Propane Refrigeration Loop

Propane Refrigeration Loop

2005 Honeywell - All Rights Reserved. UDS-110.02.R350.01

Propane Refrigeration Loop

Workshop
Refrigeration systems are commonly found in the natural gas processing industry and in processes related to the petroleum refining, petrochemical, and chemical industries. Refrigeration is used to cool gas to meet a hydrocarbon dewpoint specification and to produce a marketable liquid. In this module you will construct, run, analyze and manipulate a propane refrigeration loop simulation. You will convert the completed simulation to a template, making it available to connect to other simulations.

Learning Objectives
Once you have completed this module, you will be able to: Add and connect operations to build a flowsheet. Use the graphical interface to manipulate flowsheets in UniSim Design. Understand forward-backward information propagation in UniSim Design. Convert simulation cases to templates.

Prerequisites
Before beginning this module, you need to know how to: Define a fluid package. Define streams. Navigate the Workbook interface.

Process Overview

Propane Refrigeration Loop

Building the Simulation

The first step in building any simulation is defining the fluid package. A brief recap on how to define a fluid package and install streams is described below. [For a complete description, see the previous module (Getting Started)].

Defining the Simulation Basis

1. Create a New Case and add a fluid package. 2. Enter the following values in the specified fluid package view:
On this page... Property Package Components Select... Peng Robinson C3

3. Click the Enter Simulation Environment button when you are ready to start building the simulation.

Installing a Stream
There are several ways to create streams. (For a complete description, see the previous module.) or Double-click the Stream icon in the Object Palette. Press F11. The Stream property view appears.

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Defining Necessary Streams

Add a stream with the following values.
In this cell... Name Vapour Fraction Temperature Composition Enter... 1 0.0 50C (120F) C3 - 100%

Add a second stream with the following properties:

In this cell... Name Vapour Fraction Temperature Enter... 3 1.0 -20C (-4F)

What is the pressure of Stream 1? ______________________________________

Adding Unit Operations to a Flowsheet

As with streams, there are a variety of ways to add unit operations in UniSim Design:
To use the... Menu Bar Do this... From the Flowsheet menu, select Add Operation or Press F12. The UnitOps view appears. Workbook Open the Workbook and go to the UnitOps page, then click the Add UnitOp button. The UnitOps view appears. Object Palette From the Flowsheet menu, select Open Object Palette, or press F4. Double-click the icon of the unit operation you want to add. Using the right mouse button, drag n drop the icon from the Object Palette to the PFD.

PFD/Object Palette

Propane Refrigeration Loop

The propane refrigeration loop consists of four operations: Valve Chiller Compressor Condenser

In this exercise, you will add each operation using a different method of installation.

Adding a J-T Valve

The J-T Valve is modelled using the Valve operation in UniSim Design. The inlet to the valve comes from the condenser outlet. The condenser outlet is at its bubble point. The valve will be added using the F12 hot key. 1. Press F12. The UnitOps view appears, 2. Select Piping Equipment radio button from Categories.
You can filter the Available Unit Operations list by selecting an appropriate Category. In this case, Piping Equipment would filter the list to include the Valve operation.

3. Select Valve from the Available Unit Operations list.

Figure 1

4. Click the Add button. The Valve property view appears.

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5. On the Connections page, supply the inlet and outlet connections as shown below:
Figure 2

Drop-down lists, such as for the Feed and Product streams, contain lists of available streams which can be connected to the operation.

Adding a Chiller
The Chiller operation in the propane loop is modeled in UniSim Design using a Heater operation. The outlet of the Chiller will be at its dewpoint. To add a heater: 1. Open the Workbook and click the Unit Ops tab. 2. Click the Add UnitOp button. The UnitOps view appears. 3. Select Heat Transfer Equipment from the Categories group.

Propane Refrigeration Loop

4. Select Heater from the Available Unit Operations list as shown below.
Figure 3

5. Click the Add button, or double click on Heater. The Heater property view appears. 6. On the Connections page, enter the information as shown below:
Figure 4

7. Go to the Parameters page.

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8. Enter a Delta P value of 7.0 kPa (1 psi) and a Duty value of 1.00e+06 kJ/h (1.00e+06 Btu/hr) for the Chiller.
Figure 5 The Parameters page will be common to most unit operations and contains parameters such as Delta P, Duty, and Efficiency.

9. Close the property view.

What is the molar flowrate of propane? ________________________________ What is the pressure drop across the J-T valve? ________________________________ What is the temperature of the valve outlet (stream 2)? ________________________________

Placing the mouse arrow on a button in the Object Palette will display a flyby description for the button.

Adding a Compressor
The Compressor operation is used to increase the pressure of an inlet gas stream. To add a compressor: 1. Press F4. The Object Palette appears. 2. Double-click the Compressor icon on the Object Palette. The Compressor property view appears.

