The University of Adelaide

CHEM ENG 3033: SIMULATION AND CONCEPT DESIGN

Cumene Production Plant

Group: 7
Group members:
Nguyen Mai Thanh Le a1746723
Le Nha Trang Tran a1736508
Nguyen Minh Phuc Truong a1746690
The Nhut Nguyen a1746724
Trung Hieu Nguyen a1746723

Advisor & Teacher: Steven Amos and Afshin Karami

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Summary project
Based on Dr Who Chemicals Ltd, the predicted rise of phenol-derived plasticizers demand
lead to the requirement of phenol, which could be made from cumene. Then, a grassroots
cumene have been designed in order to produce phenol feedstock from the alkylation reaction
of benzene and propylene. A process flow diagram was set up by using relevant theories,
mean-end analysis and software package. To satisfy the requirement, the process was
designed to produce 100,000 metric ton cumene per year with 99.9% purity by weight.
The calculation and HYSYY simulation lead to the optimal results the ideal volume and
diameter of PFR reator would be 21.02 m3 and 1.6 m. Necessary operating conditions were
specified: the temperature of inlet stream is set at 350oC, the pressure of 2000kPa and
benzene/ propylene feed ratio of 1.4:1. The optimization of reactor resulted in the optimized
temperature of 450oC at the isothermal conditions, the effects of fluidized bed and
transalkylation reactor on the increased flow rate of desired product as well as overall process
performance. In term of isothermal conditions, the optimization of reactor can be achieved at
the inlet stream temperature of 420oC while an extra transalkylation reactor results in the
growth of cumene recovery as well as reduction in the DIBP mass flow rate.
Two distillation columns were used to separate benzene, cumen and DIPB. Base on
simulation result, the first column is design to be 122 𝑓𝑡 height and 4.33 𝑓𝑡 in diameter with
27 theorical stages, with O’Connell correlation the actual number of stages is determined to
be 60 stages. The second column which use to separated cumen and DIPB is design to be
131 𝑓𝑡 in height and 1.833 𝑓𝑡 in diameter with 27 theorical stages, using the same
correlation as the first one the actual number of stages is 65 stages. Furthermore, after
optimization process, the suggest temperature of the feed before entering the 1st column is
87oC with the reflux ratio 1. Condenser and reboiler are also found at 208.6 and 233.8 kPa,
respectively to get the mole fraction 0.9659 of cumen in the bottom stream. Optimization of
2nd column needs the feed steam temperature 190oC with the pressure column is around 233.5
kPa and with the reflux ratio 0.66 in order to obtain the 99.91 %wt cumene.
Preliminary design of the entire cumene production, heat exchanger plays a significant role in
saving energy in terms of temperature hot and cold stream plus the utilities. A combination
quite differences between the theoretical and practical heat exchanger operations is run in the
flowsheet. From the result, the overall heat transfer coefficient in the flowsheet is 1803 [kJ/h-
m2-C] and the outlets of both tube and shell temperature meet the desired outcome to reach
the optimization of the heat transfer machine with the fouling coefficient is 10 -6 and number
of baffle segments is 130 mm.
The Net Present Valued is considered to evaluate the economic possibility of plant in two
case of pure propylene feed stream and prolylene feed stream contains 5% propane. It is clear
that only the 95% pure propylene pathways yielded positive NPV valued, thus it is highly
recommended that Dr. Who Chemicals uses this pathway for cumene production process.
The cumene production process produce the 100,000 meter cubic ton per year, the cumene
purity achieved is higher than the minimum expected purity is 99% with the mass flow rate
100,690 kg/hour. Mass flow rate of benzene and propylene feed steam 8920 k/h and 5360
kg/h, respectively.
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Table of Contents

1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 12

1.1. Project Description ................................................................................................. 12

1.2. Project Aim and Objective ..................................................................................... 12

2. LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................... 13

2.1. Introduction of Cumene ......................................................................................... 13

2.2. Chemical hazards ................................................................................................... 14

2.3. Chemical properties ............................................................................................... 15

2.4. Fluids Packages ...................................................................................................... 17

2.5. Degree of freedom................................................................................................... 18

2.6. Catalyst ................................................................................................................... 18

2.6.1. Solid phosphoric acid ........................................................................................ 18
2.6.2. Aluminium chloride........................................................................................... 18
2.6.3. Zeolite ............................................................................................................... 18

2.7. Plant location .......................................................................................................... 19

2.8. Q-MAX™ Process Description for cumene production: ...................................... 20

3. MEAN-END ANALYSIS ........................................................................................... 22

3.1. Mean-Ends Analysis ............................................................................................... 22

Step 1: Chemical reactions involved ............................................................................. 22
Step 2: Evaluation of alternative pathways .................................................................. 23
Step 3: Distribute the chemicals .................................................................................... 26
Step 4: Eliminate differences in composition ................................................................ 29
Step 5: Eliminate differences in temperature, pressure and phase ............................. 30
Step 6: Integrate tasks ................................................................................................... 32

3.2 Description of Process Plant Operating Condition .................................................... 33

3.3 The goals for overall optimization ......................................................................... 34

4. BASE CASE DESIGN ............................................................................................... 35

4.1. Reactor-parameter set-up ...................................................................................... 35

4.2. Summary of Mass and Energy Balance from HYSYS Simulation: ...................... 36
4.2.1. Material mass balance in the main equipment: ................................................... 36
4.2.2. Total energy released and from the process and required the process ................. 38
4.2.3. Summary the amount of cooling water used in the Cumene production process . 38
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5. PROCESS DESIGN ................................................................................................... 39

5.1. Reactor design ........................................................................................................ 39

5.1.1. Gibbs Reactor .................................................................................................... 39
5.1.2. Reactor Sizing ................................................................................................... 41

5.2. Distillation column.................................................................................................. 43

5.2.1. Background ....................................................................................................... 43
5.2.2. Basic equipment and operation .......................................................................... 43
5.2.3. Basic Principles and Equations .......................................................................... 44

5.3. Heat Exchanger ...................................................................................................... 47

5.3.1. Heat transfer coefficient .................................................................................... 47
5.3.2. Pressure drops ................................................................................................... 47
5.3.3. Shellside design ................................................................................................. 47
5.3.4. Fouling factor .................................................................................................... 48
5.3.5. Tube layout patterns .......................................................................................... 48
5.3.6. Tube pitch ......................................................................................................... 49
5.3.7. Baffling ............................................................................................................. 49
5.3.8. Shellside stream analysis ................................................................................... 51
5.3.9. Mean temperature difference ............................................................................. 51
5.3.10. Temperature profile distortion ........................................................................... 52
5.3.11. Relevant Theory ................................................................................................ 52

6. SUMMARY PROCESS OPTIMIZATION............................................................... 55

6.1. Reactor optimization .............................................................................................. 55

6.1.1. Reactor Performance - Isothermal Temp ............................................................ 55
6.1.3. Reactor Heat Transfer - Non-Isothermal Temp. ................................................. 57
6.1.4. Reactor Configuration - Fluidized Bed Simulation............................................. 58
6.1.5. Additional Reactor - Transalkylation Reactor .................................................... 60
6.1.6. Raw Material – Propylene ................................................................................. 62

6.2. Distillation Optimization: ....................................................................................... 63

6.2.1. Column T-101 – Column temperature................................................................ 64
6.2.2. Column T-102 – Column pressure ..................................................................... 66
6.2.3. Column T-101 – Reflux ratio ............................................................................. 68

6.3. Heat exchanger ...................................................................................................... 70

6.3.1. Input parameters in HYSYS .............................................................................. 70
6.3.1.1. Theoretical heat exchanger ............................................................................. 70
6.3.1.2. Practical heat exchanger ................................................................................ 71
6.3.2. Graph of heat exchanger performance - Fouling of tube..................................... 72
6.3.2.1. Tube fouling on overall U .............................................................................. 72
6.3.2.2. Tube fouling on pressure drop of shell and tube ............................................ 72
6.3.3. Graph of heat exchanger performance – Fouling of shell ................................... 73
6.3.3.1. Shell fouling on overall U .............................................................................. 73
6.3.3.2 Shell fouling on pressure drop of shell and tube ................................................ 73
6.3.4. Graph of heat exchanger performance – Number of baffle segments .................. 74
6.3.4.1. Number of baffle segments on overall U ........................................................ 74
6.3.4.2 Number of baffle segments on pressure drop of tube and shell .......................... 74
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6.3.5. Analysis graph ................................................................................................... 75

6.3.6. Result ................................................................................................................ 76

7. ECONOMIC APPRAISAL ....................................................................................... 77

7.1. Capital cost ............................................................................................................. 78

7.2. Chemical engineering plant cost index (CEPCI) ................................................... 79

7.3. Operating expenses (OPEX) .................................................................................. 79

7.4. Equipment sizing and costs .................................................................................... 80

7.5. Material of Construction ........................................................................................ 80

7.6. Carbon Steel and Stainless Steel ............................................................................ 80

7.7. Utilities .................................................................................................................... 81

7.8. Operating Labour................................................................................................... 82

7.9. Raw materials and profits ...................................................................................... 82

Pathway 1 with 5% propane impurity .............................................................................. 82
Pathway 2 with more than 99% propylene purity ............................................................. 83

7.10. Net Present Value (NPV) ........................................................................................ 84

7.11. Payback Period ....................................................................................................... 84

8. CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................... 85

9. REFERENCES........................................................................................................... 86

10. BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................................................................... 88

APPENDIX ........................................................................................................................ 89

Appendix 1 – Calculation procedure of reactor ............................................................... 89

Appendix 2 – Outline equipment ...................................................................................... 90

Appendix 3 – Calculation procedure for distillation column .......................................... 93

1. Splitter...................................................................................................................... 93
2. Short-cut column ...................................................................................................... 94
3. Rigorous distillation columns ................................................................................... 95
3.1. Column efficiency ............................................................................................. 95
3.2. The number of actual stages .............................................................................. 97
3.3. Height of column ............................................................................................... 97
3.4. Column diameter ............................................................................................... 98
3.5. Multi-pass Trays .............................................................................................. 102
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3.6. Pressure drop ................................................................................................... 103

3.7 Other dimensions ................................................................................................. 106

Appendix 4 – Calculation procedure for HEX ............................................................... 107

Appendix 5 – Economic Evaluation................................................................................ 113

Fixed Capital Investment ............................................................................................... 113
Labor Costs ..................................................................................................................... 97
Utilities............................................................................................................................ 99
Raw materials and profits ................................................................................................ 99
Summary of all costs ..................................................................................................... 100
Net Present Value calculation tables .............................................................................. 101

Appendix 5- HAZOP ....................................................................................................... 104

Appendix 6 – Date of meeting ......................................................................................... 124

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List of figures
Figure 1 – Fluid Package ..................................................................................................... 17
Figure 2 – Q-MaxTM process for Cumene production .......................................................... 20
Figure 3 – The general flowsheet for cumene production process ........................................ 22
Figure 4 – Overall material balance for reactor .................................................................... 26
Figure 5 – Overall material balance for mixer...................................................................... 28
Figure 6 – Overall material balance for distillation column 2 (cumene column) ................... 28
Figure 7 – Overall material balance for separator ................................................................ 29
Figure 8 – Schematic representation of Eliminate differences in composition ...................... 30
Figure 9 – Schematic representation of eliminate differences in temperature, pressure and
phase. .................................................................................................................................. 32
Figure 10 – Development of PFD for cumene production .................................................... 32
Figure 11 – Cumene manufacturing process simulation on HYSYS simulation ................... 33
Figure 12 – Gibbs reactor icon in HYSYS simulation.......................................................... 39
Figure 13 – Inlet feed stream information summary............................................................. 40
Figure 14 – The maximum conversion can be achieved from the Gibbs reactor ................... 40
Figure 15 – Plot of reactor volume again the main conversion rate for optimization process 41
Figure 16 – Plot of reactor volume again the main conversion rate for optimization process 42
Figure 17 – Continues distillation column ........................................................................... 43
Figure 18 – Types of tube layout pattern ............................................................................. 48
Figure 19 – Types of segmental baffe .................................................................................. 49
Figure 20 – Countercurrent flow and Cocurrent flow ........................................................... 51
Figure 21 – The effect of isothermal temperature on reactor conversion and main production
fraction................................................................................................................................ 55
Figure 22 – The impact of Benzene/Propylene ratio on conversion and main production
fraction................................................................................................................................ 56
Figure 23 – Conversion and main production fraction against outlet temperature ................ 57
Figure 24 – Cumene production with fluidized bed simulation ............................................ 58
Figure 25 – Cumene molar mole of the outlet stream without 10% bypass stream ............... 59
Figure 26 – Cumene molar mole of the outlet stream with 10% bypass stream .................... 59
Figure 27 – The parameters for reaction set ......................................................................... 60
Figure 28 – PFD for cumene manufacturing with transalkylation reactor ............................. 61
Figure 29 – Hydraulic plots of column T-101 ...................................................................... 63
Figure 30 – A plot of feed temperature and cumene mole fraction ....................................... 64
Figure 31 – A plot of feed temperature and reboiler/condenser duties .................................. 64
Figure 32 – A plot of condenser pressure and cumene mole fraction.................................... 66
Figure 33 – A plot of condenser pressure and condenser/reboiler duties .............................. 66
Figure 34 – A plot of condenser pressure and cumene mole fraction.................................... 68
Figure 35 – A plot of condenser pressure and condenser/reboiler duties .............................. 68
Figure 36 – Expected temperature of inlet and outlet of tube and shell (Amos. S., University
of Adelaide) ........................................................................................................................ 70
Figure 37 – Tube fouling against overall U in theoretical and experimental heat exchanger . 72
Figure 38 – Fouling coefficient of tube in theoretical and practical heat exchanger .............. 72
Figure 39 – Shell fouling against overall U in theoretical and experimental heat exchanger 73
Figure 40 – Fouling coefficient of shell in theoretical and practical heat exchanger ............. 73
Figure 41 – Baffle spacing against overall U in theoretical and experimental heat exchanger
........................................................................................................................................... 74
Figure 42 – Baffle spacing in theoretical and practical heat exchanger ................................ 74
Figure 43 – Summary cost for three different type of energy ............................................... 81
Figure 44 – Operating cost for DIPB treatment and total utilities cost .................................. 81
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Figure 45 – PFD for cumene production .............................................................................. 90

