2) with 92.5 and 90.4% reduction of cold and hot pressors. The basic BF systems required higher rates of mechanical
12000
Overall rate of energy requirements (kW)
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
Configurations
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Table 5 incorporate the feed preheater. Another important result is the issue
Cold utility, hot utility and total energy savings of the 18 heat pump assisted config- that, all of the VRC and BF configurations were more successful in re-
urations in comparison with conventional distillation column.
duction of energy requirements, compared to EHP. This was attributed
Configuration# Cold utility savings Hot utility savings Total energy savings to basic characteristics of EHP, such as using a heat carrier. Also, based
(%) (%) (%) on Fig. 26, the basic BF configurations require more energy for opera-
tion, compared to the basic VRC systems. This observation was attrib-
2 87.5 90.4 85.2
uted to higher mechanical work requirements of BF, due to thermo-
3 87.6 90.4 85.3
4 86.0 90.4 83.6 physical properties of propylene and propane. The most important
5 85.5 90.4 83.4 parameter was the trends of variation of saturation temperature as a
6 82.5 85.3 77.4 function of corresponding saturation pressure. For propylene/propane
7 92.8 97.8 91.5 system, smaller pressure ratios are required in VRC to meet the same
8 92.8 97.7 91.5
HTDF. Furthermore, based on Fig. 26 and Table 5, Configuration_13
9 92.8 97.6 91.5
10 93.3 98.6 92.1 (Kazemi#2) required the lowest rate of total energy, 760 kW while the
11 94.4 99.6 93.2 highest values were observed for Configurations_1 (conventional dis-
12 93.7 98.5 92.3 tillation column) and 6 (EHP) with 9930 and 2247 kW, respectively.
13 95.1 100.0 93.8
But energy performance of the system is only one aspect in economic
14 88.6 90.4 86.3
15 87.4 90.4 85.7 evaluation of the configurations and classification of them. For in-
16 86.4 90.4 84.6 stance, operating pressure at different parts of the system is a decisive
17 82.5 82.9 80.5 parameter, affecting capital costs and economic performance. In the
18 88.0 90.4 86.2 next section, the systems are economically evaluated and compared.
19 92.5 90.4 87.5
Also, based on Fig. 26 and Table 5, the configurations based on heat
recuperation idea#1 exhibited lower energy requirements compared
work compared to the VRC systems. Configuration_6 (EHP) required the with the configurations based on heat recuperation idea#2.
highest rate of mechanical work, 639.0 kW. This observation is attrib-
uted to the fact that EHP systems require higher compression ratios 3.2. Economical evaluation of the configurations
because in EHP systems, due to the use of a heat carrier, the specific
value of HTDF must be provided for two heat exchangers at top and In previous section, the 19 configurations were compared based on
bottom of the distillation system. Also, Configuration_17 (Waheed#5) their energy requirements. However, the proper decision should be
required the lowest rate of mechanical work, 216.0 kW. This observa- based on both energy and costs of the schemes. The economic analysis
tion was attributed to the fact that in this configuration, due to pre- was carried out using Aspen Economic Evaluation software, based on
heating of the top product, a lower compression ratio was required for cost indexes of the year 2013 and location of United States. This soft-
maintaining HTDF at early stages of the CRC. Also, in general, the ware utilizes simulation results to size equipment of the configurations,
configurations based on heat recuperation idea#2 require lower me- and in the next step to estimate corresponding capital and operating
chanical power, compared to heat recuperation idea#1. This observa- costs. Costs of utilities and electricity were taken as follows:
tion was attributed to preheating of the top product, which resulted in a
lower required compression ratio for maintaining a specific value of Cost of electricity: 0.0776 USD/kW h
HTDF at early stages of CRC. But, heat recuperation idea#1 was more Cost of 100 psi steam: 8.14 USD/kLB (dollars per thousand pounds)
successful in reducing of total energy requirements. This was attributed Cost of cooling water: 0.0143 USD/kLB
to the fact that configurations based on heat recuperation idea#2 do not
2.0E+7
1.9E+7
Capital costs (USD)
1.8E+7
1.7E+7
1.6E+7
1.5E+7
Configurations
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A. Kazemi et al. Applied Energy 211 (2018) 1261–1281
4.3E+6
4.1E+6
3.9E+6
Annual operating costs (USD)
3.7E+6
3.5E+6
3.3E+6
3.1E+6
2.9E+6
2.7E+6
2.5E+6
Configurations
8.4E+6
8.3E+6
8.2E+6
Total annual costs (USD/year)
8.1E+6
8.0E+6
7.9E+6
7.8E+6
7.7E+6
7.6E+6
7.5E+6
7.4E+6
Configurations
The estimated capital costs of the 19 configurations are reported in 17.4 mUSD, respectively. Also, the required capital costs for the two
Fig. 27. Based on the presented results, conventional distillation column heat recuperation ideas were very close to each other.
(Configuration_1) required the lowest capital costs, 15.6 m USD. This Along with capital costs of the systems, evaluation of annual oper-
observation was due to addition of new equipment to the base system ating costs is also important, before making a judgment about the best
for other configurations. For instance, Configuration_6 (EHP) utilizes processing system. Annual operating costs of the 19 configurations are
additional equipment such as compressor, valve and heat exchangers. shown in Fig. 28. Based on the presented results, Configuration_1
Configuration_6 required the highest capital costs estimation, 19.1 m (conventional distillation column) requires the highest annual oper-
USD. Among VRC, BF, EHP, heat recuperation idea#1 and heat re- ating costs, 4.0E6 USD. This observation was attributed to its very high
cuperation idea#2, the BF systems had the lowest capital costs esti- energy consumption. It should be noted that based on Table 5, the least
mation. This observation was attributed to the fact that in the BF sys- efficient system Configuration_6 (EHP) resulted in 77.4% reduction in
tems, some parts of the system are operated at lower pressure and total energy requirements of the system, compared to Configuration_1.
temperature compared to VRC and EHP systems. Capital costs evalua- Configuration_6 required the second highest annual operating costs
tion of Configuration_4 (BF#1) and 5 (BF#2) were 17.9 and with 3.5 mUSD while the lowest values were obtained for
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A. Kazemi et al. Applied Energy 211 (2018) 1261–1281
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