PRESENTATION ON CUMENE PLANT

15
TH
FEB 2012
PRESENTED BY

HARIDASAN V A
No. 1
CAPACITY AND TECHNOLOGY


Plant capacity : 290,000 MT of Cumene per year
On stream factor : 8,000 Hours
Hourly production rate : 36.25 MT/hr of Cumene

Technology : BADGER Licensing LLC
Catalysts : EXXON MOBIL



No. 2
2
RAW MATERIALS

Raw materials required for the production of 290,000 MT per year of Cumene:

Benzene -- 190,904 MT per year
Propylene 102,728 MT per year

Hourly rate:

Benzene -- 12.841 MT/hr
Propylene 23.863 MT/hr



No. 3
CUMENE PRODUCT SPECIFICATION
Component Unit Specification
Cumene purity wt % 99.93
Ethyl Benzene wt ppm 100
N Propylbenzene wt ppm 300
Total Butylbenzene wt ppm 70
Benzene wt ppm 10
Toluene wt ppm 5
Total Cymene wt ppm 30
Di is Propylbenzene wt ppm 5
No. 4
USES

Cumene is mainly used for the manufacturing of Phenol and Acetone.

Cumene is oxidized with air to get Cumene Hydro Peroxide (CHP). This CHP is cleaved to
get Phenol and Acetone.

Cumene is also used in small quantities for the manufacturing of Pesticides.
No. 5
PROCESS CHEMISTRY
Benzene is Alkylated with Propylene in the Alkylation reactor to produce Iso Propyl
Benzene or Cumene.
Zeolite catalyst from EXXON MOBIL is used as the catalyst for the Alkylation
reaction.
Reaction takes place in liquid phase.
Benzene and Propylene are fed to the reactor with a molar ratio of 2:1
Excess Benzene is recycled to the reactor through Benzene column.
Di Iso Propyl Benzene(DIPB) and Tri Iso Propyl Benzene(TIPB) are also formed
as side reaction products in the reactor. These are collectively called PIPB.
DIPB is formed by the reaction of Propylene with Cumene and TIPB is formed by
the reaction of Propylene with DIPB.
Both DIPB and TIPB are converted to Cumene in the Transalkylator reactor by
reaction with Benzene.

5


No. 6
PROCESS CHEMISTRY
ALKYLATION REACTION
6
SECONDARY ALKYLATION REACTION
BENZENE
CH 3 -CH-CH 3
CUMENE
+
CH 3 -CH-CH 3
DIPB
CH
3 -CH-CH
3
CH
2
=CH-CH
3
CH 3 -CH-CH 3
CUMENE PROPYLENE
CH
2
=CH-CH
3
PROPYLENE
+
No. 7
PROCESS CHEMISTRY






SECONDARY ALKYLATION REACTION

7
+
CH 3 -CH-CH 3
TIPB
CH
3 -CH-CH
3
CH
2
=CH-CH
3
CH 3 -CH-CH 3
DIPB PROPYLENE
CH 3
-CH-CH 3
CH
3
-CH-CH
3
No. 8
PROCESS CHEMISTRY


8
TRANSALKYLATION REACTIONS
CH 3 -CH-CH 3
BENZENE
+
CUMENE
CH 3 -CH-CH 3
DIPB
CH
3 -CH-CH
3
2
CH 3 -CH-CH 3
CUMENE
BENZENE
+
CH 3 -CH-CH 3
TIPB
CH 3 -CH-CH 3
CH 3 -CH-CH 3
DIPB
CH 3 -CH-CH 3
+
CH 3 -CH-CH 3
No. 9

BENZENE
PROPYLENE
RESIDUE
NON AROMATIC
PURGE
AROMATIC PURGE
CUMENE
COLUMN
C-51031
BENZENE
COLUMN
C-51021
PIPB
COLUMN
C-51041
ALKYLATION
REACTOR
V-51001
TRANSALKYLATION
REACTOR
V-51002
CLAY TREATERS
V-51051 A/B
NON AROMATIC
VENT AROMATIC
VENT
NON AROMATIC
PURGE

Water
V-51022
V-51021
V-51031
V-51041
Bypass
CUMENE
PROPYLENE
TREATERS
V-51053 A/B
SECONDARY BENZENE
TREATERS
V-51052 A/B
12841 kg/h
121 kg/h
88 kg/h
35 kg/h
5 kg/h
36250 kg/h
15 kg/h
95 kg/h
110 kg/h
No. 10
PROCESS DESCRIPTION
Major equipments in Cumene plant are:

Alkylation Reactor
Benzene column
Cumene column
PIPB column
Transalkylation Reactor
Propylene Treaters
Clay Treaters
Secondary Benzene Treaters
Active Carbon bed





10
No. 11
ALKYLATION REACTOR


Alkylation reactor consists of 4 beds; each one filled with Zeolite catalyst(EM-5100) supplied
by Exxon Mobil.