Figure 46 – Design of splitter X-101 ................................................................................... 93
Figure 47 – Design of splitter X-101 ................................................................................... 93
Figure 48 – Flooding velocity determination plots for column T-100................................... 99
Figure 49 – Flooding velocity determination plots for column T-101................................. 100
Figure 50 – A plot of liquid flow rate (gal/min) and column diameter (ft) .......................... 102
Figure 51 – Overall Heat-Transfer Coefficients in Tubular Heat Exchangers ..................... 107
Figure 52 – Reynold number-Friction factor plot ............................................................... 111
Figure 53 – Reynold number-Friction factor plot ............................................................... 112
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List of Table
Table 1 – Chemical hazards................................................................................................. 14
Table 2– Chemicals properties 1 ......................................................................................... 15
Table 3 – Chemicals properties 2......................................................................................... 15
Table 4 – Chemical properties ............................................................................................. 16
Table 5 – Table of degree of freedom .................................................................................. 18
Table 6 – Requirement of product composition in Cumene production process ................... 22
Table 7 – Catalyst properties given by Dr. Who Chemicals ................................................. 23
Table 8 – Physical and chemical properties of main substance............................................. 23
Table 9 – The price of raw material and profit of product (University of Adelaide 2018) ..... 25
Table 10 – Boiling point (oC) of the main subschemicals at 1 atm ....................................... 29
Table 11 – Active energy and constant value for kinetic reactions ....................................... 36
Table 12 – Summary the mass balance of benzene and propylene feed stream ..................... 36
Table 13 – Summary the mass balance of reactor ................................................................ 36
Table 14 – Summary the mass balance of separator ............................................................. 37
Table 15 – Summary the mass balance of distillation column .............................................. 37
Table 16 – Total energy required and from the process ........................................................ 38
Table 17 – Total energy released from the process .............................................................. 38
Table 18 – Summary of the amount of cooling water used in the Cumene production process
........................................................................................................................................... 38
Table 19 – Summary of reactor sizing results ...................................................................... 42
Table 20 – Comparison on Cumene performance between originated process and with
additional reactor ................................................................................................................ 61
Table 21 – Comparison on Cumene performance between two pathways ............................ 62
Table 22 – Input parameters of distillation column .............................................................. 63
Table 23 – Assumption and calculation all parameters in appendix (x) ................................ 70
Table 24 – Auto sizing all parameters in the Rigorous model .............................................. 71
Table 25 – Tube fouling against overall U in theoretical and experimental heat exchanger .. 72
Table 26 – Theoretical and experimental results of heat exchanger ...................................... 76
Table 27 – Summary of costs .............................................................................................. 77
Table 28 – Cost study of project expenditure ....................................................................... 78
Table 29 – Material factors associated with different materials (Amos 2018) ...................... 78
Table 30 – Pressure factors associated with different pressures (Amos 2018) ...................... 79
Table 31 – Various costs of raw materials required for plant operation with 5% propane
impurity in fee ..................................................................................................................... 83
Table 32 – Various the costs of raw materials required for plant operation with 99%
propylene purity in feed. ..................................................................................................... 83
Table 33 - Net Present Value ............................................................................................... 84
Table 34 – Outline equipment ............................................................................................. 90
Table 35 – Determined result of pressure in distillation and bottom in column X-100 and
column X-101 ..................................................................................................................... 94
Table 36 – Specifying the parameter for column T-102 and column T-103 .......................... 94
Table 37 – Summary the result of the output in column T-102 and column T-103 ............... 95
Table 38 – Temperature of each stage in column T-100 and column T-101 ......................... 95
Table 39 – Summary the mass density and surface tension in column T-100 and column T-
101 ...................................................................................................................................... 95
Table 40 – Summary the viscosity of each stages in column T-100 and column T-101 ........ 96
Table 41 – Determination K-value for each stage in column T-100 and column T-101 ........ 96
Table 42 – Determination of the column efficiency for column T-100 and column T-101 ... 97
Table 43 – Calculating the number of actual stages for column T-100 and column T-101.... 97
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Table 44 – Summary the height of column for column T-100 and column T-101................. 97
Table 45 – Parameter specification in column diameter calculation ..................................... 98
Table 46 – Summary the liquid flow rate for column T-100 and column T-101 ................. 102
Table 47 – Vapour velocity in 2 columns .......................................................................... 103
Table 48 – Summary the velocity of hole for column T-100 and column T-101 ................. 103
Table 49 – Summary the dry tray pressure drop for column T-100 and column T-101 ....... 103
Table 50 – Summary the weir height for column T-100 and column T-101 ....................... 103
Table 51 – Summary the equivalent head on tray for column T-100 and column T-101 ..... 104
Table 52 – Summary the pressure drop due to surface tension for column T-100 and column
T-101 ................................................................................................................................ 105
Table 53 – Summary the total heat loss for column T-100 and column T-101 .................... 105
Table 54 – Summary the tray pressure drop for column T-100 and column T-101 ............. 105
Table 55 – Summary the result of other dimensions for column T-100 and column T-101 . 106
Table 56 – Fixed Capital Cost for design process using the propylene feed stream contains
5% propane ......................................................................................................................... 95
Table 57 – Fixed Capital Cost for design process using the propylene feed stream (99%) .... 96
Table 58 – Operating labour ................................................................................................ 97
Table 59 – Detail calculation on annual cost ........................................................................ 98
Table 60 – Summary of utilities required in the process with propylene feed stream contain
5% propane ......................................................................................................................... 99
Table 61 – Summary of utilities required in the process with propylene feed stream (99%) . 99
Table 62 – Estimation of raw material cost and Profits (Propylene feed stream contain 5%
propane impurity) ................................................................................................................ 99
Table 63 – Estimation of raw material cost and Profits (Propylene feed stream (99%) ......... 99
Table 64 – Summary of all costs ....................................................................................... 100
Table 65 – Summary of NPV and other economic indicator for pathways 1....................... 102
Table 66 – Summary of NPV and other economic indicator for pathways ......................... 103
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Group allocation of work

Group member’s name Student’s number Allocation of work

Trung Hieu Nguyen A1746723 Heat exchanger design and
optimization
Column design and optimization
Degree of Freedoms
Manual calculation of column
sizing
Manual calculation of heat
exchanger sizing
The Nhut Nguyen A1736508 Summary for mass and energy
balances
Base case design,
Mean ends analysis
Reactor optimization
Economic evaluation
Reactor kinetics
Nguyen Minh Phuc Truong A1746690 Base case design
Mean ends analysis
Column design and optimization
HAZOP assessment
Record meeting minutes
Format and layout
Le Nha Trang Tran A1746724 Heat exchanger design and
optimization,
Process synthesis
Analysis environmental issues,
Safety consideration
Determine feasibility of plant
location
Analysis environmental issues
Manual calculation of heat
exchanger sizing
Nguyen Mai Thanh Le A1746589 Column design and optimization
Safety consideration
Determine feasibility of plant
location
Analysis environmental issues
Manual calculation of column
sizing
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1. Introduction
1.1. Project Description
Dr Who Chemicals Ltd has recently predicted that the demand for plasticizers derived from
phenol will increase. Phenol is majority produce from cumene, which is used primarily as a
reactant. Since cumene is the main feed stock, the company would like to design and construct
a grassroots cumene plant to satisfy the increased requirement of the component. The new plant
should produce 100,000 metric ton of cumene per year from benzene and propylene.

1.2. Project Aim and Objective

Considering the demand of the new plant, the design and optimization of the cumene
production process was undertaken by using software package.
The aim of the project:
The cumene chemical plant is designed to obtain 100,000 metric tons of cumene per year by
applying fundamental knowledge and theories of chemical engineering into cumene production
project. Also, software Aspen Hysys v10 simulation is used to optimise an industrial process.
The objectives of this projects are:
- Achieving 99.9%wt of cumene production.
- Optimising, sizing and producing of the major equipment design, including reactor,
columns and heat exchanger.
- Estimating the interest rate and payment of undertaking of the project.
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2. Literature review
2.1.Introduction of Cumene
Chemical names: Cumene; Isopropylbenzene
Molecular formula: C9H12; C6H5CH(CH3)2
Molecular weight: 120.195 g/mol
Density: 0.862 g/mL at 25oC
Cumene (Isopropylbenzene) is an organic compound, which is an alkyl aromatic hydrocarbon.
It is a volatile and colourless liquid that has a boiling point of 152oC at atmosphere pressure.
Cumene is used for producing phenol, acetone and a-methyl styrene as a solvent and
intermediate. It is also used as a catalyst for the production of acrylic and polyester resins.
Short-term inhalation exposure to cumene may cause headaches, dizziness or unconsciousness
in humans. Cumene also causes skin and eye irritant when direct contact.
On an industrial scale, cumene is generally converted to cumene hydroperoxide, which is
primarily used as an intermediate for the production of acetone and phenol. Cumene also used
to manufacture bisfenol-A, polycarbonate, epoxy resins, nylon 6, etc. At present, the cumene
production is one of the world’s five biggest large scale production.
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2.2. Chemical hazards

Table 1 – Chemical hazards

Chemical Hazard description Health hazard Environment impact

Propylene  Non-dangerous  Dizziness  Smog creation in atmosphere
hazardous substance  Drowsiness  Contaminate water and soil
 Highly flammable  Unconsciousness  Damage to organs of animals
 Explode under high  Freezing burn and plants
pressure condition  Causing genetic defects
 Toxic to aquatic life
Propane  Extremely flammable  Dizziness  Clean-burning fuel
 Explosive (gas/air  Asphyxiation (high
phase) concentration)
Benzene  Hazardous substance  Damage to central nervous  Smog creation in atmosphere
 Volatile system  Contaminate water and soil
 Flammable  Damage to bone marrow  Damage to organs of animals
 Damage to immune system and plants
 Developing lymphatic  Causing genetic defects
 Hematopoietic cancers  Toxic to aquatic life
 Myelogenous leukemia
 Lymphocytic leukemia
Cumene  Hazardous substance  Headaches  Moderate chronic toxicity to
 Highly flammable  Dizziness aquatic life
 Vapour explosion  Drowsiness
 Slight incoordination
 Unconsciousness
 Skin irritant
 Eye irritant
DIPB  Non-dangerous  Skin irritation  Toxicity to aquatic life
hazardous substance  Respiratory irritation
 Drowsiness
 Dizziness

Nitrogen  Explosive (gas phase)  Dizziness

 Asphyxiation
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2.3.Chemical properties
Table 2– Chemicals properties 1

Propylene Benzene
Chemical formula C3H6 C6H6
CH2CHCH3
IUPAC name prop-1-ene benzene
Chemical structure

Molecular weight 42.081 g/mole 78.114 g/mole

Appearance colourless gas Colourless liquid
Odour odourless Aromatic odour
Density Gas: 1.81 kg/m3 0.8765 g/cm3
Liquid: 613.9 kg/m3
Boiling point -47.68 deg C 80°C
Melting point -185.30 deg C 5.5 °C

Table 3 – Chemicals properties 2

Cumene DIPB
Chemical formula 1. C9H12 C12H18
2. C6H5CH(CH3)2
IUPAC name cumene 1,4-di(propan-2-yl)benzene
Chemical structure

Molecular weight 120.195 g/mol 162.276 g/mol

Appearance Colourless liquid liquid
Odour Gasoline-like odour Odourless
Density 0.862 g/cm3 0.8568 g/cm3
Boiling point 152°C 210.3 oC
Melting point -96.9 °C -17.1 oC
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Table 4 – Chemical properties

Propane Nitrogen Carbon Carbon

monoxide dioxide
Chemical formula3. C3H8 N2 CO CO2
4. CH3CH2CH3
IUPAC name propane molecular carbon carbon
nitrogen monoxide dioxide
Chemical structure

Molecular weight 44.097 g/mol 28.014 g/mol 28.01 g/mol 44.009 g/mol
Appearance Colourless gas Colourless gas Colourless Colourless
Colourless liquid Colourless liquid gas gas
Odour odourless odourless Odourless Odourless
Density 0.493 g/cm3 Gas: 1.2504g/L 1.14 g/cm3 1.98 g/cm3
(0oC, 1013mbar
Liquid: 0.808
3
kg/m
Boiling point -42°C -196°C -191.5°C -78.464°C
Melting point -189.7°C -210.01°C -205.02°C -56.5°C
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2.4. Fluids Packages

There are two fundamental consideration for choosing a Fluids Package, including operating
conditions and specific system under consideration.
For the fluids package of the project, the Peng Robinson model is suitable. The Peng Robinson
model, which has temperature range is over -271oC (T <-271 oC) and pressure range is smaller
than 100,000 kPa (P < 100,000 kPa), is applicable for a wide range of operating condition. It
is also applicable for single- and two-phase systems on this project. Moreover, Peng Robinson
is generally used for oil and gas applications.

Figure 1 – Fluid Package

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2.5. Degree of freedom

Table 5 – Table of degree of freedom

Mixer Reactor Separator Column 1 Column 2 Overall

Number of dependent 9 10 15 15 15 60
stream variables
Number of independent 3 5 8 8 8 32
balance equations
Number of specified stream variables
Compositions 2 5 5 5 5 5
Flows 2 0 0 0 0 8
Total number of subsidiary 0 0 0 0 0 10
relations
DOF 2 0 2 2 2 0
Overall, DOF = 0, thus, well-defined, equations equals unknown variables, one solution, no
optimization.

2.6. Catalyst
The traditional processes of alkylation of benzene with propylene for the cumene production
generally used solid phosphoric acid (SPA) or aluminium chloride (AlCl3).
2.6.1. Solid phosphoric acid
A solid phosphoric acid (SPA) is originally used for converting light olefins in to gasoline
components. In cumene production process, the SPA catalyst led the side reactions occurred
and produced poly-isopropyl-benzenes (PIPB). The PIPB must be removed because it cannot
be converted back to cumene by the transalkylation reaction. Therefore, the disadvantage of
SPA catalyst is low overall yield, high temperature of the reactor, and short life and
unregenerable catalyst. The unreagnerable catalyst has hazardous environmental effects
2.6.2. Aluminium chloride
A mixture of AlCl3 and HCl is used as a catalyst in a homogeneous liquid phase reaction of
benzene and propylene. As same as SPA catalyst, the PIBP is produced by the side reaction
when using AlCl3 catalyst and converting PIBP to cumene is impossible. Although, this process
has a high yield, the corrosion of pipes and equipment happens.
2.6.3. Zeolite
A zeolite-based is used in current process of cumene production for intensification of an
industrial-scale production. Zeolite is a porous crystal generally including Si, Al and O atoms.
Zeolite is used as a catalytic material because of three important properties, which are strong
acidity, shape selectivity and loading property. Higher profitability and reducing the energy
requirements would be obtained when using the zeolite catalyst in the cumene production
process.
 19

For this process, SPA catalyst and AlCl3 catalyst should not be used because of the corrosion
and environmental problems. The zeolite catalyst is highly recommended due to its advantage.

2.7. Plant location

Plant location is deeply necessary to construction a new chemical plant. For selecting a plant
location, there are twelve factors that should be considered. However, the location of new
cumene plant is based on four major factors, including raw material, labour, transportation and
facilities.
Geelong, where is a port city in the state of Victoria, is highly recommended for the project
location.
The area in the vicinity of the seaport is appropriate for the benzene feed importation, which is
mostly from Asia. Geelong has LyondellBasell’s Geelong plant, which produces propylene.
Therefore, this location is convenient for receiving raw materials.
Consider availability of labour, Victoria is the second most populated state in Australia after
Ausralian Capital Territory in 2017. Thus, labour for the cumene plant will not be a difficult
problem if it is located in this area.
Moreover, Geelong is also a major hub for rail transport in Victoria, which has a train network
links to Adelaide, Sydney, and another regional center. Therefore, materials, fuels and product
can be transferred via train to reduce the shipping cost.
 20

2.8. Q-MAX™ Process Description for cumene production:

Figure 2 – Q-MaxTM process for Cumene production

TM
Figure 2 presents the Q-MAX new process for cumene production. This Q-MaxTM unit
consists of a alkylation reactor, transalkylation reactor and distillation section. As for the
streams inlet, a mixture of feed and recycle benzene are carried to the alkylation reactor, where
the propylene react completely to form cumene. The effluent from the alkylation reactor then
move to depropaniser column. The bottom stream of the depropanizer column is send to
benzene column, where benzene is collected overhead and recycled. The benzene in the
column bottom is transported to the cumene column, where cumene is recovered overhead. The
propylene feed is totally concerted in each catalyst.
As the chemical reaction occurs at the exothermic condition, the increase of temperature is
controlled by the reactor effluent during the alkylation reaction. The inlet temperature from the
catalyst beds is maintained to the designed temperature by exchanging portion of cooled
 21

reacted effluent between beds. Reacted effluent from the chemical reactor is fed to the
depropanizer column which use to separates the propane and excess water. The bottoms stream
of the depropanizer column is fed to the benzene distillation column where excess benzene is
collected at overhead and recycled to the process of feed stream.
The compound from the bottom of cumene column is mainly p –di-isopropyl benzene (DIPB).
DIPB is sent to the DIPB column where DIPB is recovered and recycled to the alkylation
reactor. The bottoms of DIPB column consists of amount of heavy aromatic by- product is
blended into fuel oil.
The recycled DIPB is reacted with recycling benzene at optimal conditions for transalkylation
to produce additional cumene. The effluent from the transalkylation reactor is then leaves to
the benzene column (Meyers 2016).
 22

3. Mean-end analysis
3.1. Mean-Ends Analysis
Step 1: Chemical reactions involved
The process of the alkylation of benzene with propylene will create the cumene product, which defined
as the main reaction. It is an exothermic reaction with enthalpy change of -113 kJ/mol:
C3H6 + C6H6 → C9H12
Propylene benzene cumene
The side reaction also need to be considered when the cumene can simultaneously alkylate to p-
diisopropyl benzene (DIPB):
C3H6 + C9H12 → C12H18
Propylene cumene p-diisopropyl benzene (DIPB)
Dr Who Chemicals Ltd. presented a new type of catalyst in order to reduce side product (DIBP) as well
as increase the recovery of main product (cumene). Through laboratory tests, a pressure range of 20 bar
to 30 bar and a temperature range of 200oC to 500oC were specified. Moreover, the outlet temperature
leaving the reactor should be operated under 500oC to avoid carbon decomposition into the catalyst.
On the other hand, basing on the catalyst properties, the phase of feed stream for the reaction can be
liquid or vapour phase.