Compressor icon

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3. On the Connections page, enter the stream information as shown below:

Figure 6

4. Complete the Parameters page as shown:

Figure 7

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Adding the Condenser

The Condenser operation completes the propane refrigeration loop. It is placed between the Compressor and the Valve and is modelled as a Cooler operation. Working with a graphical representation, you can build your flowsheet in the PFD using the mouse to install and connect objects. This procedure describes how to install and connect the Cooler using the Object Palette drag n drop technique.

Using Drag n Drop in the PFD

1. Click the Cooler icon on the Object Palette.
Cooler icon

2. Move the cursor to the PFD. The cursor will change to a special cursor, with a box and a plus (+) symbol attached to it. The box indicates the size and location of the cooler icon. 3. Click again to drop the cooler onto the PFD. There are two ways to connect the operation to a stream on the PFD:
To connect using the... Attach Mode toggle Do this... 1. Press the Attach Mode toggle button. 2.Place the cursor over the operation. The Feed Stream connection point is highlighted in dark blue. 3.Move the cursor over the stream you want to connect. 4.Press and hold the left mouse button. 5.Move the cursor to the operation icon and release the mouse button.
CTRL key

1. Press and hold the CTRL key and pass the cursor over the operation. 2.Place the cursor over the stream you want to connect. 3.Press and hold the left mouse button. 4.Move the cursor to the operation icon and release the mouse button and the CTRL key.

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4. From the PFD, connect stream 4 to the Condenser inlet and connect the Condenser outlet to stream 1. 5. Double-click on the Condenser. 6. On the Parameters page, enter a Delta P of 35 kPa (5 psi).
Figure 8

What is the compressor energy in hp? __________________________________

Save your case!

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Manipulating the PFD

The PFD is designed around using the mouse and/or keyboard. There are a number of instances in which either the mouse or the keyboard can be used to perform the same function. One very important PFD function for which the keyboard cannot be used is object inspection. You can perform many of the tasks and manipulations on the icons in the PFD by using object inspection. Place the mouse arrow over the icon you want to inspect and press the right mouse button. An appropriate menu is produced depending upon the icon selected (Stream, Operation, Column, or Text Annotation). A list of the objects that you can object inspect are shown in the following table with the corresponding menus.
Object... PFD Object Inspection Menu...

Unit Operations

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Object... Streams

Object Inspection Menu...

Workbook Tables

Unit Operation Tables

Text Annotations

Stream Line

Customize the PFD by performing the following: 1. Add a Title: Propane Refrigeration Loop. 2. Add a Workbook Table for the material streams in the simulation. 3. Add a Table for stream 4.

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Saving the Simulation as a Template

A template is a complete flowsheet that has been stored to disk with some additional information included that pertains to attaching the flowsheet as a sub-flowsheet operation. Typically, a template is representative of a plant process module or portion of a process module. The stored template can subsequently be read from disk and efficiently installed as a complete sub-flowsheet operation any number of times into any number of different simulations. Some of the advantages of using templates are: Provides a mechanism by which two or more cases can be linked together. Employs a different property package than the main case to which it is attached. Provides a convenient method for breaking large simulations into smaller, easily managed components. Is created once and can be installed in multiple cases.

Before you convert the case to a template, it needs to be made generic so it can be used with gas plants of various flowrates. In this case, the Chiller Duty dictates the flowrate of propane required. 1. From the Simulation menu, select Main Properties. The Simulation Case view appears as shown below.

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Figure 9

2. Click the Convert to Template button. 3. Click Yes to convert the simulation case to a template. 4. Answer No to the question Do you want to save the simulation case. 5. Go to the File menu and Save the template as C3Loop.tpl.

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Analyzing the Results

This section describes how to retrieve and print unit operation results.

Printing Datasheets for Unit Operations

To set up the printer, select Printer Setup from the File menu, then select either the Graphic Printer or the Report Printer. This allows you to set the printer configuration, printer, paper, orientation, and paper size, and source.

In UniSim Design you can print results through: The menu bar Object inspection of unit operations The Report Manager

Printing Using the Menu Bar

Choose one of the following options from the File menu: Print. Lists the available Datasheets for the active unit operation (with the unit operation property window open). You can highlight a Datasheet and either preview or print it.

Figure 10

Choosing the Print command when the PFD is the active view will print the PFD. There are no datasheets available for the PFD.

Print Window Snapshot. Prints a bitmap of the active UniSim Design view.

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Printing Using Object Inspection

Object inspect the Title Bar of the unit operation property view and select Print Datasheet. A list of available Datablocks is displayed for the object.

Printing Using Report Manager

1. Open the Tools menu. Select Reports. The Report Manager view appears as shown below.
Figure 11

2. Click the Create button to add a new report. The Report Builder view appears as shown below.
Figure 12

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3. Click the Insert Datasheet button to add datasheets to your report. You can add single or multiple unit operation Datasheets to a report.
Figure 13

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Adding Unit Operation Data to the Workbook

Each WorkBook has a UnitOps page by default that displays all the unit operations and their connections in the simulation. You can add additional pages for specific unit operations to the WorkBook. For example, you can add a page to the WorkBook to contain only compressors in the simulation.