Recycle Benzene from Secondary Benzene Treater is fed to the first (top) bed of the Reactor.
Propylene and Alkylation Effluent Recycle are fed to all the four beds of the reactor.

In the Alkylator, Benzene reacts with Propylene to produce Cumene. Some DIPB and TIPB
are also produced as side reaction products;

Reaction between Propylene and Benzene is exothermic. Part of the reactor effluent is cooled
and recycled to the reactor as quench flow to all the four beds to control the catalyst bed
temperature.

Alkylator effluent is then sent to Benzene column for separating and recycling unreacted
Benzene.

11
No. 12
BENZENE COLUMN
The primary function of the Benzene Column, is to recover all of the unreacted benzene
contained in the Alkylation Reactor effluent and Transalkylation Reactor. Benzene is
collected as a side draw from Benzene column and recycled to Alkylator and Transalkylator.

The column removes the non aromatic components that are contained in the fresh Benzene
feed to the plant by purging from Benzene column reflux pump discharge and Benzene
recycle pump discharge. These purges are incinerated in the light incinerator

Benzene column also serves as a Benzene dryer by removing the moisture present in the
fresh benzene. Water present in the Benzene feed will get separated and collected in the
reflux drum boot and from there it is drained to effluent water treatment system.




No. 13
BENZENE COLUMN (CONTD..)

Benzene and Toluene levels in the bottom stream from the Benzene column are to be
maintained at very low levels as any Benzene or Toluene present in the bottom stream of
Benzene column will appear in the product Cumene.

Propane and other inerts present in the feed are vented to flare from Benzene column under
pressure control.

Benzene column bottom stream mainly contains Cumene, DIPB, PIPB, heavies etc which is
fed to Cumene column for recovering pure Cumene.


No. 14
CUMENE COLUMN
Cumene Column separates butyl benzene, cymenes, DIPB, TIPB and heavier components
to the levels required to produce specification grade cumene product.

The cumene product is recovered mainly as a sidedraw from tray # 50 and partly as a small
distillate stream from reflux pump discharge. Product is directed to one of the two rundown
tanks after cooling and from there transferred to Cumene main storage tank.

There is one off spec storage tank to receive product when the plant is under start up or
whenever plant is not stable. This off spec material can be fed to Benzene column for
reprocessing.

DIPB, TIPB, Cymenes and heavier compounds are removed in the bottom stream from the
column. Bottom from Cumene column is directed to PIPB column.

No. 15
PIPB COLUMN
The PIPB Column operates under vacuum condition, recovers di-isopropylbenzene (DIPB)
and tri-isopropyl benzene (TIPB), collectively referred to as polyisopropylbenzene (PIPB), as
a side stream.

The PIPB recycle from PIPB column side draw is fed to the Transalkylation Reactor, where
both DIPB and TIPB are converted to cumene.

Light components (mainly cumene, butylbenzene,and cymene) are separated as a distillate
purge stream and send to incinerator.

Heavy components (mainly dicyclic aromatics such as diphenyl propane) leave the column
from the bottom and send to incinerator.

No. 16
TRANSALKYLATION REACTOR
The Transalkylation Reactor serves to convert the PIPB back to cumene to increase
the overall cumene production. Transalkylation reactor is filled with Exxon Mobil
Zeolite catalyst.

Part of the recycled benzene stream from the Benzene Column is combined with the
recycled PIPB in a 1:1 ratio to feed to the Reactor.

The Transalkylation Reactor converts about 50% of the feed DIPB back to cumene
and the resultant effluent is fed to the Benzene Column for product recovery.
No. 17
:


PROPYLENE TREATERS
Propylene treaters are used to remove Sulfur compounds, Arsine and Phosphine from Propylene
feed before admitting it to Alkylation Reactor because these are poison to the Alkylation catalyst.