Figure 3 – The general flowsheet for cumene production process

The specifications of cumeme, property of catalyst provided by Dr. Who Chemicals are present in tables
below:
Table 6 - Requirement of product composition in Cumene production process
 23

Table 7 - Catalyst properties given by Dr. Who Chemicals

All necessary information of physical and chemical properties of main substance used in this plant are
shown in the table below:

Table 8 - Physical and chemical properties of main substance

Step 2: Evaluation of alternative pathways

Two alternative pathways of propylene feedstock are considered in this process, which are
polymer grade (99%) and chemical grade (95%) with 5% propane (Elsevier 2010). One
advantage of using high purity propylene in the production process is that plant can be carried
out with no component splitter for separating the inert propane. However, the cost for higher
impurity feed stream is very high compares to propylene feed with 5 % propane. Moreover, the
impurity propane could be separated for fuel gas purpose and cost reduction. Therefore, it is
necessary to evaluate the benefit and disadvantage in both pathways for this plant design. One
simple gross calculation and overall economic appraisal were performed below.
 24

Pathway 1 – High purity propylene

The impurity of cumene in Pathway 1 is assumed to be 100%.
The operating period of plant is continuously 330 days. Hence, the cumene molar flow produced
𝑘𝑔
𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑠 108 𝑚𝑜𝑙
𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟
= 100,000 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 = 𝑔 = 8.33 × 108 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟
120
𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒

Following the main reaction 𝐶3 𝐻6 (𝑃) + 𝐶6 𝐻6 (𝐵) → 𝐶9 𝐻12 (𝐶), the number of mole ratio
among cumene, benzene and propylene is 1. Hence,

𝑚𝑜𝑙
Benzene mass flow for production = 8.33 × 108 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟

𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑔 1 𝑘𝑔
= 8.33 × 108 × 78.11 ×
𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑙 1000 𝑔

𝑘𝑔
= 6.51 × 107 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟

𝑚𝑜𝑙
Propylene mass flow for production = 8.33 × 108
𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟

𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑔 1 𝑘𝑔
= 8.33 × 108 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 × 42.08 𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒 × 1000 𝑔

𝑘𝑔
= 3.51 × 107 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟

𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑠 $1,434
The profit from selling cumene = 100,000 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 × = $143.4 × 106 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟
1 𝑡𝑜𝑛

𝑘𝑔 $1,570 𝑘𝑔 $1,120
Cost of raw materials = 3.51 × 107 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 × 1000𝑘𝑔 + 6.51 × 107 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 × 1000𝑘𝑔

= $128,019,000 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟

Gross profit = the profit from selling cumene – Cost of raw materials

1 1
= $143.4 × 106 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 − $128,019,000 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 = $15,381,000 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟

Pathway 2 - Propylene feed with 5% propane

The operating period of plant is continuously 330 days. Hence, the cumene molar flow
𝑘𝑔
𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑠 108 𝑚𝑜𝑙
𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟
produced = 100,000 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 = 𝑔 = 8.33 × 108 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟
120
𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒

Following the main reaction𝐶3 𝐻6 (𝑃) + 𝐶6 𝐻6 (𝐵) → 𝐶9 𝐻12 (𝐶), the number of mole ratio
among cumene, benzene and prolylene is 1. Hence,
 25

𝑚𝑜𝑙
Benzene mass flow for production = 8.33 × 108 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟

𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑔 1 𝑘𝑔
= 8.33 × 108 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 × 78.11 𝑚𝑜𝑙 × 1000 𝑔

𝑘𝑔
= 6.51 × 107 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟

𝑚𝑜𝑙
Propylene mass flow for production = 8.33 × 108
𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟

𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑔 1 𝑘𝑔
= 8.33 × 108 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 × 42.08 𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒 × 1000 𝑔

𝑘𝑔
= 3.51 × 107
𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟

𝑚𝑜𝑙 0.05 44.1𝑔 1𝑘𝑔 1.934×106 𝑘𝑔

Mass flow of propane produced = 8.33 × 108 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 × 0.95 × × 1000𝑔 =
𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟

𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑠 $1,434 1.934×106 𝑘𝑔 $833

Income from cumene and propane = 100,000 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 × + × 1000𝑘𝑔
1 𝑡𝑜𝑛 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟

= $145,011,022 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟

𝑘𝑔 1.93×106 𝑘𝑔 $880 𝑘𝑔 $1,120

Cost of raw materials = (3.51 × 107 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 + ) × 1000 𝑘𝑔 + 6.51 × 107 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 × 1000𝑘𝑔
𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟

= $105501920 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟

Gross profit = Income from cumene and propane - Cost of raw materials

$145,011,022 $105501920
= − = $39,509,102 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟
𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟

Table 9 – The price of raw material and profit of product (University of Adelaide 2018)

Benzene (>99.9𝑤𝑡% purity) $1,120/1000kg

Propylene (>99.9 𝑤𝑡% purity) $1,570/1000kg

Propylene ( 5mol% propane impurity) $880/1000kg

Cumene $1,434/1000kg

Propane (fuel gas) $833/1000 kg

 26

The gross profit calculations have indicated that pathway contains 5% propane seems to bring
more profit than higher-impurity pathway. Therefore, the feed with 5% propane would be more
likely to be used in this plant design as well as the need of one or more separators to separate
the inert propane. In additional, the high temperature in the inlet feed stream and increasing
reactor sizing would be required to achieve expected cumene conversion (Luyben 2014).

Step 3: Distribute the chemicals

In order to carry out mass balance calculations, the assumptions were established to as follows:

1. The impure propylene feed (5 mol% propane) was chosen for calculations based on
pathway 1.

2. Base on the HYSYS simulation results, the conversion rates of main and side reactions
are 95.72% and 3.51% respectively.

3. The ratio of Benzene-to-Propylene is 1.5: 1.

4. The molar fraction of cumene and DIBP from the product stream leaving distillation
column 2 are 99.99 wt% and 0.01 wt% respectively.

5. The recovery ratio of cumene from both distillation column is equal to 1.

6. The recovery ratio of benzene from partial separator column is equal to 1.

7. The operating period of plant is continuously 330 days.

Overall material balance

Overall material balance for reactor

Figure 4 – Overall material balance for reactor

 27

The operating period of plant is continuously 330 days. Hence, the cumene molar flow produced
𝑡 𝑡 1000𝑘𝑔 1𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 1 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑘𝑔
= 100,000 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 = 100,000 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 × × 330 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠 × = 12626.26 ℎ𝑟
1𝑡 24 ℎ𝑟

𝑘𝑔
12626.26 𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙
ℎ𝑟
Or = 𝑘𝑔 = 105.05
120.194 ℎ𝑟
𝑚𝑜𝑙

Base on the assumption, the number of mole DIPB in the cumene product stream is:

𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙
105.05 ℎ𝑟 𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙
= × 0.001 = 0.105
0.999 ℎ𝑟

Because the recovery ratio of cumene from both distillation column is equal to 1, hence the
molar mole flow rate of cumene in product stream is equal to the cumene originated from the
PFR reactor:

𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙
= 105.05
ℎ𝑟

From PFD base case, conversion of R1= 95.72 % and conversion of R2 = 3.51 %

R1: 𝐶3 𝐻6 (𝑃) + 𝐶6 𝐻6 (𝐵) → 𝐶9 𝐻12 (𝐶) (1)

MW 42.08 78.11 120.19

𝑛𝑅1𝑃
Conversion of R1=95.72% =  𝑛𝑅1𝑃 = 0.9572 × 𝑛𝐹𝑃
𝑛𝐹𝑃

𝑛𝑅2𝑃
Conversion of R1=3.51% =  𝑛𝑅2𝑃 = 0.0351 × 𝑛𝐹𝑃
𝑛𝐹𝑃

From equation (1): 𝑛𝑅1𝑃 = 𝑛𝑅1𝐶

From equation (2): 𝑛𝑅2𝑃 = 𝑛𝑅2𝐶

𝑛𝑅𝐶 = 𝑛𝑅1𝐶 − 𝑛𝑅2𝐶 = 𝑛𝑅1𝑃 − 𝑛𝑅2𝑃 = (0.9572 − 0.0351)𝑛𝐹𝑃

𝑛𝑅𝐶 105.05 𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙

𝑛𝐹𝑃 = = = 113.92
0.9572 − 0.0351 0.9572 − 0.0351 ℎ𝑟

The mass flow of propane occupied 5% of feed stream, the molar mole flow of propane can be
estimated:

44.1 0.05 𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙

𝑛𝐹,𝑃𝐼 = 113.92 × × = 6.28
42.08 0.95 ℎ𝑟
 28

Overall material balance for mixer

Figure 5 – Overall material balance for mixer

The benzene/ propylene ratio flows the assumpition is 1.5:1, hence:

𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙
𝑛𝑚𝑖𝑥𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑧𝑒𝑛𝑒 = 1.5 × 𝑛𝐹,𝑃 = 1.5 × 113.92 = 170.9
ℎ𝑟

𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙
𝑛𝑅1𝐵 = 𝑛𝑅1𝑃 = 95.72% × 𝑛𝐹𝑃 = 109.05
ℎ𝑟

Because all benzene is separated from benzene distillation column

𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙

𝑛𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑧𝑒𝑛𝑒 = 𝑛𝑚𝑖𝑥𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑧𝑒𝑛𝑒 − 𝑛𝑅1𝐵 = 170.9 − 109.05 = 61.85
ℎ𝑟 ℎ𝑟 ℎ𝑟

Overall material balance for distillation column 2 (cumene column)

Figure 6 – Overall material balance for distillation column 2 (cumene column)

𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙
𝑛𝑅2𝑃 = 0.0351 × 𝑛𝐹𝑃 = 0.0351 × 113.93 = 4
ℎ𝑟
𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙
Molar flow of DIPB produced is 𝑛𝑅2 𝐷𝐼𝑃𝐵 = 𝑛𝑅2𝑃 = 4 ℎ𝑟
 29

Number mole of DIPB in DIPB stream = 𝑛𝑅2 𝐷𝐼𝑃𝐵 − 𝐷𝐼𝑃𝐵 𝑖𝑛 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑚

𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙
= 4 − 0.105 = 3.885
ℎ𝑟

Overall material balance for separator

Figure 7 – Overall material balance for separator

𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙
Number of moles of propane in stream Fuel gas = 𝑛𝐹𝑃𝐼 = 6.28 ℎ𝑟

Step 4: Eliminate differences in composition

Table 10 – Boiling point (oC) of the main subschemicals at 1 atm

After completing the reaction process, the stream leaving the PFR reactor contains propylene
and propane, cumene, DIPB, unreacted benzene. The main purpose of plan is to achieve the
possible highest cumene purity, hence it is important to split all propane and propylene from
the main product stream. An understanding on the boiling point of all components are show in
the table above.

According the property data, it is clear that propane and propylene have relatively low boiling
point range from -42oC to - 48oC. Therefore, the separating process for propane and propylene
is carried out firstly by a separator. This means the temperature is smaller than benzene boiling
point (under 80.1°C) and atmospheric pressure condition is set for the separator operation in
 30

order to separate propane and propylene from other composition. To be more specific, propane
and propylene would go through the overhead vapor stream of separator while mixture of
benzene, cumene and DIPB will introduce into the first distillation column.

Base on the requirement of the plant and property data, unreacted benzene needs to be drawn
off by the distillation column. The necessary condition for this process is that pressure of 1 atm
and temperature is under 152°C. Under this condition, benzene would be removed into the top
of the distillation column, and then turn back to recycle stream. On the other hand, the bottom
stream continuous to feed for the next distillation column.

In order to removing cumene from undesirable product, the operating temperature needs to be
increase into the range from 152 oC to 210.3oC. As a result, the expected cumene stream with
the purity of 99.9% could be achieved from the distillation column while DIBP will be the main
product from the bottom stream.

Figure 8 – Schematic representation of Eliminate differences in composition

Step 5: Eliminate differences in temperature, pressure and phase

The manufacturing process can be operated under assumption condition which is suggested by
the Luyben literature review (2010)

Following Luyben suggestion, benzene fresh stream is assumed to be set at 1 atm and 25 oC
while the propylene feed stream should be set at 25oC and assumed under the liquid saturated
condition. By defining all these conditions, the pressure of propylene stream is 1143 kPa.
 31

The feed streams enter the reactor are suggested to be under operating pressure set in the range
of 20 to 30 bar. The pressure of two feed streams are elevated to expected pressure of 25 bar by
a pump. Once the pressure of both feed stream are achieved, a mixer is also utilized for mixing
two feed stream.

Moreover, Elsevier (2010) recommend that the inlet temperature needs to be heated to 350oC
and thus the reaction could be taken in gas phase. To meet these requirements, heat exchanger
system includes a set of tube and shell heat exchanger as well as the furnace can be used for
vaporizing and heating the mixed feed stream. The reactor effluent temperature might be grown
to 450oC while the pressure could be kept constant.

In order to separate the propane and unreacted propylene from the mixed fluid, the temperature
of product stream which enter the phase separator must be under benzene’s boiling point
(80.1oC) and 1 atm. As a result, a cooled and valve would be installed for achieving these
desired conditions before the separation process was carried out. Then, a pump was provided
to increase the pressure of bottom product stream include benzene, DIPB and cumene before
going through the first distillation column.

The pressure of the first column with a partial reboiler and total condenser is 1 bar which lead
to a temperature is 75oC. Under this temperature, benzene is vaporized and separated from the
initial feed stream and then was sent back to fresh benzene stream through recycle. Due to the
difference in physical condition, it is necessary to liquefy the recycled benzene stream before
being combining with the fresh feed. A valve and cooler need to be installed.

It is suggested that the operating pressure for second column (contain a partial reboiler and total
condenser) is set with lower than first column pressure. Consequently, a valve was used to
adjust the pressure back to 0.75 bar. After finishing these steps, it is highly possible to gain the
high cumene purity of 99.99%.
 32

Figure 9 – Schematic representation of eliminate differences in temperature, pressure and

phase.

Step 6: Integrate tasks

Figure 10 – Development of PFD for cumene production

 33

3.2 Description of Process Plant Operating Condition

A HYSYS simulation for cumene manufacturing process is operated to further explain the
equipment, all the chemical component and operating conditions. Base on the chemical and
physical characteristics that related to main ingredients provided in the literature review, the
operating condition such as pressure and temperature was specified for the process. A process
flow diagram (PFD) would simulated the cumene production manuscript which was shown in
the Figure 11 below.

Figure 11 – Cumene manufacturing process simulation on HYSYS simulation

In the Figure 11, the feed stream of propylene (95%) and fresh benzene was presented. All
initial temperature of the feed stream will be set at the same room temperature of 25 oC.
However, while the pressure of benzene stream is 1 atm, the pressure of the propylene stream
need to be improved to 1143kPa to avoid the vaporization at room temperature. In the next step,
both feed streams went through the pumb to increase the pressure of 25 bars before mixing
together by a mixer (Mix-100). The outlet stream called Mix went to a heater to meet the
required temperature of 200oC (heater will be replaced by a heat exchanger when the product
stream is created). On the other hand, the ideal phase for the PFR reaction is vapor phase, hence
the Mix stream needs to be preheated by a fire heater. The fuel streams for the fire heater are
the air stream and 100% propylene stream to calcine the material up to 350 oC (Gera 2011, p.
523).

After that, the stream came out the furnace would be fed for the reactor to create cumene and
DIBP with support fo new catalyst. Skogestad (2011) suggested that the outlet temperature
should be set at 357oC. The assumption for the reactor sizing at this stage is the volume of 60m3
and diameter of 2m. As a result, the conversion of main reaction gains 90.45%. By adjusting
the reactor output temperature, the conversion for main reaction increase to 95.72% with higher
temperature of 450oC. The pressure of outlet stream decrease slightly to 2492 kPa compared to
 34

the initial pressure of 2500kPa. The outlet stream then flowed through a valve and a cooler to
change into the liquid-vapor phase before being separated by a separator. The separating
mechanism will base on the boiling point of unreacted propylene and propane which have the
lowest boiling point from -42.1oC and -48oC respectively. The operating temperature of
separator is 87oC. In fact, the overhead stream of separator also contains a considerable amount
of cumene, benzene and DIBP even the temperature was set under the benzene boiling point of
80.01oC.

As can be show in the Figure 11, all excessive propylene and benzene from the bottom stream
of separator will be splinted by the distillation column 1. Base on the operation condition, the
distillation column 1 has 27 stream with the main stream is stage 14, the pressure for the
condenser and reboiler was 206.8 kPa and 233.8 kPa respectively. The overhead stream leaving
the column contain almost molar mole of benzene with small amount of cumene and propylene
will be recycled by feeding into second Mixer with the fresh benzene stream. The main product
stream then is fed into the second distillation column which has 37 stages with main stage is
stage 7. The pressure was set for condenser and rebuilder is 206.8 kPa and 243.8 kPa. The final
product contains the cumene with purity of 99.93% and the side product stream (DIBP) have
99.99%.

Ultimately, the PFD for the plant design work well following advises and operating information
which is provided by Dr Who Chemicals. The conversion of cumene was 95.72% and the purity
of cumene achieves 99.93% which higher than the minimum expected conversion of the
process.

