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Module 4 - Heuristics For Process Synthesis - TTS

Heuristics for process synthesis

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30 views18 pages

Module 4 - Heuristics For Process Synthesis - TTS

Heuristics for process synthesis

Uploaded by

leago.thobejane23
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We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Module 4

Heuristics for Process Synthesis


Refer to the textbook (Chapter 6)
1. Chronological Strategy for Assembling
Process Operations
1. Chemical Reactions – To eliminate differences
in molecular weight
2. Mixing and Recycle – To distribute the
chemicals
3. Separation – To eliminate differences in
composition
4. Temperature, Pressure and Phase Changes
5. Task Integration – To combine operations into
unit operation
2. Heuristics

• A heuristic is a guideline that can be


followed to simplify a process design.
• We will consider 16 heuristics in this
lecture for various process operations.
2.1 Raw Materials and Chemical
Reactions
Heuristic 1:
Select raw materials and chemical reactions
to avoid, or reduce, the handling and
storage of hazardous and toxic chemicals.
See example of ethylene glycol on pg. 121
(Section 1.5)

1984 accident in Bhopal, India,


claimed more than 3800 lives
2.2 Distribution of Chemicals

Heuristic 2:
Use an excess of one chemical reactant in a
reaction operation to consume completely a
valuable, toxic, or hazardous chemical reactant.

For example in the vinyl chloride production


process, an excess of ethylene can be used for
direct chlorination to completely consume the
hazardous and toxic chlorine.
HCl
Cl2 158 300 lb/h 58 300 lb/h
113 400 lb/h -150x10 Btu/h
6 52x106 Btu/h
C2H4Cl2
Direct C2H4 Pyrolysis HCl
Chorination 500oC
90oC, 1.5 atm 26 atm C2H3Cl
C2H4Cl2
C2H4+Cl2→C2H4Cl2 C2H4Cl2→C2H3Cl+HCl
C2H4
44 900 lb/h 105 500 lb/h C2H3Cl
100 000 lb/h
Heuristic 3:
When nearly pure products are required, eliminate inert
species before the reaction operations when the
separations are easily accomplished and when the catalyst
is adversely affected by the inert, but not when a large
exothermic heat of reaction must be removed.

Heuristic 4:
Introduce purge streams to provide exits for species that
enter the process as impurities in the feed or are formed in
irreversible side reactions, when these species are in trace
quantities and /or are difficult to separate from other
chemicals. Lighter species leave in vapour purge streams,
and heavier species exit in liquid purge streams.
Heuristic 5:
Do not purge valuable species or species that are
toxic and hazardous, even in small concentrations.
Add separators to recover valuable species. Add
reactors to eliminate toxic and hazardous species.

Heuristic 6:
By-products that are produced in reversible
reactions, in small quantities, are usually not
recovered in separators or purged. Instead, they
are usually recycled to extinction.
Heuristic 7:
For competing reactions, both in series and parallel,
adjust the temperature, pressure, and catalyst to
obtain high yields of the desired products. In the initial
distribution of chemicals, assume that these conditions
can be satisfied. Before developing a base-case
design, obtain kinetics data and check this assumption.

Heuristic 8:
For reversible reactions especially, consider
conducting them in a separation device capable of
removing the products, and hence driving the reactions
to the right. Such reaction separation operations lead
to very different distribution of chemicals.
2.3 Separations

Heuristic 9:
Separate liquid mixtures using distillation,
stripping towers, enhanced (extractive,
azeotropic, reactive) distillation, liquid-liquid
extraction, crystallizers and/or adsorbers.

Heuristic 10:
Attempt to condense vapour mixtures with cooling
water or refrigerant. Then, use Heuristic 9.
Heuristic 11:
Separate vapour mixtures using partial
condensers, cryogenic distillation,
absorption towers, and/or membrane
devices.
2.4 Reactors: Heat Removal and Addition
Heuristic 12:
To remove a highly exothermic heat of reaction,
consider the use of excess reactant, an inert diluent, or
cold shots. These affect the distribution of chemicals
and should be inserted early in process synthesis.

Heuristic 13:
For less exothermic heats of reaction, circulate reactor
fluid to an external cooler, or use a jacketed vessel or
cooling coils. Also, consider the use of intercoolers
between adiabatic reaction stages.
Heuristic 14:
To control temperature for a highly endothermic
heat of reaction, consider the use of excess
reactant, an inert diluent, or hot shots. These affect
the distribution of chemicals and should be inserted
early in process synthesis.

Heuristic 15:
For less endothermic heats of reaction, circulate
reactor fluid to an external heater, or use a jacketed
vessel or heating coils. Also, consider the use of
interheaters between adiabatic reaction stages.
A JACKETED BATCH REACTOR
2.5 Pumping and Compression

Heuristic 16:
To increase the pressure of a stream, pump
a liquid rather than compress a gas; that is,
condense a vapour, as long as refrigeration
(and compression) is not needed, before
pumping.
3. Flowsheet Considerations
• Reduce energy consumption, avoid, if possible mixing
streams of different temperature, pressure and composition
• For new process, determine how it differs from a similar
conventional process.
• For new process, determine the maximum production rate
and yield, and look for opportunities to optimize.
• Carefully examine the process flowsheet, looking for ways
to eliminate equipment by combining, rearranging or
replacing process steps.
• Perform preliminary economic evaluations at different
production rates and corresponding plant sizes using simple
scaling methods, noting that what is not economical at a
small scale may be economical at a large scale and vice
versa.
READING
• Read up heuristics 25-32 from section 6.6 heat
exchangers and furnaces of chapter 6
• Read up heuristics 34-43 from section 6.7
pumping, compression and pressure reduction
of chapter 6
Product and Process Design Principles: Synthesis,
Analysis and Evaluation

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