It uses BASF R3-12 as catalyst. This is a mixture of CuO, ZnO and Al2O3.

Treaters are used in series with lead and lag positions.

Each Treater catalyst has a total life of 2 years with first year in lead position and second year in
lag position.

Total Sulfur at the outlet of Propylene Treater should be 0.015 ppm.
17
No. 18
CLAY TREATERS
Clay Treaters are used to remove Basic Nitrogen compounds from fresh Benzene feed.

It uses Englehard F-25 Activated clay as catalyst.

Each Treater catalyst has a total life of 6 months with 3 months in lead position and next 3 months
in lag position.

Basic Nitrogen at the outlet of Clay Treaters should be less than 0.03 ppm.


18
No. 19
SECONDARY BENZENE TREATORS
Secondary Benzene Treators are used to remove polar Nitrogen compounds from the
Recycle Benzene stream which are poisonous to the Zeolite catalyst.

Each treator is filled with the a single bed of type 13X Molecular sieve adsorbent.

Expected life of the catalyst is 3 months in the lead position and 3 months in the lag position
based on a polar nitrogen concentration in the fresh benzene at 0.5 ppmw

Total Nitrogen at the outlet of Secondary benzene Treater shall be 0.03 ppm.

No. 20
ACTIVE CARBON BED
Active carbon bed is used to remove Hydrocarbon from PIPB column vacuum pump
discharge vent before releasing to atmosphere.

Life of the Carbon bed is 6 months.
No. 21





IMPORTANT PARAMETERS
No. 22
ALKYLATION REACTOR
It is important to keep the reactor pressure sufficiently high to keep all the components in
liquid state. Low pressure will lead to flashing of Propylene which will result in Propylene
oligomerization and deactivation of the catalyst. Reactor pressure is maintained by
controlling the reactor effluent flow to Benzene column.

Reactor inlet temp is important to get full conversion of Propylene. Higher temp will lead to
more generation of N Propylbenzene and heavies. Low temp will lead to reduced activity of
catalyst. Inlet temp need to be increased as the catalyst ages. Temperature is maintained
by controlling the reactor effluent recycle stream.

Temp rise across each bed shall be kept low to prevent catalyst deactivation and to reduce
side reactions. This is achieved by controlling the Alkylator effluent recycle flow

Benzene to Propylene mole ratio shall be maintained to get Cumene quality and to reduce
side reactions. This is achieved by controlling the Recycle Benzene flow to the reactor.



No. 23
BENZENE COLUMN

Benzene column pressure is maintained low to allow flashing of Benzene from reactor
effluents. Pressure is maintained by controlling vent to flare and by Nitrogen make up to the
column.

Tray #3 temp is maintained to get proper separation of Benzene from other constituents.
Low temp will lead to slippage of Benzene and Toluene to Cumene column. High temp will
increase the Cumene content in recycle Benzene to Alkylator and Transalkylator which will
lead to more heavies generation. Temp is maintained by controlling HP steam flow to the
reboiler and by adjusting top reflux and side draw reflux flow .

Purge flow from Benzene column overhead and side draw to incinerator are to be
maintained to maintain non aromatic concentration in recycle benzene.






No. 24
CUMENE COLUMN

Cumene column tray #7 temp is maintained to get proper separation between Cumene and
heavier components. Higher temp will lead to presence of DIPB and Cymene in Cumene
product. Low temp will lead to Cumene slippage to PIPB column. Temperature is
maintained by controlling HP steam flow to reboiler and by controlling reflux flow.

Column pressure is maintained by venting to flare header and by making up with Nitrogen.
Maintaining column pressure is important to keep the temperature profile steady.

A small purge flow from Cumene column overhead is maintained to prevent accumulation of
lighter ends at the top section of the column.
No. 25
PIPB COLUMN

PIPB column is operated under vacuum to reduce the boiling temperature of DIPB and
TIPB.

Column bottom temp is maintained to get proper separation between PIPB and heavy
aromatics by controlling HP steam to the reboiler. Low temp will lead to loss of PIPB to
incinerator from column bottom. High temp will lead to presence of heavier impurities in
PIPB recycle stream. Column top reflux and side draw reflux are also to be maintained to
get proper separation.