3.3 The goals for overall optimization

It is important to know that the recovery of cumene molar flow from both separator and two
distillation columns is actually lower than 1. Therefore, in order to meet the requirement of
100,000 tons cumene per year, the purpose of overall optimization process aim to get the higher
main conversion rate with slight difference with the assumption and initial base case. All detail
will be specified in sec 6: Summary of process optimization.
 35

4. Base case design

4.1. Reactor-parameter set-up
Benzene and propylene are two main reactants used for cumene manufacturing process. Base
on the catalyst properties, the plug flow reactor and the vapour phase of the feed stream are
required. The alkylation reaction associate to the cumene production process is presented
below:

With

𝑘1 𝑐𝑐 𝑐𝑝 𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒
𝑟1 =
(𝑔𝑐𝑎𝑡)(𝑠)

−24.9
k1 = 3.5 × 104 × exp ( )
𝑅𝑇

where:

r1= reaction rate

k1= rate constant

R= gas constant
T= temperature (K)

Dr Who Chemicals Ltd. presented a new type of catalyst in order to reduce side product (DIBP)
as well as increase the recovery of main product (cumene). Through laboratory tests, a pressure
range of 20 bar to 30 bar and a temperature range of 200oC to 500oC were specified. Moreover,
the outlet temperature leaving the reactor should be operated under 500oC to avoid carbon
decomposition into the catalyst.

With:

𝑘2 𝑐𝑐 𝑐𝑝 𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒
𝑟2 =
(𝑔𝑐𝑎𝑡)(𝑠)

−35.08
k2 = 2.9 × 106 × exp ( )
𝑅𝑇
 36

In order to demonstrate the cumene process in HYSYS simulation, it is necessary to add unit
conversion for those parameters into expected unit. The more detail calculation for converting
unit of parameter can be referred in Appendix. The constant value A and activation energy E
for both main and side reaction are shown in the table below
Table 11 – Active energy and constant value for kinetic reactions

Parameter Main Reaction Side Reaction

A (m3/kmol.sec) 2.8x107 2.32x109
E (kJ/mol) 104580 147336
4.2.Summary of Mass and Energy Balance from HYSYS Simulation:
4.2.1. Material mass balance in the main equipment:
Mass balance equation:
Total mass in + total mass out - total mass generated = 0
Table 12 – Summary the mass balance of benzene and propylene feed stream

Feed stream name Component Mass balance Total mass balance (kg/h)
Fresh benzene Benzene 8919.8 8920
Benzene 3370.6
Inlet Recycle bezene Propane 104.7 3487
stream Propylene 11.7
Propylene 4810.2
Propylene 5063
Propane 253.2
Benzene 12290.5
Outlet Propane
Mix 357.8 17470
stream
Propylene 4821.9

Table 13 – Summary the mass balance of reactor

Reactor (PFR-100)
Feed stream name Component Mass balance Total mass balance (kg/h)
Benzene 12290.5
Inlet Propane
6 357.8 17471
stream
Propylene 4821.9
Cumene 12759.5
DIBP 602.6
Outlet Benzene
7 3708.5 17471
stream
Propane 357.8
Propylene 42.2
 37

Table 14 – Summary the mass balance of separator

Separator (V-100)
Feed stream name Component Mass balance Total mass balance (kg/h)
Cumene 12759.5
Benzene 3708.5
Inlet
16 Propene 42.2 17471
stream
14-iP-BZ 602.6
Propane 357.8
Cumene 124.0
Benzene 330.4
Fuel gas Propene 30.6 740
14-iP-BZ 1.1
Outlet Propane 253.1
stream Cumene 12635.4
Benzene 3378.0
Liquid Propene 11.6 16731
14-iP-BZ 601.5
Propane 104.8

Table 15 – Summary the mass balance of distillation column

Distillation Column T-101

Feed stream name Component Mass balance Total mass balance (kg/h)
Cumene 12635.4
Inlet Bottom stream Benzene 0.1 13237
stream 14-iP-BZ 601.5
Cumene 12635.4
cumene product
Benzene 0.1 12647
outlet stream
14-iP-BZ 11.2
stream
Cumene 0.0
DIBP pruduct stream 590
14-iP-BZ 590.3
 38

4.2.2. Total energy released and from the process and required the process
Calculation of the energy of all the equipment are showed in the equation below:
Q= mc×cp× ∆𝑇
All energy released and from the process and required the process is shown in the tables
below:
Table 16 – Total energy required and from the process

Total Energy required

Utility per Energy consumption
Equipment Name Energy stream Utility Type unit (kj/h)
P-100 Q1 Electricity 5.028 kW 1.81E+04
Pump
P-101 Q2 Electricity 12.71 kW 4.58E+04
Heat
E-101 1.02E+07
exchanger
Distillation T-100 Reboiler Q6 LP Steam 1642 kW 5.91E+06
column T-101 Reboiler Q9 LP Steam 1683 kW 6.06E+06
Furnace FH-100 Fuel gas+ air 6.42E+06
Total Energy balance 2.86E+07

Table 17 – Total energy released from the process

Total Energy released

Energy Utility per Energy consumption
Equipment Name stream Utility Type unit (kj/h)
Cooling
E-102 Q100 Water 2303 kW -8.29E+06
Cooler
Cooling
E-103 Q106 Water 54.32 kW -1.96E+05
Cooling
Distillation T-100 Condenser Q101 Water 878.5 kW -3.16E+06
column Cooling
T-101 Condenser Q8 Water 1715 kW -6.17E+06
Cooling
Reactor
PFR-100 Q3 Water 1874 kW -6.75E+06
Total Energy released -2.46E+07

4.2.3. Summary the amount of cooling water used in the Cumene production process
Table 18 – Summary of the amount of cooling water used in the Cumene production process
E-102 Q100 Cooling Water 3.96E+05 Kg/h
E-103 Q106 Cooling Water 9350 Kg/h
PFR-100 Q3 Cooling Water 3.23E+05 Kg/h
T-100 Condenser Q101 Cooling Water 1.51E+05 Kg/h
T-101 Condenser Q8 Cooling Water 2.95E+05 Kg/h
 39

5. Process design
5.1. Reactor design
5.1.1. Gibbs Reactor
A Gibbs reactor has been used to determine the maximum conversion limits without entering
any equipment sizing information and reaction set. The Figure indicates the set-up stream for
Gibb reactor which the inlet stream has the same properties as the inlet stream of PFR
reactor.

Figure 12 – Gibbs reactor icon in HYSYS simulation

Figure 12 shows the properties and important detail of inlet stream entering the Gibbs reactor,
its properties are the same with the inlet stream going to the PFR reactor.
Base on the data was constructed from the Gibbs reactor, the maximum conversion limit
could be found is around 99.32%, which is calculated by the ratio of the reacted propene flow
rate and the propene molar flow from feed stream. To be more specific, the maximum
conversation calculation would be show in the Figure 13.
 40

Figure 13 – Inlet feed stream information summary

Figure 14 – The maximum conversion can be achieved from the Gibbs reactor
 41

5.1.2. Reactor Sizing

Several case studies have been run in this plant aims to determine the optimal length,
diameter as well as volume for the PFR reactor.
The Figure 15 shows the case study which is used to evaluate the effect of PFR reactor
volume on the cumene conversion. In this case study, the conversion of the main reaction and
the volume of reactor are defined as dependent and independent variables respectively. The
range of 1 to 200 m3 with step size is 1, 150 steps were set for this case study. Additionally,
the optimal tube volume is considered base on expected conversion rate of cumene from
actual base case. According to the plot, the conversion rate of main reaction achieves 95.88%
with 21.02 m3 of tube. After that, the conversion rate gains the peak of 97 % and is stable
with the increase of tube volume. Moreover, comparing with the maximum conversion limit
is 99.32%, 95.88% is an acceptable result. Therefore, the optimal volume of reactor is 21.02
m3.

Figure 15 – Plot of reactor volume again the main conversion rate for optimization process
Diameter of reactor is also the main factor contribute to cumene conversion improvement.
Another case study was set with the independent variable is the tube diameter of reactor
while cumene is the dependent variables. The range from 1 to 5 m with step size is 0.01 was
chosen for tube diameter. The plot of tube diameter against the cumene conversion rate is
shown in the Figure 21. According to plot, the conversion rate of main reaction achieves
95.88% at the diameter of 1.6 m. After this stage, the percentage of conversion rate remained
unchanged. Therefore, the optimal diameter of reactor will be 1.6 m.
 42

Figure 16 – Plot of reactor volume again the main conversion rate for optimization process
In those case studies, the tube diameter and volume are chosen as independent variable so
HYSYS will result the optimal length of reactor, tube packing void volume and wall
thickness.
After running necessary case studies, important result of reactor sizing properties is presented
in the Table 19.
Table 19 – Summary of reactor sizing results

Reactor sizing properties Results

Total Volume (m3) 21.02
Tube Length(m) 10.45
Tube diameter (m) 1.6
Number of Tubes (m) 1
Wall thickness (m) 0.005
Tube packing void fraction 0.5
Tube packing void volume (m3) 10.51
 43

5.2.Distillation column
5.2.1. Background
Distillation is a physical process used for separate a mixture of two or more substances into
its components fractions of desired purity, by base on the differences boiling points of
components in the mixture (McCabe, Smith and Harriott 1993, p. 521).
Distillation is the most widely separation process used in many industries, such as chemical,
pharmaceutical and food industries.
In this project, the distillation column is used for separate a mixture of cumene and the other
components to obtain a high purity of cumene as product.
5.2.2. Basic equipment and operation

Figure 17 – Continues distillation column

The liquid leaving the top of the column is the light component, while the liquid leaving the
bottom of the column is the heavy component. Liquid leaving the bottom of the column is
split into a bottoms product and a fraction that is made available for boiling. The reboiler is
employed to boil the portion of the bottom liquid that is not drawn off as product. The vapour
produced flows up through the column and comes into intimate contact with the down
flowing liquid. After the vapour reaches and leaves the top of the column, the condenser is
encountered where heat is removed from the vapour to condensate it. The condensed liquid is
split into two streams. One is the overhead product; the other liquid stream is called reflux
and is returned to the top of the column to improve the separation.
 44

5.2.3. Basic Principles and Equations

According to Figure 5.2 A, the following equation presents the overall material balance of the
column (Treybal 1980, p.363)
𝐹 = 𝐷+𝐵
And for a component balance:
𝐹𝑥𝐹 = 𝐷𝑥𝐷 + 𝐵𝑥𝐵
The reflux ratio (RD) relates the amount of distillate that returns to the column (Robert 1980,
p.384)
𝐿
𝑅𝐷 = 𝐷
As reflux ratio increases, less stages are required but larger equipment are now needed to handle
the increased reflux liquid and reboiled vapour load. Thus, the fixed cost initially decreased
but eventually increase again when the reflux ratio approaches total reflux. The fixed cost this
falls through a minimum and then rise again to infinity. As for the operating cost, it will
continue to increase with increasing reflux ratio.
Typically, the optimum reflux ratio is approximately 1.2 to 1.5 times R min. However, in the
actual life, the reflux ration can reach more than 2 times the minimum reflux.
The efficiency of plate can be determined by O’Connel correlation (Treybal 1980, p. 423)
𝐸𝑜 = 0.492 × (μL × 𝛼)−0.245 ± 10%
The range of 40%-90% aqueous solutions is acceptable conditions for efficiency plate.
The overall tray efficiency describes the ratio of the number of theoretical trays to the actual
number of trays required for an entire column (McCabe Smith and Harriott 1993, p.565) :
𝑁𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑦
𝐸𝑜 = 𝑁
𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙

Increasing the number of stages will improve the separation process. If keeping feed at top
section of column, the bottoms products will be more pure, and lead to the condenser load
increase, while if keeping feed at bottom section of column, the top products will be more pure
and lead to the reboiler load increase.
There are some heuristics for design the distillation column :the height of the column should
not be higher than 175 ft. Futhermore, if the tower is higher than 190 ft, the smaller tray spacing
should be considered in the design, the ration of height and diameter should be in range of 20
– 30. Moreover, in the case of the diamter column is between 1.5 – 4.5 ft, both of plate and
packed might be used (Amos 2018).
 45

Column diameter is determined based on the constraints imposed by flooding. The equation
below calculates the flooding velocity:
𝜎 0.2 𝜌𝐿 − 𝜌𝐺 0.5
𝑈𝑓 = 𝐶𝑠𝑏 × ( ) × 𝐹𝑓 × 𝐹ℎ𝑎 × ( )
20 𝜌𝐺
If the system is non-foaming  FF = 1
If the system is foaming  FF = 0.5-0.75
𝐴
If the ration of hole area and active are (𝐴ℎ ) ≥ 1  FHA = 1
𝑎

𝐴 𝐴
If the ration of hole area and active are 0.06 ≤ 𝐴ℎ ≤ 0.1  FHA = 5(𝐴ℎ ) + 0.5
𝑎 𝑎

Velocity of vapour flow is one of the factors affect to column operation, because of the
condtions of vapour, either excessive or too low.
𝑈𝐺 = (0.75 𝑡𝑜 0.85)𝑈𝐹
The flow parameter can be determined:
𝐿 𝜌𝐺 0.5
𝐹𝐿𝐺 = ( )
𝐺 𝜌𝐿
Thereby, the equation determined column diamnter is:
4𝐺
𝐷𝑡 = ( )1/2
𝐴
𝑈𝐺 𝜋. (1 − 𝐴𝑑 )𝜌𝐺
𝑇
𝐴
when 𝐴𝑑 is the ratio between downcomer area and total area. If:
𝑇

𝐴
 FLG ≤ 0.1  𝐴𝑑 = 0.1
𝑇

𝐴 (𝐹𝐿𝐺−0.1)
 0.1 ≤ FLG ≤ 1  𝐴𝑑 = 0.1 +
𝑇 9
𝐴
 FLG ≥ 1 𝐴𝑑 = 0.2
𝑇

The velocity of vapour is dependent on the column diameter. Due to the column capacity, the
minimum required of vapour flow are determined by the weeping while the maximum allowed
for vapour flow is determined by flooding. Therefore, the column will not run in satisfactory
way, if the diameter of column is not sized properly. Not only will operational problems occur,
the desired separation duties may not be achieved
The pressure drop of tray are required to flow vapour in tower is in the range of 0.05 – 0.15
psi/tray (McCabe, Smith and Harriott 1993, p.562). The pressure drop across the plate can be
divide into 2 parts, which are the friction loss in the holes and pressure drop, because of the
holdup of the liquid on the plate.
ℎ𝑡 = ℎ𝑑 + ℎ𝐼 + ℎ𝜎
 46

The dry tray pressure drop hd though the holes can be modified orifice equation (McCabe,
Smith and Harriott 1993, p.563):
0.165 2 44.41
ℎ𝑑 = 0.186 ( ) ×( )
0.66 41.28
The equivalent head on tray hI are estimated:
𝑞𝑙 2/3
ℎ𝑙 = 𝜑𝑒 [ℎ𝑤 + 𝐶 ( )]
𝐿𝑤 𝜑𝑒
With 𝜑𝑒 is the effective relative froth density
0.91 )
𝜑𝑒 = 𝑒 (−4257𝑘𝑠
Ks is capacity parameter (ft/s)
𝜌𝐺 0.5
𝑘𝑆 = 𝑢𝑎 × (𝜌 )
𝐿 −𝜌𝐺

The pressure drop due to the surface tension (h) is bubble gas overcome the surface tension
to emerge from tray perforation
6𝜎
ℎ𝜎 =
𝑔𝜌𝐿 𝐷𝐵(max)
 47

5.3.Heat Exchanger
5.3.1. Heat transfer coefficient
The tube side heat-transfer coefficient is a function of the parameters, which including the
Reynolds number, the Prandtl number and the tube diameter. These parameters can be divided
into basic parameters, which are physical properties (viscosity, thermal conductivity, and
specific heat), tube diameter and mass velocity.
The alteration in liquid viscosity has the most dramatic influence on heat transfer coefficient,
so this physical property is absolutely significant.
For turbulent heat-transfer inside the tube, the fundamental equation is:
𝑁𝑢 = 0.027(𝑅𝑒)0.8 (𝑃𝑟)0.33
or
ℎ𝐷 𝐷𝐺 𝑐𝜇
( 𝑘 ) = 0.027 ( μ ) 0.8 ( 𝑘 ) 0.33

The heat transfer coefficient is influenced by the viscosity when being a parameter of the
Reynolds number or a parameter of Prandtl number.
Mass velocity has a firm influence on the heat transfer coefficient.

5.3.2. Pressure drops

The increase of mass velocity leads to the increase of pressure drop, which is more rapid than
the increase of heat transfer coefficient
The recommendable minimum of liquid velocity inside tubes is 1.0 m/s and the maximum is
2.5-3.0 m/s. Because of the present of erosion when the velocity is very high. However, the
limitation of pressure drop is necessary to control the existence of erosive velocities.
The tube diameters are generally used in the CPI are 3/8, 1/2, 5/8, 3/4, 1, 1¼, and 1½ in. 3/4
in. and 1 in. are most commonly used among of these diameters. For fouling services, the tube
diameters which are smaller than ¾ should not be used.
The variation of pressure drop distribution, which in the various heat exchangers for a given
stream in a specific circuit, may be exist to obtain a good heat transfer.

