Answered step by step
Verified Expert Solution
Link Copied!

Question

1 Approved Answer

You are a process engineer in a petrochemical complex. Your complex has 2 . 5 times 1 0 6 kmol / yr of an

You are a process engineer in a petrochemical complex. Your complex has 2.5\times 106 kmol/yr of an ethylene-rich stream (96% ethylene, 3% propylene and 1% methane). As such (relatively) impure ethylene stream cannot be put into ethylene pipeline (which requires more than 99.99% purity), the company is exploring a possibility of valorization of this stream. One option is to convert it into ethanol using the following reaction:
Ethylene + W ater Ethanol (15)
The chemist working on this reaction reported that the reaction is carried out at high tem- perature (535-575 K) and pressure (68-69 bar). The reactor ethylene conversion is typically 7%. Furthermore, there is a possibility of subsequent condensation of 2 ethanol molecules to get diethyl ether via the following reaction:
2Ethanol Diethylether + W ater (16)
The chemist reported that for every 100 molecules of ethanol produced by reaction (15),10 molecules undergo such condensation via reaction (16). Furthermore, under the reaction conditions, propylene can also react with water to produce isopropyl alcohol via the following reaction:
Propylene + Water Isopropyl alcohol (17)
Typical propylene conversion for reaction (17) is 1%. Equilibrium constants for reactions (15),(16) and (17) are 1.1 bar1,0.7 and 0.3 bar1, respectively. Furthermore, the chemist advised to keep the methane mole fraction at reactor inlet to be less than 10% to prevent coking. As ethanol forms azeotrope with water, the company is planning sell this ethanol-water azeotrope (190 proof ethanol) with 85.44% mol ethanol and 14.56% mol water. You are tasked to explore economic feasibility of this process. For this process,
(a) Develop level 3 flowsheet for the given conditions and constraints. You are required to justify the relevant decisions leading to this flowsheet.
(b) Perform appropriate material balance and compute level 2 economic potential. If re- quired, you can assume appropriate values of design variables. [Hint: There will be 2 such design variables]\table[[Component,Value ($kmol),Fuel potential (GJ/kmol),Boiling point (C)
image text in transcribed

Step by Step Solution

There are 3 Steps involved in it

Step: 1

blur-text-image

Get Instant Access to Expert-Tailored Solutions

See step-by-step solutions with expert insights and AI powered tools for academic success

Step: 2

blur-text-image

Step: 3

blur-text-image

Ace Your Homework with AI

Get the answers you need in no time with our AI-driven, step-by-step assistance

Get Started

Recommended Textbook for

Thermodynamics for Engineers

Authors: Kenneth A. Kroos, Merle C. Potter

1st edition

1133112862, 978-113311286

More Books

Students also viewed these Chemical Engineering questions

Question

Explore common areas of clinical focus in health psychology.

Answered: 1 week ago

Question

6see attached 5 Connect X Course Hero X + X > C...

Answered: 1 week ago