PIPB recycle flow to Transalkylator has to be maintained to prevent accumulation of PIPB in
the system.
No. 26
TRANSALKYLATOR

Transalkylator reactor pressure has to be maintained by controlling the reactor effluent flow
to the Benzene column. Controlling the pressure is important to keep all the constituents in
liquid medium.

Benzene to PIPB ratio shall be maintained to get maximum yield from PIPB. Recycle
Benzene flow shall be adjusted to get this ratio.

DIPB conversion shall be maintained by adjusting reactor inlet temp. Higher conversion will
lead to more byproducts and low conversion will lead to accumulation of PIPB in the system
and will come out through Cumene product.


No. 27




TROUBLE SHOOTING
No. 28
HIGH BENZENE IN CUMENE PRODUCT

CAUSE

Low Benzene column bottom temperature.

CORRECTIVE ACTION

Increase steam flow to reboiler and maintain temp.

CAUSE

Tube leak on Cumene product/Recycle Benzene exchanger

CORRECTIVE ACTION

Confirm the leak by sampling and rectify the leak.
No. 29
HIGH TOLUENE IN CUMENE PRODUCT

CAUSE

Low Benzene column bottom temperature.

CORRECTIVE ACTION

Increase steam flow to reboiler and maintain temp

CAUSE

High toluene in the Benzene feed (more than 300ppm)

CORRECTIVE ACTION

Take corrective action to improve the feed quality



No. 30
HIGH ETHYL BENZENE IN CUMENE PRODUCT


CAUSE

High Ethylene in propylene feed

CORRECTIVE ACTION

Take corrective action to improve the feed quality

CAUSE

Ethyl Benzene is produced in Transalkylator because of high temp

CORRECTIVE ACTION

Reduce temp in Transalkylator.
No. 31
HIGH NPB IN CUMENE PRODUCT

CAUSE

High temp in Alkylator and Transalkylator

CORRECTIVE ACTION

Reduce reactor temperature

CAUSE

High Cyclo Propane in the Propylene feed.

CORRECTIVE ACTION

Take corrective action to improve the feed quality.



No. 32
HIGH NPB IN CUMENE PRODUCT (CONTD)

CAUSE

Low B/P ratio in Alkylator feed

CORRECTIVE ACTION

Increase recycle Benzene flow to Alkylator

CAUSE

Low Benzene to PIPB ratio

CORRECTIVE ACTION

Increase recycle Benzene flow to Transalkylator



No. 33
HIGH BUTYL BENZENE IN CUMENE PRODUCT


CAUSE

High Butylene in propylene feed

CORRECTIVE ACTION

Take corrective action to improve the feed quality

CAUSE

Cumene column is not operated properly.

CORRECTIVE ACTION

Reduce Cumene column bottom temp and increase reflux flow.
No. 34
HIGH CYMENE IN CUMENE PRODUCT

CAUSE

Cymene is produced by reaction of Propylene with Toluene. Toluene enters the section
through fresh benzene feed.

CORRECTIVE ACTION

Take corrective action to improve the feed quality
CAUSE

Cumene column is not operated properly.

CORRECTIVE ACTION

Reduce Cumene column bottom temp and increase reflux flow.

No. 35
HIGH CYMENE IN CUMENE PRODUCT (CONTD..)


CAUSE

Cymene is not purged out from the plant.

CORRECTIVE ACTION

Increase aromatic purge from PIPB overhead.

No. 36
HIGH NON AROMATICS IN THE CUMENE PRODUCT
CAUSE

High non aromatics in the Benzene feed

CORRECTIVE ACTION

Take corrective action to improve the feed quality. Increase non aromatics purge from
Benzene column overhead and side draw.

CAUSE

Alkylation reactor catalyst is getting aged.

CORRECTIVE ACTION

Increase reactor inlet temp. Increase non aromatics purge.

No. 37
HIGH DIPB IN CUMENE PRODUCT
CAUSE

Cumene column is not operated properly

CORRECTIVE ACTION

Reduce temp and increase reflux to Cumene column.

CAUSE

Conversion in Transalkylator is not sufficient and DIPB is accumulating in the system

CORRECTIVE ACTION

Increase transalkylator inlet temp to get 50% DIPB conversion.
No. 38
38