5.3.3. Shellside design

The shellside calculations are more complicated than the tubeside calculations. The reason is
on the shellside, there are a flow stream, a principal cross flow steam and four leakage or bypass
streams. The shell side stream analysis is determined by using various shellside flow
arrangements, various tube layout patterns and baffling designs.
 48

5.3.4. Fouling factor

Heat transfer surfaces of the heat exchanger may be covered by the deposits in the flow
systems, or may be corroded by the interaction between the fluids and the material used for
construction of the heat exchanger. Therefore, an additional resistance to the heat flow is
existed and reduce the performance of heat transfer. The overall effect is frequently described
by a fouling factor (or fouling resistance), Rf. For such an increase in the overall heat transfer
coefficient, the fouling factor must be included along with the other thermal resistance. To
define the fouling factor, the values of U for both clean and dirty conditions in the heat
exchanger is used as:
Rf = 1/ Udirty – 1/ Uclean

5.3.5. Tube layout patterns

Tube layout patterns have 4 different types, which are triangular (30 oC), rotated triangular
(60oC), square (90oC), and rotated square (45oC).

Figure 18 – Types of tube layout pattern

A triangular pattern or rotated triangular pattern will contain more tubes than a square pattern
or rotated square pattern. A triangular pattern generates high turbulence and it obtains a high
heat transfer coefficient. Therefore, using a triangular pitch is better for heat transfer and
surface area per unit length. The square pitch, which has 45oC or 90oC is commonly needed for
dirty shellside services.
 49

5.3.6. Tube pitch

Tube pitch is a shortest distance between two adjacent tubes. The minimum tube pitch should
be preferred to employ, because the minimum of tube pitch leads to the smallest shell diameter
for estimating number of tubes.
Increasing tube pitch
Using the smaller tube pitch lead to the smaller shell diameter and reducing cost
The tube pitch is generally set at 1.25 times the tube outside diameter.
For the conversion of pressure drop to heat transfer, the optimum tube-pitch to tube-diameter ratio:
Turbulent flow: 1.25< (tube pitch)/(tube diameter) < 1.35
Laminar flow: (tube pitch)/(tube diameter) ≈ 1.4
Reducing the pressure drop by increasing the tube pitch is not highly recommended. Because the tube
diameter increase when the tube pitch increase and lead to the cost increase.
5.3.7. Baffling
Baffle
The functions of baffles are supporting tubes, allowing a desirable velocity to be maintained for a
shellside fluid and avoiding the failure of tubes, which is caused by the flow fluctuation.
Baffles have two types, which are plate and rod. Plate baffles have single-segmental, double-segmental,
and triple-segmental.

Figure 19 – Types of segmental baffe

Baffle spacing
The centerline-to-centerline distance between adjacent baffles is the baffles spacing. The
minimum baffle spacing is specified as one-fifth of the shell inside diameter (1/5 ID shell). The
closer bundle will cause the insufficient bundle penetration by the shellside fluid and the
difficult problem for mechanically outsides cleaning of the tubes.
The maximum baffle spacing and shell inside diameter are of equal value. The predominantly
longitudinal flow, which is less efficient than cross-flow, will exist when the baffle spacing is
 50

higher. The higher baffle spacing also cause large unsupported tube spans and will lead to the
tube failure of the exchanger due to flow-induced vibration.
When decreasing the baffle spacing, the increasing rate of pressure drop is much faster than
the increasing rate of heat-transfer coefficient.
An optimum ratio of baffle spacing is commonly between 0.3 and 0.6 (0.3 < Lb > 0.6). This
optimum ratio will lead to the highest efficiency of conversion of pressure drop to heat transfer.
Decrease the baffle spacing can increase the pressure drop without a corresponding increase
the heat-transfer coefficient. The resistance and the pressure drop of the main cross-flow path
increase when the baffle spacing decrease. The leakage and bypass streams also increase until
the balance of the pressure drops of all the streams is reached, due to the pressure drops of all
five streams must be equal.

Baffle cut
The height of segment, which is cut in each baffle, is called baffle cut. The baffle cut permits
the shellside fluid to flow across the baffle and is indicated as a percentage of the shell inside
diameter. For shell-and-tube heat exchangers design, the baffles cut is one of important
parameters and have less profound effect than the baffle spacing.
The baffle cut can change between 15% and 45% of the diameter of shell inside. However, the
baffle cuts between 20% and 35% is strongly recommended for using. The baffle cut below
20% lead to the increase of the shellside heat-transfer coefficient and the baffle cut beyond
35% lead to the decrease of the shellside pressure drop. Both of them usually lead to poor
design.

Reducing pressure drop by modifying baffle design

In particular increasing in pressure drop across the heat exchanger if applying the same single
pass shell and single segmental baffles, it may reduce such a significant scenario if handling
other parameters related to tube and shell geometrical configurations.
 51

5.3.8. Shellside stream analysis

All five streams are flow parallel along paths of varying hydraulic resistance. Therefore, all
streams begin and end at the inlet and outlet nozzles, and lead to the identical pressure drop of
each stream.
Because of the firmly dependence on the path resistances of the flow fraction, the stream
analysis and the shellside performance will be influenced by varying any of the following
construction parameters:
• baffle spacing and baffle cut;
• tube layout angle and tube pitch;
• number of lanes in the flow direction and lane width;
• clearance between the tube and the baffle hole;
• clearance between the shell I.D. and the baffle; and
• location of sealing strips andsealing rods.

5.3.9. Mean temperature difference

Countercurrent flow is known as hot and cold stream flow in opposing directions across a tube
wall. And cocurrent flow is known as hot and cold streams flow in the same direction.

Figure 20 – Countercurrent flow and Cocurrent flow

The countercurrent flow is usually preferred to concurrent flow due to the existing temperature
cross, which is the outlet temperature of the cold stream is higher than the outlet temperature
of the hot stream.
A correction factor, Ft depends on the four terminal temperature and the shell style. The
correction factor can be determined graphically provided the shell and tube configuration is
known.
 52

However, the overall heat transfer coefficient along the length of the shell is not influenced by
the concept assumption of LMTD and Ft factor
5.3.10. Temperature profile distortion
In general, the shellside stream is the cold fluid and the tubeside stream is the hot fluid. In this
case, the temperature between the hot and the cold streams will be lower all along the length
of the heat exchanger. Therefore, the mean temperature difference reduce and it is known as
the temperature profile distortion (or correction) factor.
The temperature profile distortion factor is important in many situation, the baffles are packed
as close as possible to get the maximum shellside heat-transfer coefficient, pressure drop
permitting.

5.3.11. Relevant Theory

Heat duty:
𝑄 = 𝑚𝑐 (ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 − ℎ𝑖𝑛 )
Where 𝑚𝑐 : Mass flow rate of cold fluid (kg/h)
ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 : Specific enthalpy of input stream (kJ/kg)
ℎ𝑖𝑛 : Specific enthalpy of output steam (kJ/kg)
When the changes in the stream temperatures with distance through the heat exchanger (or with
stream enthalpy) are linear, then the ∆𝑇𝑀 is a function only of the driving forces at the two ends
of the heat exchanger, ∆𝑇2 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ∆𝑇1. Thus, log-mean temperature different is determined as:
∆𝑇2 − ∆𝑇1
∆𝑇𝐿𝑀 =
∆𝑇
𝑙𝑛 ∆𝑇2
1

Where: ∆𝑇1 = 𝑇ℎ,1 − 𝑇𝑐,1

∆𝑇2 = 𝑇ℎ,2 − 𝑇𝑐,2

The rate of heat transfer between two streams flowing through a heat exchanger is administered
by:
𝑄 = 𝑈𝐴∆𝑇𝑚
Where Q: energy flow (W)
U: overall heat-transfer coefficient (Wm-2 K-2)
∆𝑇𝑚 : mean temperature driving force (K)
 53

The surface area of heat exchanger can be estimated by rearranging the equation:
Q
𝐴=
𝑈∆𝑇𝑚
The number of tubes can be calculated from:
𝐴 = 𝜋 × 𝑑𝑜 × 𝑁𝑡 × 𝐿
Where 𝑑𝑜 : Tube outside diameter
𝑁𝑡 : Number of tubes
𝐿 : Tube length
Then rearranging the equation:
𝐴
𝑁𝑡 =
𝜋𝑑𝑜 𝐿
F correction factor
The overall mean temperature difference ∆𝑇𝑚 is influenced by the multiple direction changes
of two fluids. A correction factor, F, rises when the resulting ∆𝑇𝑚 , based on counter-current
flow, is less than the log-mean temperature different is determined , ∆𝑇𝐿𝑀 .

𝑇ℎ𝑜𝑡,𝑖𝑛 − 𝑇ℎ𝑜𝑡,𝑜𝑢𝑡
𝑅=
𝑇𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑑,𝑜𝑢𝑡 − 𝑇𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑑,𝑖𝑛
𝑇𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑑,𝑜𝑢𝑡 − 𝑇𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑑,𝑖𝑛
𝑆=
𝑇ℎ𝑜𝑡,𝑖𝑛 − 𝑇ℎ𝑜𝑡,𝑜𝑢𝑡
Shell diameter, Ds

𝑃
𝐶𝐿 ( 𝑡 )2 𝑑𝑜
𝑑
𝐷𝑠 = 0.637 × √ × 𝐴[ 𝑜 ]
𝐶𝑇𝑃 𝐿

Where: CTP: tube constant for the incomplete coverage of the shell diameter by the tube
CL : tube layout constant
Having number of tubes and inside diameter, the area heat transfer can be calculated from the
equation:
𝜋 × 𝑑𝑖2
𝐴𝑠 = 𝑁𝑡 ×
4
The velocity of fluid in each tube pass or in shell is calculated by using the equation:
𝑚
𝑣=
𝜌 × 𝐴𝑠
 54

Equivalent diameter can be determined as:

1.10 2
𝑑𝑒 = (𝑝𝑡 − 0.917𝑑𝑜2 )
𝑑𝑜
The Reynolds number can be obtained from:
𝑢𝑡 × 𝑑𝑒 × 𝜌
𝑅𝑒 =
𝜇
The pressure drops of tube side and shell side:
𝐿 𝜇 𝜌𝑢𝑡2
∆𝑃𝑡 = 𝑁𝑝 [8𝑗𝑓 ( ) ( ) + 2.5]
𝑑𝑖 𝜇𝑤 2
𝐷𝑠 𝐿 𝜌𝑢𝑡2 𝜇 −0.14
∆𝑃𝑠 = 8𝑗𝑓 ( )( )( )( )
𝑑𝑒 𝑙 𝐵 2 𝜇𝑤
 55

6. Summary process optimization

6.1.Reactor optimization
6.1.1. Reactor Performance - Isothermal Temp
The purpose of this case study is to evaluate the effect of isothermal temperature condition on
the reactor performance. In term of variable selection, conversion of main reaction and master
component molar flow of DIPB (kmol/h), master component molar flow of cumene (kmol/h),
were chosen as dependent variables. The temperature of inlet stream and the outlet stream will
be defined as independent variables. The case study is run with initial temperature is set from
200oC to 500oC with step size of 20. This range is applied for both temperature of inlet and
outlet stream. Base on the result of case studies, the result run with the same inlet and outlet
temperature were chosen to make Figure 22 illustrates the impact of isothermal temperature on
the overall performance and the main conversion rate

Figure 21 – The effect of isothermal temperature on reactor conversion and main production
fraction
 56

6.1.2. Reactor Performance - Benzene/ Propylene Ratio

It is important to conduct the contribution of Benzene/ Propylene ratio on the conversion rate
and selectivity. The master molar flow of cumene, DIPB, conversion of main reaction are
dependent variables while independent variables is master component molar flow of benzene.
The range of running is set to run from 114.1 to 1141 with 37 steps and step size of 28.5. The
results were showed in the Figure 23.

Figure 22 – The impact of Benzene/Propylene ratio on conversion and main production

fraction
It is clear that when the Benzene/Propylene ratio run from 1 to 3, the percentage of conversion
and cumene fraction in overall product have considerable growth from 91.47 to 99.76 %. At
the Benzene/Propylene ratio is 1.4, the interception of conversion and cumene fraction are
95.88% and 97%. Therefore, the optimal value of Benzene/Propylene ratio is 1.4.
 57

6.1.3. Reactor Heat Transfer - Non-Isothermal Temp.

The purpose of this case study is to assess the influence of outlet temperature condition on the
reactor performance when the inlet temperature fixed at 500 oC. In term of variable selection,
conversion of main reaction and master component molar flow of DIBP (kmol/h), master
component molar flow of cumene (kmol/h), were chosen as dependent variables. The
temperature of the outlet stream will be defined as independent variables. The case study is
run with initial temperature is set from 500oC to 1000oC with step size of 20. The results were
shown in the Figure 24.

Figure 23 – Conversion and main production fraction against outlet temperature

 58

6.1.4. Reactor Configuration - Fluidized Bed Simulation

A case study is undertaken with a fluidized bed to evaluate the effect of 10% bypass on the
overall process optimization achievement. The result needs to be compared with the process
without bypass. A Tee equipment is uses to split the inlet stream into the reactor with 10%
reactant. A new base case is also presented in Figure 25:

Figure 24 – Cumene production with fluidized bed simulation

Base on HYSYS simulation results, it is obvious to make a comparison between the

conversation rates of the outlet stream leaving the reactor in two case and then evaluate the
effect of the bypass stream on the product requirements.
 59

Figure 25 – Cumene molar mole of the outlet stream without 10% bypass stream

Figure 26 – Cumene molar mole of the outlet stream with 10% bypass stream
Base on the PFD, it can be clearly seen that an extra 10% bypass stream leads to a poor
conversion of the main reaction. As show in the Figure 26 and Figure 27 the molar flow of
cumene without bypass is 106.15 kgmole/h while with the bypass it is 78.53 kgmole/h. It also
means that there is a larger amout of propylene does not react with benzene. As a conclusion,
the bypass stream is not useful for cumene production process.
 60

6.1.5. Additional Reactor - Transalkylation Reactor

To optimize the economic profit from the plant, it is required to decrease the side product DIPB
or convert the side product DIBP back to the cumene. Therefore, an additional reactor known
as the translkylation reactor is taken into account.
Economic profit os one of the important criteria for assessing the feasibility of a project.
Therefore, side products such as DIPB need to be used properly. One of the possible
innovations is to convert DIPB back to cumene through a secondary reactor that performs
translkylation a reaction:
C6H6 + C12H18 → 2 C9H12
Benzene DIPB Cumene
Nitin Kaistha (2011) has summarized the kinetic information for the transalkylation reaction:
Rf = 2.529 × 108 exp(−100 000/RT)XBXD
Reaction rate units for Rf kmol·m−3·s−1 while XB and XD is expressed for benzene and DIBP
mole fraction respectively.
From the equation, it is obvious to define the constant A is.529x108 m3/ (kmol.s) and activation
energy is 100000 kJ/kmol, which is necessary for HYSYS simulation operation. The model the
thermodynamic properties used is also Peng−Robinson equation of state.

Figure 27 – The parameters for reaction set

 61

Due to the requirement of plant design, the operating condition such temperature is set by 200 oC
while the pressure of 12 bar is specified. In order to achieve the conversion of 90%, the tube
volume of 2.135 m3 and the diameter is 1.2 m. The outlet stream from distillation column T-
100 will be separated by a Tee and then a feed stream from this separation and DIBP from the
final product stream would be fed for transalkylation reactor. Finally, extra cumene product
goes through distillation column T-100 for recovering the benzene and cumene again. The detail
flow diagram is structured as the Figure 29:

Figure 28 – PFD for cumene manufacturing with transalkylation reactor

Base on the HYSYS simulation results and summarization in Table 20, although the conversion
rate of cumene decreases, the total product can be recovered is higher than the initial process
(112.4165 and 105.06 kmol/h respectively). As a result, transalkylation reactor is potentially
recommended for cumene plant design.
Table 20 – Comparison on Cumene performance between originated process and with
additional reactor
 62

6.1.6. Raw Material – Propylene

Finding an appropriate component for the feed materials is important for a reliable and
economical manner. There are two approaches including a pure propylene feed (higher than
99% purity) and impurity propylene feed with 5% propane. In this plant, both two feed streams
were simulated with HYSYS software to evaluate the results which associate to overall
performance (conversion for both main and side reaction) as well as economic possibility.