Adding a Unit Operation Tab to the WorkBook

1. Open the WorkBook. 2. Open the WorkBook menu. Select Setup. The Setup view appears. 3. Click the Add button in the Workbook Tabs group. The New Object Type view appears. 4. Select Rotating Equipment and expand the list. Select Compressor as shown.
Figure 14

Double clicking on a title with a "+" sign will open an expanded menu.

5. Click OK. A new page, Compressors, containing only compressor information is added to the WorkBook. 6. Close this view.

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Adding Unit Operation Data to the PFD

For each unit operation, you can display a Property Table on the PFD. The Property Table contains certain default information about the unit operation.

Adding Unit Operation information to the PFD

1. Open the PFD.
Remember you can Object Inspect an object by selecting it and then clicking on it with the right mouse button.

2. Select the unit operation for which you want to add the Property Table. 3. Object Inspect the unit operation. 4. Open the Show Table menu. 5. After the table has been added, you can move it by selecting it and dragging it with the mouse. 6. If you Object Inspect the table, you can change its properties and appearance. You can also specify which variables the table will show.

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Advanced Modeling
One of the key design aspects of UniSim Design is how Modular Operations are combined with a Non-Sequential solution algorithm. Not only is information processed as you supply it, but the results of any calculation are automatically propagated throughout the flowsheet, both forwards and backwards. The modular structure of the operations means that they can calculate in either direction, using information in an outlet stream to calculate inlet conditions. This design aspect is illustrated using the Propane Refrigeration Loop.
Figure 15

Initially, the only information supplied in the case is the temperature and vapour fraction for streams 1 and 3 and the composition of stream 1. Since the temperature, vapour fraction, and composition of stream 1 are known, UniSim Design will automatically perform a flash calculation and determine the remaining properties (pressure, intensive enthalpy, density, etc.) which are independent of flow. When streams 1 and 2 are attached to the valve J-T, UniSim Design first determines what information is known in either the input or output stream. It will then assign these values to the other stream. In this case, since no valve pressure drop was specified, only the composition and intensive enthalpy of stream 1 will be passed to stream 2. By attaching stream 2 and 3 to the heater operation, Chiller, the
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composition of stream 2 is passed to stream 3 (100% C3). UniSim Design can now perform a flash calculation on stream 3 and determine the remaining properties which are independent of flow, i.e. Pressure, enthalpy, etc. Using the calculated pressure of stream 3 and the specified pressure drop across the heater, UniSim Design back calculates the pressure of stream 2. Since the pressure, composition and intensive enthalpy of stream 2 are now known (the valve is isenthalpic) UniSim Design can calculate the temperature of stream 2. In addition, UniSim Design uses the specified heater duty and the intensive enthalpy of streams 2 and 3 to calculate the flowrate, which is then passed on to streams 1, 2 and 3. Next, the Compressor is added to the simulation. Since all of the inlet information is known, the compressor has only 2 degrees of freedom remaining. Parameters such as Efficiency, Duty or Outlet Pressure can satisfy one degree of freedom. The second degree of freedom comes from the Condenser. The Condenser connects the Compressor outlet to the Valve inlet (which is completely defined). The user supplies the Condenser pressure drop, and UniSim Design calculates the inlet pressure, which is also the Compressor outlet pressure (the second degree of freedom for the Compressor).

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Exploring the Simulation

Exercise 1: Design vs. Rating Scenarios
In the plant, you are unable to accurately measure or calculate the chiller duty. You do, however, know that the compressor is rated for 250 hp and that it is running at 90% of maximum and 72% efficiency.
What is the chiller duty? ______________________________________________

The Chiller Gas Flow meter has finally been calibrated and you can determine the chiller duty. It has been decided to increase the chiller duty to 1.5 MMBTU/hr.
With the compressor running at the same horsepower (250 hp), what is the best chiller outlet temperature you can achieve (and thus maximize cooling for the process) while still running the compressor at a reasonable operating point? ________________________________________________

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Exercise 2: Refrigerant Composition

Your local propane dealer arrives at your plant selling a 95/5 (mole%) Propane/Ethane blend.
What effect, if any, does this new composition have on the refrigeration loop? ________________________________________________

Use the base case for comparison:

Base Case: 100% C3 Flow, kgmole/h Condenser Q, kJ/h Compressor Q, hp New Case: 5% C2, 95% C3

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Challenge: Adding an Economizer

Create a two stage refrigeration loop by adding an Economizer.
What is the net compression in hp? ____________________________________

Figure 16

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Add the following specifications to the refrigeration loop:

For this Item... Stream 1 Chiller Stream 3 Stream 4 Mixer Condenser Add this specification... T = 50C vf = 0.0 Pressure Drop = 7 kPa Q = 1.0 e+06 kJ/h T = -20C vf = 1.0 P = 625 kPa Equalize All Pressures Pressure Drop = 35 kPa

Save your case!

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