PROCEDURE

1. A new icon case has been started by selecting the New Project Button.

2. A property package window appeared. In the window, All the Property Package from the
Chemical System Categories has been selected.

3. Then, from the Thermodynamic Model drop-down list, Advanced Peng-Robinson has been
selected and apply.

4. After that, Component window have been opened. All the chemicals have been used in this
case is being entered into the compound list. The chemicals that have been used are hydrogen, n-
heptane and toluene.

5. Reaction Set 1 was chosen as conversion reactor.

6. Heater was selected. The condition and composition of heater and feed stream was filled.
7. Conversion reactor was selected and was set by reaction set 1.

8. Cooler was added after the conversion reactor and the condition was filled.
9. Separator was added after cooler.
PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM
QUESTION AND ANSWER

1. What is the phase of n-heptane at the inlet and outlet of the heater?
-Phase of n-heptane at the inlet is in liquid phase, and of n-heptane at the outlet is at gas
phase.

2. What is the mole fraction for each component after conversion of 15% of n-heptane?
-The mole fraction for n-heptane is 0.53125, toluene is 0.0937 and hydrogen is 0.3750
after conversion of 15% of n-heptane.

3. What is the phase and temperature of the separator feed stream?

-The phase of the separator feed stream is mixture of liquid and gas stream and its
temperature at 18.33°C

4. Determine the mole fraction for each component at the outlet of the separator?
*Advanced Peng-Robinson
Mole fraction for top product separator (gas phase)
n-heptane = 0.0384
toluene = 0.0058
hydrogen = 0.9558

Mole fraction for bottom product separator (liquid phase)

n-heptane = 0.8488
toluene = 0.1504
hydrogen = 0.0009

*SRK
Mole fraction for top product separator (gas phase)
n-heptane = 0.0358
toluene = 0.0055
hydrogen = 0.9587

Mole fraction for bottom product separator (liquid phase)

n-heptane = 0.8491
toluene = 0.1504
hydrogen = 0.0005
DISCUSSION

This experiment was conducted to install and converge a conversion factor and also to
stimulate a process involved reaction and separation. The experiment is the hydrogenation of n-
heptane to produced toluene. To simulate this process, the Aspen Hysys simulation software is
used. The fluid property used were Advanced Peng-Robinson and SRK. The function of these
model is to describe the state of matter under the given set of physical condition.
The equipment used for this process was heater, catalytic reactor, cooler and flash
separator. The heater is used to increase the temperature of the stream to the desired temperature
which is from 18.33°C to 426.7°C. This is because to increase the rate of reaction of n-heptane.
The catalytic reactor is used to reacts the n-heptane with the catalyst and produce toluene and
hydrogen. Next, the cooler is used to reduce the temperature such as from 300.6°C at stream 3 to
18.33°C at stream 5. The purpose of reducing the temperature is to allow the mixture to be
separated easily. Lastly, the flash separator is used to separate the mixture of toluene, hydrogen
gas and unreacted n-heptane. The vapour phase component will exited at the top stream while the
liquid phase component will exited at the bottom stream.
In the heater and cooler, the principal used is same like heat exchanger. The heat from the
hot stream will be transferred to the cold stream due to temperature difference. The temperature
of the feed stream is cold and when it entered the heater, the heat from the hot stream on the
heater are transferred to the feed stream and increase the temperature to 426.7°C. Just like cooler,
the inlet temperature of the cooler is hot and when it enters the cooler, the heat in the inlet stream
is being transferred to the cold stream in the cooler.

For heterogeneous catalytic reaction process, the reactant molecules travelled within gas
phase and crossed gas-liquid phase boundary. Then, it travels within the liquid phase, crossed the
liquid-solid phase boundary and reached the outer surface of solid. Next, it diffused within the
pores of the catalyst pellets and arrived at reaction site. The reactant molecules are being
adsorbed on the site and activated. The catalyst reacted with other reactant molecules, either
being adsorbed on the same sites, neighbour sites or approaching from surface above. The
product molecules would followed the same track in reverse direction to return to gas phase .The
catalytic reactor used in this simulation experiment is operates isothermally where the inlet
temperature and the outlet temperature are the same with the conversion of 15 mol% of toluene.
 Flash separator is the simplest separator that involved a single stage process where there
liquid mixture is partially vaporized. The vapour and liquid is allowed to reach equilibrium and
the vapour and liquid phases are then being separated. This process can be done batch-wise or
continuously. For example, as the toluene, hydrogen and n-heptane exit from the catalytic
reactor, the stream enter the cooler and become partially vaporized. The mixture then reached
equilibrium and separated.