The Table 21 show the advantage of utilizing the impurity stream compares to the purer one. It
is obvious that the product molar flow rate from impurity feed stream is much higher than the
molar flow rate from the pure propylene feed stream (105.13 kmol/h and 100.2 kmol/h). More
importantly, the cost of raw material for propylene feed with 5% propane is also acceptable.
This is because the cost of more than 99% purity is $1570 which is much higher than just $880
from using of propylene with 5% propane (The University of Adelaide 2018). Another
advantage of feed stream relates to the unreacted reactants. The propane which is recovered
from the separator can be used or sold as fuel gas. The flow rate production of fuel gas is 283
kg/h and the cost for fuel gas is 630 per ton, which means that the extra profit from the design
plant is $1,412,057 per year. Additionally, the desirable minimum molar flow rate cannot be
achieved by the purity feed stream as well as increase the raw material cost, capital cost and
utility cost relate to waste treatment. For more detail, the Section - economic appraisal will
discusses this issue.

As a result, the cumene plant design using propylene feed with 5% propane is more likely to be
profitable and would achieve the product flow rate require
Table 21 – Comparison on Cumene performance between two pathways

Process with propylene feed stream

Process with higher propylene feed stream
contains 5% propane
transalkylation reactor
reactor

Total cumene molar flow in the

100.2 105.13
final product stream (kmol/h)
Conversion rate for side 6.097 3.241
product (%)
Conversion rate for main 93.9 95.88
product (%)
Cumene purity in product
99 99.93
stream (%)
 63

6.2.Distillation Optimization:
Table 22 – Input parameters of distillation column

Parameters Column T-101

Inlet temperature 190.4 [oC]
Condenser & Reboiler pressure 206.8 & 243.8 [kPa]
Summary specs
Reflux ratio 0.66
Temperature of Reboiler 252.2 [oC]

Figure 29 – Hydraulic plots of column T-101

 64

6.2.1. Column T-101 – Column temperature

Case study is run for investigating the effective of temperature on the separation efficiency
and duties of reboiler and condenser. In the variable selection, the independent variable is the
feed temperature, whereas purity of cumene produce and condenser/reboiler duties are the
dependent variable. Mass fraction of cumene in distillate reflects separation efficiency of the unit. The
feed stream inlet temperature is in the range of 25 oC to 250 oC. The temperature of reboiler are stable
at 252.2 OC and the reflux ratio are kept constant at 0.6603. Variables are plotted and the present of
the unit can be analyzed from the obtained results.

0.9976
0.9974
0.9972
Mole fraction of Cumene

0.997
0.9968
0.9966
0.9964
0.9962
0.996
0.9958
0.9956
0.9954
0 50 100 150 200 250
Temperature (oC)
Mole fraction of cumene on top

Figure 30 – A plot of feed temperature and cumene mole fraction

12000000 -6195000
Energy consumed for reboiler (KJ/h)

10000000
-6200000
Energy consumed for condener (KJ/h)

8000000
-6205000
6000000
-6210000
4000000

-6215000
2000000

0 -6220000
0 50 100 150 200 250
Temperature (oC)
reboiler duties condenser duties

Figure 31 – A plot of feed temperature and reboiler/condenser duties

 65

In overall, the changing operation of the feed temperature affects to the purities of cumene
product, while the energy consumption for reboiler and condenser are impacted. The figure 31
provided the temperature of inlet stream plotted with the purity of cumen product. It is observed
that the value of cumene purities decrease slightly from 99.746% at 25 oC to 99.721% at 190
o
C, and then decline rapidly reach 99.568% purity of cumene in 250oC. It can be explained that
the increase of temperature lead to the increase of pressure in column and the less volatile
components. As a result, the purity of the distillate may deteriorate. Furthermore, a plot of
between feed temperature and the duty of reboiler and condense are presented in figure 32. The
change of feed temperature has not considerable impact on condenser duty, which means that
increasing nearly 20000 KJ/h from 25oC to 250 OC for the energy consumed in condenser is
not negligible. Nevertheless, the duty of reboiler is impacted dramatically by the alterative of
feed temperature. The consumption of energy in reboiler reduce sightly in the range of 25 oC
to 190 oC, then sudden decrease over a half of energy consumption from 190oC to 193 oC (drop
from 6.805016.e +006 to 2.191186.e+006). => From this case study, 190oC is suggestion inlet
temperature for column to achieve the high purity of product.
 66

6.2.2. Column T-102 – Column pressure

In this case study, the column pressure is setting as the independent variable and the mass
fraction of cumene, condenser/reboiler duties are dependent variable. The condenser pressure
is in the range of 1 bar – 12 bar, which approximately 100kPa to 1200 kPa. The aim of this
case study is to determine the performance of column based on pressure has been conducted.
Variables are plotted and the present of the unit can be analyzed from the obtained results.
0.9975

0.997

0.9965
Cumene mass fraction

0.996

0.9955

0.995

0.9945

0.994

0.9935
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400
Condenser pressure (kPa)

Figure 32 – A plot of condenser pressure and cumene mole fraction

9000000

8000000

7000000
Energy consumped (kJ/h)

6000000

5000000

4000000

3000000

2000000

1000000

0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400
Condenser pressure (kPa)

Condenser duty Reboiler duty

Figure 33 – A plot of condenser pressure and condenser/reboiler duties

 67

Generally, the change in condenser pressure have effect on both the mass fraction of cumene
and the condenser/reboiler duties. Regarding Figure 33 a plot of condenser pressure with mass
fraction of cumene, there is a fluctuated from 100 kPa (1 bar) to 300 kPa (3 bar), peak a top at
99.96% (at 300 kPa) cumene purity, and then the percentage of cumene purity start to decline
at the pressure of 300kPa. It can be explained that while increasing column pressure, the
volatility of component also decreases, and results in decrease in separation efficiency. To
achieve the desired purity of product with the high pressure, the more stages and the rise value
of reflux ratio is required. Furthermore, the duties of condenser and reboiler are considered
with the alternative column pressure from figure 34. The energy consumed in condenser
reduces gradually, while reboiler duty growth steady from 2.233273.e+006 kJ/hr to
6.419022.e+006 kJ/hr in the range of 200kPa to 300kPa, then moderately increase. A possible
explanation for that the risen of column pressure lead to the increase of the bubble point of
mixture in column, so there is more requirement for reboiler duty. In case of more energy
consumption for reboiler, the more operation cost is needed. => Thereby, from this case study,
the pressure is recommended to run this process is approximately 233.5 kPa for best
preformation of separation, saving energy and cost operation.
 68

6.2.3. Column T-101 – Reflux ratio

In this case study, the independence variable is reflux ratio with the value in the range of 0.1 – 1.0,
when the efficiency of separation and duties of condenser/reboiler are consistently specified. The
purpose of this case study is investigating on how the alternative reflux ratio in separation can affect
to the efficiency of column and energy consumed of condenser/reboiler. Variables are plotted and the
present of the unit can be analyzed from the obtained results.
0.9975

0.997

0.9965
Cumene mass fraction

0.996

0.9955

0.995

0.9945

0.994

0.9935
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400
Condenser pressure (kPa)

Figure 34 – A plot of condenser pressure and cumene mole fraction

9000000

8000000
Energy consumped (kJ/h)

7000000

6000000

5000000

4000000

3000000

2000000

1000000

0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400
Condenser pressure (kPa)

Condenser duty Reboiler duty

Figure 35 – A plot of condenser pressure and condenser/reboiler duties

 69

In general, the alteration reflux ratio has impact on product purity and energy consumed in
condenser and reboiler. The mole fraction of cumene increases rapidly from 98.9%, and reach
at 99.767 %, while reflux ratio equal to 1. As shown in figure 35, the higher reflux ratio greatly
increases the purities of cumene, because while the higher number of reflux ratio, the less tray
for separation is needed. Therefore, the amount of light key product in distillation increase.
However, there are some withdraw if the value of reflux ratio is too high. First, the velocity of
vapour through the tray rise and lead to flooding. Moreover, there will back-mixing of
components between the lower and upper trays in column which decrease separation.
Furthermore, it is clearly to see from figure 36 that the risen of reflux ration lead to more
required energy for reboiler and decrease the energy consumed in condenser. The reboiler load
increase to restore the set point temperature, so it causes to rise more operation cost.
Therefore, the value of reflux ratio is chosen in this project is 0.66 which not only can achieve
the high percentage of purities of cumene product, but also available with operation cost from
consumed energy of reboiler.
 70

6.3. Heat exchanger

Figure 36 – Expected temperature of inlet and outlet of tube and shell (Amos. S., University
of Adelaide)

6.3.1. Input parameters in HYSYS

6.3.1.1. Theoretical heat exchanger
Table 23 – Assumption and calculation all parameters in appendix (x)
Parameters Location Values Convert units
Overall heat exchanger
TEME type A E L
Allowable pressure drop Shell 140 [kPa ] -
Tube 140 [kPa] -
Number of Shell Passes 1
Number of Shells in Series 1
Number of Shells in 1
Parallel
Tube Passes per Shell 1
Tube geometrical configuration
Outside diameter - ¾ [in] 19.05 [mm]
Length - 20 [ft] 6.096 [m]
Thickness - 18 [BWG] 1.245 [mm]
Inside diameter - 16.56 [mm] -
Fouling coefficient - 0.000001 [C-h-m2/kJ] -

Shell geometrical configuration

Inside diameter - 322.3 [mm] -
Number of tubes - 104
Tube Pitch - 28.575 [mm]
Tube Layout Angle - Triangular (30 degrees)
Fouling coefficient - 0.000001 [C-h-m2/kJ]
Shell Baffle Type Single
Shell Baffle Orientation Horizontal
Baffle Cut (%Height) [%] 25%
Baffle Spacing [mm] 64 [mm]
 71

6.3.1.2. Practical heat exchanger

Table 24 – Auto sizing all parameters in the Rigorous model
Parameters Location Values Convert units
Overall heat exchanger
TEME type B E M
Allowable pressure drop Shell 0.5-0.7 Kg/cm2 68.65 kPa
Tube 0.05-0.2 Kg/cm2 19.6 kPa
Number of Shell Passes - 1
Number of Shells in Series - 1
Number of Shells in - 1
Parallel
Tube Passes per Shell - 1
Tube geometrical configuration
Outside diameter - 19.05 [mm] -
Length - 1.8 [m] -
Thickness - 2.108 [mm] -
Inside diameter - 14.834 [mm] -
Fouling coefficient - 0.000001 [C-h-m2/kJ] -
-
Shell geometrical configuration
Inside diameter - 438.15 -
[mm]
Number of tubes - 203 -
Tube Pitch - 23.81 -
[mm]
Tube Layout Angle - Triangular -
(30
degrees)
Fouling coefficient - 0.000001 -
[C-h-
m2/kJ]
Shell Baffle Type - Single -
Shell Baffle Orientation - Horizontal -
Baffle Cut (%Height) [%] - 25% -
Baffle Spacing [mm] - 210 [mm] -
 72

6.3.2. Graph of heat exchanger performance - Fouling of tube

6.3.2.1. Tube fouling on overall U
2600
2400
Overall U [kJ/h-m2-C]
2200
2000
1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
0 0.00005 0.0001 0.00015 0.0002 0.00025 0.0003 0.00035
fouling coefficient [C-h-m2/kJ]

theoretical tube fouling practical tube fouling

Figure 37 – Tube fouling against overall U in theoretical and experimental heat exchanger

6.3.2.2. Tube fouling on pressure drop of shell and tube

theoretical HEX practical HEX

198 5.15 5 0.2

pressure drop [kPa]

pressure drop [kPa]
pressure drop [kPa]

197.5 5.1 4 0.15

5.05
pressure drop [kPa]

197 3
5 0.1
196.5
4.95 2
196 4.9
1 0.05
195.5 4.85
195 4.8 0 0
0 0.0001 0.0002 0.0003 0.0004 0 0.0001 0.0002 0.0003 0.0004
fouling coefficient [C-h-m2/kJ] fouling coefficient [C-h-m2/kJ]
shell pressure drop tube pressure drop shell pressure drop tube pressure drop

Figure 38 – Fouling coefficient of tube in theoretical and practical heat exchanger

 73

6.3.3. Graph of heat exchanger performance – Fouling of shell

6.3.3.1. Shell fouling on overall U
2400

Overall U [kJ/h-m2-C] 2200

2000

1800

1600

1400

1200

1000
0 0.00005 0.0001 0.00015 0.0002 0.00025 0.0003 0.00035
fouling coefficient [C-h-m2/kJ]

theoretical shell fouling practical shell fouling

Figure 39 – Shell fouling against overall U in theoretical and experimental heat exchanger

6.3.3.2 Shell fouling on pressure drop of shell and tube

theoretical HEX practical HEX

198 5.1 5 0.2
pressure drop [kPa]

pressure drop [kPa]

pressure drop [kPa]

pressure drop [kPa]

197.5 5.05 4 0.15

197 5 3
0.1
196.5 4.95 2
1 0.05
196 4.9
195.5 4.85 0 0
0 0.0001 0.0002 0.0003 0.0004 0 0.0001 0.0002 0.0003 0.0004
fouling coefficient [C-h-m2/kJ] fouling coefficient [C-h-m2/kJ]
shell pressure drop tube pressure drop shell pressure drop tube pressure drop

Figure 40 – Fouling coefficient of shell in theoretical and practical heat exchanger

 74

6.3.4. Graph of heat exchanger performance – Number of baffle segments

6.3.4.1. Number of baffle segments on overall U
1572.5 1999.4276

1572
Overall U [kJ/h-m2-C]

1571.5

Overall U [kJ/h-m2-C]
1571

1570.5

1570

1569.5

1569

1568.5 1999.4276
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
baffle spacing [mm]
theoretical baffle spacing practial baffle spacing

Figure 41 – Baffle spacing against overall U in theoretical and experimental heat exchanger

6.3.4.2 Number of baffle segments on pressure drop of tube and shell

theoretical HEX practical HEX

500 5.012 30 0.2
pressure drop [kPa]

pressure drop [kPa]

pressure drop [kPa]

pressure drop [kPa]

400 5.0118 25
0.15
5.0116 20
300
5.0114 15 0.1
200
5.0112 10
100 0.05
5.011 5
0 5.0108 0 0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
baffle spacing [mm] baffle spacing [mm]

shell presure drop tube pressure drop shell pressure drop tube pressure drop

Figure 42 – Baffle spacing in theoretical and practical heat exchanger

 75

6.3.5. Analysis graph

The increase in fouling coefficient, in which increases viscosity resistance of fluid to influence
the heat transfer scenario that generally makes the drop in overall heat transfer coefficient.
However, with the rise in fouling coefficient in range between 0 to 0.0003 [C-h-m2/kJ] of tube
and shell, the overall heat transfer coefficient decreases in the theoretical heat exchanger and
remains constantly in the practical heat exchanger. Due to the stable value of overall heat
transfer coefficient, the pressure drops of both tube and shell, 0.1467 and 4.04 are too low and
the heat transfer per shell is not sufficiently high, 21.87 [m2], plus one tube pass per shell within
the practical heat exchanger.
In theory, the pressure drop of the tube increases while the fouling coefficient increases to
0.0003 [C-h-m2/kJ]. Decrease parameters from default to real values, including shell diameter
(Ds), 738 [mm] to 322 [mm]; tube diameter (Dt), from 20 [mm] to 19.05 [mm], number of
tubes, (Nt), from 160 to 104, thereby increases the flow velocity, hence, increases the tube side
pressure drop. In contrast, the shell pressure drop declines along with the same fouling
coefficient. Increasing the tube pitch ratio. Increase in tube pitch ratio reduces the cross flow
velocity and, thereby, reduces the pressure drop. Moreover, the tube volume is 2 times smaller
than the shell volume in each shell, 0.1155 and 0.2728 [m3], respectively. Moreover, the molar
flowrate of cold fluid is 2 times higher than the molar flowrate of hot fluid, 280.1 and 166.5
[kgmole/h], respectively.
In practical, the pressure drops of both shell and tube are constant running at the same value of
fouling coefficient, because all parameters is not responsive to fouling coefficient of tube and
shell.
In the theoretical heat exchanger, the overall heat coefficient increases when the baffle spacing
increases, thus the increase in velocity of fluid with more interaction between cold and hot fluid
following the growth in overall heat transfer coefficient. However, the overall heat coefficient
of the practical heat exchanger still remains constantly in spite of the increase of baffle spacing.
When the diameter of baffle spacing increase, the velocity of both cold and hot fluid declines
leading to the downward trend in the tube and shell of the theoretical heat exchanger. In the
practical heat exchanger, with the rise in of baffle spacing, the pressure drop of the shell
decreases while the pressure drop of the tube is unchanged due to the geometrical sizes of tube
and shell.
 76

6.3.6. Result
Table 25 – Theoretical and experimental results of heat exchanger

Theoretical results Experimental results

Inlet Outlet Inlet Outlet
Temperature 450 258.1 450 275.1
hot fluid [oC]
Temperature 27.96 222.3 27.96 200
cold fluid [oC]
Pressure hot 2492 2487 2492 2492
fluid [kPa]
Pressure cold 2500 2304 2500 2496
fluid [kPa]
Overall U 1571 1999
[kJ/h-m2-C]

Shell Tube Shell Tube

Specified 196.4 5.011 3.841 0.147
Pressure Drop
[kPa]
 77

7. Economic appraisal
A comparison on the economic manner is taken into account to evaluate the profitability of the
plant between two pathways. The first pathway is the feed stream contain propylene raw
material with more than 99% purity and the second one is propylene stream with 5% propane.
In term of economic evaluations, the main factors are considered focus on the capital cost, Net
Present Value (NPV), payback period and expenditure.
However, the summary information provided by Amos (2018) has been used in 2011.
Therefore, the chemical engineering plant cost index (CEPCI) will be used to convert this value
into the current value for achieving more accurate cost estimation. According to Chemical
Chemical Engineering Magazine (update in January 2018), the CEPCI was 585.7 in 2011 and
576.4 is the value of CEPCI in 2018. The equation for converting have been show below:
𝐶𝐸𝑃𝐶𝐼 (2018)
Current cost = Purchase cost * 𝐶𝐸𝑃𝐶𝐼 (2011) .

