1 Simulation #24

1.1 Objectives:
• Generate vapor pressure curves for Ethylene
1.2 Prerequisites
• Aspen HYSYS V8.0
• Introduction to vapor-liquid equilibrium
1.3 Background
Separation processes involving vapor-liquid equilibrium exploit volatility differences which
are indicated by the components’ vapor pressure. Higher vapor pressure means a component
is more volatile.

Ethylene is an important monomer for polymers and there are many ethylene plants around the
world. A vital step in ethylene production is separating it from other compounds and as a
result the vapor pressure of ethylene is an important physical property for ethylene production.

The examples presented are solely intended to illustrate specific concepts and principles.
They may not reflect an industrial application or real situation.
1.4 Problem Statement:
Determine the vapor pressure of ethylene at 5 °C, and its normal boiling point. Also create a
plot of vapour pressure versus temperature.
1.5 Aspen HYSYS Solution:
1. Create a new simulation in Aspen HYSYS V8.0.
2. Create a component list. In the Component List folder select Add. Add Ethylene to
the component list.
3. Double click on Ethylene to view the pure component properties. Go to the Critical
tab. Make a note that the Critical Temperature is 9.2°C and the Normal Boiling
Point is -103.8°C.
4. Define property methods. Go to the Fluid Packages folder and click Add. Select
Peng-Robinson as the property package.

5. Move to the simulation environment. Click the Simulation button in the bottom left of
the screen.

6. Add a Material Stream to the flowsheet.

7. Double click on material stream (1). The vapor pressure of liquid is the atmospheric
pressure at which a pure liquid boils at a given temperature. The point at which the
first drop of liquid begins to boil is called the bubble point, which is found in HYSYS
by specifying a vapour fraction of 0. Therefore, we can find the vapor pressure of pure
liquid by specifying a temperature and vapour fraction of 0.
8. In material stream 1, enter a Vapour Fraction of 0, a Temperature of 5°C, and a
Molar Flow of 1 kgmole/h. In the Composition form under the Worksheet tab enter
a Mole Fraction of 1 for Ethylene.

9. You can see that the Pressure is 45.93 bar. This is equivalent to the vapour pressure
of ethylene at this temperature. Next we would like to determine the normal boiling
point of ethylene. Instead of specifying temperature, we will specify pressure. Empty
the field for temperature and enter a value of 1 bar for Pressure.
10. The newly calculated temperature is -104.3°C. This is the boiling temperature of
ethylene at a pressure of 1 bar.
11. Next we would like to create a plot of vapour pressure versus temperature. First, in the
Material Stream 1 window, empty the field for Pressure and enter any Temperature
(below critical temperature). This will allow us to vary temperature when we perform
a case study. Go to the Case Studies folder in the Navigation Pane and click Add.
12. In Case Study 1, click Add to select the variables. Select the Temperature and
Pressure of stream 1. In the Independent Variable field enter a Low Bound of -
150°C, a High Bound of 0°C, and a Step Size of 10°C. Click Run.
 13. After running the case study, go to the Plots tab. Here you will see a plot of Pressure
vs Temperature.

14. Note that by looking at the plot you can verify that at around -104°C the vapour pressure
if approximately 1 bar, indicating the normal boiling point.
1.6 Conclusions
As we can see from the generated plot, ethylene is a very volatile component. At 5°C, its vapor
pressure is about 45.93 bar. From this analysis, we also see that ethylene’s normal boiling point
temperature is about –104 °C.
 2 Simulation # 25
2.1 Objective:
• Learn how to retrieve property data for pure components in Aspen HYSYS.
2.2 Background
There are many reasons that we need physical properties of pure components.
When we look for a solvent for extractive distillation (a technology that uses a third
component, the solvent, to separate two components in a mixture that are difficult to separate
directly via distillation), we look for components with normal boiling point temperatures that
are higher (but not too much higher) than the components to be separated. For such a case,
we need to know the normal boiling point temperatures of candidate solvents during the
search.