The following table will summarize the various costs associated with plant operation for two
pathways.
Table 26 – Summary of costs
Summary of Costs
Fixed Capital % of FCI 5% propane impurity feed > 99% propylene
Fixed Capital Investment 100% $3,568,768 $3,821,281
Land 4% $142,750.73 $152,851.24
Maintenance and Repairs 7% $249,813.77 $267,489.68
Total $3,961,333 $4,241,622
Utilities
Power $ 8,430.58 $ 9,926.78
Cooling water $ 183,077.78 $ 224,530.32
LP steam $ 127,391.65 $ 159,738.48
DIPB waste treatment $ 4,635,965.31 $ 9,077,142.15
Total $ 4,954,865.32 $ 9,471,337.73
Labour Costs %
Operating labour cost 100% $510,400
Employee oncost 20% $102,080
Operating supervision 115% $586,960
Laboratory labour 115% $586,960
Total $1,786,400
Raw Materials and Profits
Material cost
Benzene $79,123,968 $79,123,968
Propylene with 5% propane impurity $35,287,085 $62,955,367
Catalyst $42,336 $42,336
Total $114,453,389 $142,121,671
Profit
Cumene $143,499,233 $143,885,380
Fuel gas $1,412,057 $758,419
Total $144,911,290 $144,643,800
Miscellaneous Costs
Contigencies 15%
Capex $4,246,834 $4,547,325
Opex $121,444,468 $153,646,899
Savings $23,466,822 -$9,003,099
Total Capital Investment $125,691,302 $158,194,223
 78

7.1. Capital cost

Base on the preliminary plant design is simulated on HYSYS, a calculation was undertaken
to evalue the costs in both initial pathways. The object of the study is to focus on the subsidiary
costs include the capital cost investment, land and contigences. The error related to this
calculation have higher value which oscillates between ± 20% - ± 30%. In order to improve
the accuracy of economic estimation, it is suggested that the client should specify the
definitive cost before the plan is sanctioned. It can increase the accuracy into ± 2% - ± 5% of
the actual capital cost (Peter, 2018, University of Adelaide).
Table 27 – Cost study of project expenditure

Aspen HYSYS have been used to simulate the cumene production process which achieves
100.000 tons per year with raw material contain benzene and propylene. For developing a
fully capital cost, the purchasing cost for all equipment needs to be considered firstly. A detail
and sufficient information of equipment cost were given in the Appendix Economic
Evaluation (Amos 2018). All estimation will base on the unit sizing, pressure and power. The
equation used to calculate the total installed costs was:

Total installed cost = Purchased cost *(4 + Pressure factor + Material factor)
Table 28 – Material factors associated with different materials (Amos 2018)

Material Material factor

Carbon steel 0
Stainless steel 4
 79

Table 29 – Pressure factors associated with different pressures (Amos 2018)

Pressure Pressure factor

< 10 atm 0
10-20 atm 0.6
20-40 atm 3.0
40-50 atm 5.0
50-100 atm 10
According to Amos (2018), the cost of valves and pipes has already estimated in the apparatus
cost factor, hence there is no costing for valves and pipe included. Moreover, cost for catalyst,
trays and vessels have been included the pressure so the pressure factor will be 0 for those
unit’s calculation. Also, it is the same for cost of reboiler and condenser which were assumed
as a part of cost for purchasing the distillation column. There are two mixers in the PFD,
however, the fee for that equipment is very small compares to cost for other units like
distillation column or reactor. A full calculation of working capital and installation costs will
be presented in Appendix 4

7.2. Chemical engineering plant cost index (CEPCI)

The given cost in the project is in the year of 2011, therefore it is important to convert the
equipment cost from 2011 into 2018 by appling the CEPCI index. CEPCI is an inflation rate
index which aims to perfom a better or more accurate estimation for chemical plant operation.
The CEPCI index for 2011 and 2018 are 585.7 and 576.4 respectively
(chemengonline.com.au update at January 2018).

7.3. Operating expenses (OPEX)

OPEX is an index indicates the annual cost to run a process plant. The estimation was
calculated following the gross profit information provided by Amos (2018) and Peter
textbook. OPEX estimation is the summary cost of production, fixed charges, general
expenses and plant overhead costs
 80

7.4. Equipment sizing and costs

Base on the design brief and PFD base case for cumene manufacture, the equipment for both
pathways are the same. Main equipment required in PFD contain: a furnace, a reactor, a
separator, a heat exchanger and two coolers.

7.5.Material of Construction
There are two main materials are considered for equipment containing stainless and carbon
steel. Base on the equipment properties and operating condition, potential materials were
chosen for each unit. A summary of material will be shown in Appendix following applied cost
factors to calculate the installation costs.

7.6. Carbon Steel and Stainless Steel

Carbon steel is widely used in the chemical industries because of various advantages for the
manufacturing process. Beside the availability of difference size, it is considered as a potential
material for organic chemical production (Peters and Timmehaus, 1991). In this plant, almost
substances are organic as well as carbon steel is cheaper than the stainless steel, therefore
carbon steel is used for majority of operating equipment. However, it is suitable for equipment
with operating temperature is under 500oC.
Stainless steel is other important material which is widely applied for many chemical plants. It
is often used to treat the chemical substance cause the corrosion and has a much higher
maximum temperature range from 600oC to 1150oC, which depend on the special alloy
ingredient of stainless steel (Seider et al. 2009). The most important component in stainless
steel is chromium which has the minimum content of 12 %. The more chromium percentage,
the higher oxidizing agent resistance for stainless steel. However, this material is much more
expensive than carbon steel.
*Material of Construction consideration
Since carbon steel is cheaper than stainless steel as well as appropriate for organic chemicals,
it is widely applied for many pieces of apparatus. However, for main equipment such heat
exchanger, reactor or tray sizing which is likely operated with temperature higher than 480 oC
 81

7.7.Utilities

Utility plays an important role to evaluate the possibility of the project through two pathways.
Base on the price and type of utilities given in the design brief. There are three type of energy
provide for equipment which include power, cooling water and lower pressure steam (LP).
Moreover, DIBP is an unwanted product that needs to be disposed. It means that there is extra
cost estimation for waste treatment. It can be clearly seen that the cost for treating the side
product occupied the most utilities cost in case of both operation pathways.

Figure 43 – Summary cost for three different type of energy

Figure 44 – Operating cost for DIPB treatment and total utilities cost
 82

All calculation and detail summary of the price for equipment utilities in this plant design will
be discussed in Appendix 4.

In general, it can be briefly indicated that the annual utility costs for the pure feed stream is
more double than the annual utility cost spent by the impure feed stream. Therefore, in term of
utility manner, the plant will earn more profit by using the feed stream contains 5 % propane.

7.8.Operating Labour

Operating labour was determined following the spreadsheet provided by Amos (2018). All
equipment need to be considered in HYSYS PFD contain one reactor, one heat exchanger, one
vessel, two pumps and 2 distillation column. Total figure of operator required per shift is
estimated to be 1.8. In order to fulfill the condition for operating labour cost calculation, various
assumptions were presented. Firstly, working period for one operator is 49 weeks with 3 weeks
for relaxing or sicking. Also, there are three working shift with 330 working days per year, each
shift prolongs 8 hours and then total shift per year will be 245. As a result, the overall operator
will be 7.27, which leads to the number of operators needs is around 8. The annual salaries for
each worker were assumed to be $63,800 per year, hence the operating labour cost was equal to.
In term of operating labour, CEPCI does not associated to operating labour calculation.

7.9. Raw materials and profits

The raw materials and profits have a significant impact on the economic feasibility of the
cumene plant.
Pathway 1 with 5% propane impurity

The mass flow rate of benzene and impurity propylene are 8920 kg/h and 5063 kg/h
respectively. The operating period is 7920 hours. In order to calculate the annual quantity, the
mass flow rate of feed stream is multiplied by operating time. And then the cost for raw profit
can be found. Moreover, the fee for catalyst is also considered by void fraction, the volume of
the reactor and catalyst density.

There are two main products from this pathway. Firstly, the main product is cumene that has
mass flow rate of 100,069,200 kg/year, which cost A$143,499,233/ year. The mass flow rate
of propylene and propane was separated from separator is sell in price of A$1,4212,057/ year.
 83

Table 30 – Various costs of raw materials required for plant operation with 5% propane
impurity in fee

The overall profit can be earned from manufacturing process with Pathways 1 is
A$144,911,290/ year
Pathway 2 with more than 99% propylene purity

The mass flow rate of benzene and impurity propylene are 8,920 kg/h and 5,063 kg/h
respectively. The operating period is 7920 hours. In order to calculate the annual quantity, the
mass flow rate of feed stream is multiplied by operating time. And then the cost for raw profit
can be found. Moreover, the fee for catalyst is also considered by void fraction, the volume of
the reactor and catalyst density.
Table 31 – Various the costs of raw materials required for plant operation with 99%
propylene purity in feed.

Raw M aterials and Profits

Raw M aterials Quantity (kg/h) Operating hours Quanlity per year (kg/year) Price per kg Annual Cost
Benzene 8,920 7920 70,646,400 1.12 $79,123,968
Propylene 5,063 7920 40,098,960 1.57 $62,955,367
Catalyst 16,800 2.52 $42,336
Total Annual Raw M aterial Cost $142,121,671
Profit M aterials Quantity (kg/h) Operating hours Quanlity per year (kg/year) Price per kg Annual Profit
Cumene 12,669 7920 100,338,480 1.434 $143,885,380
Fuel gas 152 7920 1,203,840 0.63 $758,419
Total Annual Profits $144,643,800

There are two main products from this pathway. Firstly, the main product is cumene that has
mass flow rate of 100,338,480 kg/year, which cost A$142,885,380/ year. The mass flow rate
of prolylene and propane was separated from separator is sell in price of A$758,419/ year.

The overall profit can be earned from manufacturing process with Pathways 2 is
A$144,643,800/year
 84

7.10. Net Present Value (NPV)

Couples of assumptions were classified by Amos (2018), the linear depreciation rate is 10 %,
the after-tax internal hurdle rate was 9% p.a while the marginal taxation rate was 35%. In
additionally, the construction period of the project is one year and the plant life is operated in
10 year. A cash flow statement was restructured by using above assumptions, which evaluates
the return on investment, internal rate of return, especially, the net present value and payback
period.
It is the most important to estimate the Net Present Value (NPV) for both pathways. The
meaning of NPV behavior for future cash flows that the project will earn in a long
manufacturing plan. This means that if the NPV is negative, then the project should not be
taken into account. In contrast, The NPV index is positive allows the project generally to be
operated.
Table 32 - Net Present Value

5% propane impurity feed stream Purer propylene feed stream

NPV $ 94,576,560.34 -$ 41,130,566.23
PWPI Index 22.27 -9.05
Pre Tax Payback 0.18 -0.51
Atfter Tax Payback 0.21 -0.58
IRR 363% N/A

Based on the NPV calculations, the impure plant should be accepted, and the pure case should
be rejected.
7.11. Payback Period
The payback period is the time the project recovers the original investment from the value of
net cash flow is zero. From the calculation on cumulative cash flows in Appendix, the payback
period is in the first year. Especially, if the payback period is negative, the plant seems to never
gain the profit.
 85

8. Conclusion
The significant information of Dr. Who Chemicals Ltd that the overall result of the cumene
production needs to reach the 105.1251 kgmole/hr with the purity 99.91 wt% in order to
produce 100,000 metric ton per year.
After the study plans including the physical and chemical properties of reactants and products
in the operation process, furthermore, catalyst zeolite is chosen to simulate the cumene product
in the PFR reactors due to higher profit probability and reduce energy requirement, thereby
more economic than others catalyst. Not only that, benzene is the only concern in chemical
hazard during the cumene operation because of its cancer potential disease, but also benzene
causes damage genetic impact to both human and animal generation in environmental term.
In term of economic assessment, an evaluation was carried out to compare the revenue that
may be obtained from the high purity propylene feed contains 5% propane. The net present
value, PWPI index as well as payback period and IRR have been calculated. Each measurement
of these index proved that using the propylene feed stream contains 5% propane is an
economically feasible project. In contrast, the economic indicators has shown that the using
the purer feed stream seems to never bring any profit for the company during its life.
 Potential of error
Such assumption of absolute purity of input benzene and propylene as raw materials, thus, the
mass and energy in the entire flow sheet are quite simpler than the reality. Moreover, the non-
clear observation of safety operation can be seen easily during running the computer software
ASPEN HYSYS V10.
 86

9. References

Amos, S, “HEX Design and Sizing”, CHEM ENG 3030, University of Adelaide, Adelaide,
20th August.

Amos, S, “Column”, CHEM ENG 3030, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, 18 th August.

Aspen Technology, Inc 2012, Aspen Icarus Reference Guide, 8th edn, Aspentech, viewed 18
October 2018, <www.aspentech.com/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx id 1503238 518>

Chemical Engineering Magazine 2018, ‘CEPCI Junuary 2018 Issue’, view 21 Oct 2018,
<https://www.scribd.com/document/352561651/CEPCI-Junuary-2018-Issue>.

Cuno. CW, 1929, “Economic factors in chemical plant location”, Industrial and engineering
chemistry, Vol. 21, No.08, p. 739

Gera, V, Kaistha, N, Panahi, M and Skogestad, S (2011) ‘Plantwide Control of a Cumene

Manufacture Process’, Indian Institute of Technology Kampur, Chemical Engineering
Department [Accessed 10 October 2018] Available at:
<http://www.nt.ntnu.no/users/skoge/publications/2011/gera_escape21/escape21_vivekgera.p
df>

Holman, JP 2010, “Heat exchanger”, Heat Transfer, McGraw-Hill, New York, p. 527.

Luyben, W,2010, ‘Design and Control of the Cumene Process’, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., vol
49, no. 2, pp. 719-734

Mangili, PV, Junqueira, PG, Santos, RO, Santos, LS and Prata, DM 2018, “Economic and
environmental analysis of the cumene production process using computational simulation”,
Chemical Engineering & Processing: Process Intensification, Vol. 130, p. 310.

McCabe, WL, Smith JC and Harriott. P 1993, “Distillation”, Unit operation of chemical
engineering, 5th edition, McGraw-Hill, pp.521-576.
 87

Mukherjee, R 1998, “Effectively design shell-and-tube heat exchangers”, Chemical

engineering progress, vol. 94, no. 2.

Niwa, M, Katada, N and Okumura, K 2010, “Introduction to Zeolite Science and Catalysis”,
Characterization and design of zeolite catalysts, Springer, pp. 01 – 02.

Norouzi,HR, Hasani, MA, Haddadi-Sisakht, B and Mostoufi, N 2014, “Economic design and
optimization of Zeolite-Based Cumene production plant”, Chemical engineering
communication, Vol. 201, pp. 1271 – 1291.

Peter, M. Timmerhaus, K. & West, R. 2003, Plant Design and Economics for Chemical
Engineers, University of Colorado, Mcgraw Hill.

Perry, R.H. and Green, D.W. 1997, Perry’s Chemical Engineers’ Handbook, 7th Edition,
McGraw-Hill.

Treybal, RE 1980, “Distillation”, Mass transfer operation, 3rd Edition, McGraw-Hill,

pp.363– 423.
 88

10. Bibliography
Luyben, W 2011, “Design and control of the cumene process”, Principles and case
studies of simultaneous design, 1st Edition, John Wiley & Sons.