When we look for a solvent for extraction, we need to check the densities of candidate
solvents to ensure the two liquid phases formed during extraction have enough differences in
density. For the selected solvent, we also need to check its density against the existing liquid
phase so that we know which liquid phase is heavier.
The examples presented are solely intended to illustrate specific concepts and principles.
They may not reflect an industrial application or real situation.
2.3 Problem Statement
The pre-condition of this example is that 3-methylhexane is now considered a promising
candidate solvent for separation of acetone and water. The task is to determine whether the
density of 3-methylhexane is different enough from the density of water. We also need to
determine which of the two liquid phases formed mainly by these two components is heavier.
2.4 Aspen HYSYS Solution
1. Create a new case in Aspen HYSYS V8.0.
2. Create a component list. In the Component Lists folder select the Add button to add a
new component list.
3. Enter 3-methylhexane in the Search for box. Aspen HYSYS should display the relevant
search results. If
4. the component you are looking for does not appear, you can also use the Filter or Search
by drop-down list for different search criteria. Click the < Add button to add the component
to the component list.

5. To retrieve and view the pure component property data and, double-click the component 3-
Mhexane. A new window should appear.
6. Go to the Critical tab in the new window. You will see a list of property data in the Base
Properties and Critical Properties frames. Note that the Ideal Liquid Density for 3-
methylhexane is 690.2 kg/m3.

7. In the navigation pane, go to the Components | Component List -1 sheet. Enter water in
the Search for box and add the component to the component list.

8. Double-click on the component H2O. A new window should appear.

9. Go to the Critical tab in the new window. You will see a list of property data in the Base
Properties and Critical Properties frames. Note that the Ideal Liquid Density for Water
is 998.0 kg/m3.
2.5 Conclusions
The density of 3-methylhexane is around 690.2 kg/m3, which is clearly less than the density
of water (998.0 kg/m3). The liquid phase formed mainly by 3-methylhexane should be lighter
than the phase formed mainly by water and, thus, the aqueous phase should be at the bottom
and the other liquid phase should be at the top.
 3 Simulation # 26
3.1 Objective:
• Create hypothetical components in Aspen HYSYS
• Characterize a petroleum assay
3.2 Background
Aspen HYSYS allows you to create non-library or Hypothetical components. These
hypothetical components can be pure components, defined mixtures, undefined mixtures, or
solids. A wide selection of estimation methods are provided for various Hypo groups to ensure
the best representation of behavior for the Hypothetical component in the simulation.

In order to accurately model a process containing a crude oil, such as a refinery operation, the
oil properties must be defined. It is nearly impossible to determine the exact composition of
an oil assay, as there are far too many components in the mixture. This is a situation where
hypothetical components are useful. Boiling point measurements of distillate fractions of an
assay can be used to characterize the oil properties.

The examples presented are solely intended to illustrate specific concepts and principles.
They may not reflect an industrial application or real situation.

3.3 Problem Statement

Create a hypothetical component group in Aspen HYSYS and characterize a petroleum assay
to be used in a refinery simulation.

3.4 Aspen HYSYS Solution

1. Start a new simulation in Aspen HYSYS V8.0.
2. Create a component list. In the Component Lists folder select Add. Change the Select
field to Hypothetical and enter the Initial and Final Boiling Points for the hypothetical
group shown below. Click Generate Hypos when complete. This will generate a group
of hypothetical components with estimated properties based on the specified boiling point
of each cut.
3. Click Add All to add the entire hypothetical group to the component list.

4. Define property package. In the Fluid Packages folder select Add. Select Peng-Robinson
as the property package.
5. Enter the simulation environment by clicking the Simulation button in the bottom left of
the screen.
6. Add a Material Stream to the flowsheet from the Model Palette. Double click the stream
and go to the Composition form under the Worksheet tab.

7. You will notice that the mole fractions of all the components are empty. If you would like
to assign an oil assay to this stream go to the Petroleum Assay form under the Worksheet
tab. Select the option Create New Assay On Stream.
8. Click the Petroleum Assay Specifications button. This page allows you to enter assay
distillation data or import data from a known oil assay.

9. Click the Import From button and select Assay Library to import data from a known
assay in the HYSYS assay library.
10. Say, for example, that we want to model a refinery process using Bachaquero heavy crude
from Venezuela. Scroll down the list of assays and select Bachaquero, Venezuela. Click
Import Selected Assay.

11. After a few moments the MacroCut Data window will be filled with distillation cut data
for Bachaquero heavy crude.
12. Click the Calculate Assay button to assign mole fractions to the hypothetical components
defined for the stream. Exit the MacroCut Data window and view the Components form
of the material stream.

13. The composition for the stream is now defined and will model the properties of the selected
petroleum assay through the use of hypothetical components.
3.5 Conclusions
This example demonstrates how to create hypothetical components and how to assign a
petroleum assay to a stream in order to model the assay properties in a simulation.