Pathak,A , Agarwal, S, Gera, V and Kaistha,N 2011, “Design and control of a vapour-
phase conventional process and reactive distillation process for cumene production”,
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol.50, pp. 3312 – 3326.
 89

Appendix
Appendix 1 – Calculation procedure of reactor
The reaction kinetics is shown as the equation below:
The reaction kinetics is shown as the equation below:
ki cb cp mole
ri= (gcat)(s)

Where the equilibrium constant k expresses as:

−E
Ki=Ai × exp( RTi )
−24.9
For Rxn-1: k1 =3.5 × 104 × exp( )
RT

Where:
L2 L2 1000g 1m3
3.5 × 104 (mol×g×cat×s) = 3.5 × 104 × mol×g×cat×s × × 1000L = 3.5 ×
kg

m3 L
104 mol×kg×cat×s

m3 L 1000mol 1600kg.cat m3
3.5 × 104 mol×kg×cat×s × × = 5.6× 107 kmol.s
1 kmol 1000L

The void fraction is 0.5:

m3
A1= 5.6 × 107 × 0.5 = 2.8 × 107 kmol.s
kcal 24.9×4.2×1000kJ
E1= 24.9 mol = = 104580 kJ/kmol
kmol

−35.08
For Rxn-2: k2 =2.9 × 106 × exp( )
RT

Where:
L2 L2 1000g 1m3
2.9 × 106 (mol×g×cat×s) = 2.9 × 106 × mol×g×cat×s × × 1000L
kg

m3 L
= 2.9 × 106 mol×kg×cat×s
m3 L 1000mol 1600kg.cat m3
3.5 × 104 mol×kg×cat×s × × = 4.64× 109 kmol.s
1 kmol 1000L

The void fraction is 0.5:

m3
A1 = 4.64× 109 × 0.5 = 2.32 × 107 kmol.s
kcal 35.08×4.2×1000kJ
E2 =35.08 mol = = 147336 kJ/kmol
kmol
 90

Appendix 2 – Outline equipment

Figure 45 – PFD for cumene production

Table 33 – Outline equipment

Equipment Symbol Image Description

Mixers MIX-100 Mixing benzene feed stream and
propylene feed stream

MIX-101 Mixing cumene produced from

transalkylation reactor with
separated liquid

MIX-102 Mixing the outlet stream leaving

the PFR-100 with bypass stream

MIX-103 Mixing the benzene stream with

DIPB for from trans alkylation
reactor

MIX-104 Mixing the recycle benzene

with the fresh benzene

Pumps P-100 75% efficiency

ΔP = 2399 kPa
Power = 12.40 kW
 91

P-101 75% efficiency

ΔP = 1357 kPa
Power = 5.028 kW

P-102 75% efficiency

ΔP = 1025 kPa
Power = 0.1492 kW

P-103 75% efficiency

ΔP = 990 kPa
Power = 0.8892 kW

Heat exchangers E-100 Q= 5,614,399.5 kJ/h

E-102 Q = 8,291,421.01 kJ/h

E-101 Q = 195,548.2 kJ/h

E-103 Q = 31,302.85 kJ/h

E-104 Q = 259,979.35 kJ/h

Furnace FH-100 75% efficiency

ΔP = 2399 kPa
Q = 6,419,000 kJ/h

Tees TEE-100 Split the benzene stream into the

stream for transalkylation
reactor

TEE-101 Split the initial feed stream

before entering the PFR-100
 92

Reactors PFR-100 Total reactor volume = 21.02 m3

Length = 10.46 m
Diameter = 1.6 m
Number of tubes = 1
Wall thickness = 0.005 m
Q = 6,746,666.14 kJ /h
PFR-101 Total reactor volume = 2.135 m3
Length = 1.388 m
Diameter = 1.2 m
Number of tubes = 1
Wall thickness = 0.005 m
Q = 0 kJ /h

Separator V-100 ΔP = 0 kPa

Vertical direction, flat cylinder

Distillation T-100 Reflux ratio = 1

columns 27 stages; main stage: 15
Weir height = 50.8 mm
Weir length = 0.83 m
Sieve tray, 24 inch spacing
Column diameter = 4.3 ft
Active area = 0.81 m2; total area
= 0.92 m2
Q condenser = 2,283,152.4 kJ/h ;
Q reboiler= 4,868,454.16 kJ/h

T-101 Reflux ratio = 0.66

37 stages; main stage: 7
Weir height = 50.8 mm
Weir length = 0.87 m
Sieve tray, 24 inch spacing
Column diameter = 1.21 m
Active area = 0.92 m2; total area
= 1.035 m2
Q condenser = 6,011,241.72 kJ/h ;
Q reboiler= 6,074,897.015 kJ/h

Valve Valve-100 ΔP = 2389 kPa

Percentage of open = 50%

Valve-101 ΔP = 73.68 kPa

Percentage of open = 50%

Valve-102 ΔP = 1099 kPa

Percentage of open = 50%
 93

Appendix 3 – Calculation procedure for distillation column

1. Splitter
Specify in parameter
o Top stream : vapour – vapour fraction =1
o Bottom steam : liquid – vapour fraction =0
o Inlet stream pressure:
Column X-100: 101.3 kPa
Column X-101: 233.8 kPa
Specify splits
o Column X-100
In overhead steam
100% recovery Cumene
100% recovery DIPB

In bottoms stream
100% recovery Benzene
100% recovery Propene
Figure 46 – Design of splitter X-101

o Column X-101
In overhead steam
100% recovery Cumene

In bottoms stream
100% recovery DIPB

Figure 47 – Design of splitter X-101

Delete the pressure from the stream and defined vapour fraction = 0 (bubble point at 49 oC).
Reset PD = 30 psia = 206.8 kPa
 94

Heuristic:
Column X-100 Column X-101
Heuristic: 1 kPa per stage – assume 27 stages Heuristic: 1 kPa per stage – assume 37 stages
kPA kPA
 PB = 30 psia x (6.895 psia ) + 27  PB = 30 psia x (6.895 psia ) + 37

 PB = 233.85 kPa  PB = 243.85 kPa

Create a new stream and defined it as bottom stream

Define vapour fraction = 0 and PB = 233.85 kPa for column X-100 and 243.85 kPa for
column X-101.
There are no occur polymerization and double carbon bond.
Table 34 – Determined result of pressure in distillation and bottom in column X-100 and
column X-101

Column X-100 Column X-101

Pressure in distillation (kPa) 206.8 kPa 206.8 kPa
Pressure in bottoms (kPa) 233.85 kPa 243.85 kPa

2. Short-cut column
Table 35 – Specifying the parameter for column T-102 and column T-103

Column T-102 Column T-103

Light key in bottoms
Heavy key in
distillation
Condenser pressure (kPa)
Reboiler pressure (kPa)
Minimum reflux ratio (Rmin)
External reflux ratio
Component : Benzene Component : Cumene
Mole fraction: 1x107 Mole fraction: 1x107
Component : Cumene Component : DIPB
Mole fraction: 0.0001 Mole fraction: 0.0001
206.8 kPa 206.8 kPa
233.8 kPa 243.8 kPa
0.466 0.482
𝑅 = 2.2𝑅𝑚𝑖𝑛 = 2.2 × 0.466 𝑅 = 1.4𝑅𝑚𝑖𝑛 = 1.4 × 0.479
𝑅=1 𝑅 = 0.675
 95

Read the output

Table 36 – Summary the result of the output in column T-102 and column T-103

Column T-102 Column T-103

Number of stages N 27 37
Optimal feed stage 16 7
Condenser temperature 59.30oC 183.5oC
Reboiler temperature 190.4oC 252.4oC

3. Rigorous distillation columns

3.1. Column efficiency
Table 37 –Temperature of each stage in column T-100 and column T-101

Column T-100 Column T-101

Condenser temperature (oC) 59.12oC 183.2oC
Reboiler temperature (oC) 190.0oC 252.2oC
Average temperature (oC) 124.56oC 217.7oC
The stage which have the closed value with the value of that temperature, is can be considered
to be a main stage.
o Main stage of column T-101 is stage 14, as the temperature of this stage is close to the
average temperature of column ( T = 118.0oC  Taverage = 124.56oC)
o Main stage of column T-101 is stage 14, as the temperature of this stage is close to the
average temperature of column ( T = 217.1oC  Taverage = 217.7oC)
- Thus, the density and surface tension of main stage are found
Table 38 – Summary the mass density and surface tension in column T-100 and column T-
101

Column T-100 Column T-101

Mass density ( kg/m3)  = 806.9 kg/m3  = 704.9 kg/m3
Surface tension (dyne/cm)  = 20.70 dyne/cm  = 12.04 dyne/cm
 96

Base on the values of condenser viscosity and reboiler viscosity in HYSYS, the average values
are obtained 𝜇𝐿.
Table 39 – Summary the viscosity of each stages in column T-100 and column T-101

Column T-100 Column T-101

Viscosity of condenser (cP) µcondenser = 0.3630 cP µcondenser = 0.1627 cP
Viscosity of reboiler (cP) µreboiler = 0.1555 cP µreboiler = 0.1174 cP
The average value μL μL = 0.2593 μL = 0.1401

Read out the K-values of Cumene and DIPB for each condenser and reboiler stages
respectively. Then calculate the average of K-values for each stage.
Table 40 – Determination K-value for each stage in column T-100 and column T-101

Column T-100 Column T-101

Condenser Condenser
 K- values of Cumene in condenser: 0.0243  K- values of Cumene in condenser : 0.9928
 K- values of Benzene in condenser: 0.2602  K- values of DIPB in condenser : 0.2906
𝐵𝑒𝑛𝑧𝑒𝑛𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑟 𝐶𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑟
 𝛼𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑟 =  𝛼𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑟 =
𝐶𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑟 𝐷𝐼𝑃𝐷 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑟
0.2602
 𝛼𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑟 = 0.0243
= 10.71 0.9928
 𝛼𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑟 = 0.2906 = 3.416
Reboiler Reboiler
 K- values of Cumene in reboiler : 1.017  K- values of Cumene in reboiler : 2.733
 K- values of Benzene in reboiler: 4.490  K- values of DIPB in reboiler : 0.9969
𝐵𝑒𝑛𝑧𝑒𝑛𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑏𝑜𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑟
 𝛼𝑟𝑒𝑏𝑜𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑟 =  𝛼𝑟𝑒𝑏𝑜𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑟 =
𝐶𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑏𝑜𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑟
𝐶𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑏𝑜𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑟
𝐷𝐼𝑃𝐷 𝑟𝑒𝑏𝑜𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑟
4.490 2.733
𝛼𝑟𝑒𝑏𝑜𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑟 = 1.017 = 4.415  𝛼𝑟𝑒𝑏𝑜𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑟 = 0.9969 = 2.741
 𝛼 = (𝛼𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑟 + 𝛼𝑟𝑒𝑏𝑜𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑟 )/2  𝛼 = (𝛼𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑟 + 𝛼𝑟𝑒𝑏𝑜𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑟 )/2
1.017+4.490
𝛼= = 8.423 𝛼 =
3.416+2.741
= 3.079
2
2
 97

Then calculate the column efficiency by base on O’ Connel correlation:

𝐸𝑜 = 0.492 × (μL × 𝛼)−0.245 ± 10%
Table 41- Determination of the column efficiency for column T-100 and column T-101

Column T-100 Column T-101

𝐸𝑜 = 0.492 × (μL × 𝛼)−0.245 ± 10% 𝐸𝑜 = 0.492 × (μL × 𝛼)−0.245 ± 10%
𝐸𝑜 = 0.492 × (0.2593 × 8.423)−0.245 ± 10% 𝐸𝑜 = 0.492 × (0.1401 × 3.079)−0.245 ± 10%

𝐸𝑜 = 0.447 𝐸𝑜 = 0.572
The range of efficiency for aqueous solution is from 40%-90%, thereby the efficiency for both
column are accepted.

3.2. The number of actual stages

Table 42 – Calculating the number of actual stages for column T-100 and column T-101

Column T-100 Column T-101

𝑁𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑁𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑦
𝐸= 𝐸=
𝑁𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑁𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙
27 37
 0.447 =  0.572 =
𝑁𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑁𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙

 𝑁𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 = 60  𝑁𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 = 65
 Number of stage 60  Number of stage 65

3.3. Height of column

Table 43 – Summary the height of column for column T-100 and column T-101

Column T-100 Column T-101

Plate spacing 24 inches 24 inches
(inches)
Disengagement and 5.871 + 5.871 = 11.742 ft 5.871 + 5.871 = 11.742 ft
column sump at the
top and bottom (ft)
25 25
Height of column 𝐻 = 22 × 𝑁𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 × × 10−2 + 11.742 𝐻 = 22 × 𝑁𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 × × 10−2 + 11.742
3 3
(ft) 25 25
𝐻 = 22 × 60 × 3
× 10−2 + 11.742 𝐻 = 22 × 65 × 3
× 10−2 + 11.742

𝐻 = 122 𝑓𝑡 𝐻 = 131 𝑓𝑡
 98

3.4.Column diameter
Read out the HYSYS parameter
Table 44 – Parameter specification in column diameter calculation

Parameter Symbol Units HYSYS flow Variable

Liquid flow rate L lb/hr Reflux – Mass flow
Vapour flow rate G lb/hr To condenser – Mass flow
Liquid surface tension  dyne/cm Reflux – Surface tension
Density of liquid L lb/ft3 Reflux – Mass density
Density of vapour G lb/ft3 To condenser – Mass density
Molar weight of liquid ML Kg/mole Reflux – Molecular weight
Molar weight of vapour MG Kg/mole Boil up – Molecular weight
Flow rate of boiling up vapour Gboil up lb/hr Boil up – Mass flow

Flow parameter could be determined by the equation:

𝐿 𝜌𝐺
𝐹𝐿𝐺 = ×√
𝐺 𝜌𝐿

1.1.1. Column T-100

29220𝑙𝑏/ℎ𝑟 50.96 𝑙𝑏/𝑓𝑡 3

𝐹𝐿𝐺 = ×√
7665 𝑙𝑏/ℎ𝑟 44.01 𝑙𝑏/𝑓𝑡 3

𝐹𝐿𝐺 = 4.10
Tray spacing = 0.6096 m = 24 inches
Csb could be found by using Figure X: Flooding velocity determination plot and the value of
flow parameter above.
 99

Figure 48 – Flooding velocity determination plots for column T-100

Base on the figure X, Csb  0.01 ft/s = 0.00305 m/s

Non foaming system  Ff = 1 for most distillation system
𝐴ℎ
The ratio of hole area and active area 𝐴𝑎 = 0.1  Fha = 1

The velocity of flooding U f :

𝜎 0.2 𝜌𝐿 − 𝜌𝐺 0.5
𝑈𝑓 = 𝐶𝑠𝑏 × ( ) × 𝐹𝑓 × 𝐹ℎ𝑎 × ( )
20 𝜌𝐺
20.70 0.2 816.3 − 704.9 0.5
𝑈𝑓 = 0.00305 × ( ) ×1×1×( )
20 704.9
𝑚
𝑈𝑓 = 0.0012 = 14.173 𝑓𝑡/ℎ
𝑠
Assume that flooding is 80%, therefore the velocity of vapour :
𝑈𝐺 = 0.8 × 𝑈𝑓
𝑈𝐺 = 0.8 × 0.0012
𝑚
𝑈𝐺 = 0.00096 = 11.338 𝑓𝑡/ℎ𝑟
𝑠
𝐴𝑑
As FLG ≤ 0.1  The ratio of downcomer area and total area = 0.1
𝐴𝑡
 100

Determine the column diameter:

0.5
4×𝐺
𝐷𝑡 = ( )
𝐴𝑑
𝑈𝐺 × 𝜋 × (1 − 𝐴𝑡 ) × 𝜌𝐺
0.5
4 × 7665
𝐷𝑡 = ( )
11.338 × 𝜋 × (1 − 0.1) × 50.96
𝐷𝑡 = 4.33 𝑓𝑡

𝐻 122𝑓𝑡
Check the ratio of height – diameter 𝐷 = 4.33𝑓𝑡 = 28.17 ∈ [20,30]  Acceptable height for
𝑡

column design
1.1.2. Column T-101

1303 𝑙𝑏/ℎ𝑟 44.41 𝑙𝑏/𝑓𝑡 3

𝐹𝐿𝐺 = ×√
27920 𝑙𝑏/ℎ𝑟 41.28 𝑙𝑏/𝑓𝑡 3

𝐹𝐿𝐺 = 0.048
Tray spacing = 0.6096 m = 24 inches
Csb could be found by using Figure X: Flooding velocity determination plot and the value of
flow parameter above.

Figure 49 – Flooding velocity determination plots for column T-101

 101

Base on the figure X, Csb  0.38 ft/s = 0.1158 m/s

Non-foaming system  Ff = 1 for most distillation system
𝐴ℎ
The ratio of hole area and active area 𝐴𝑎 = 0.1  Fha = 1

The velocity of flooding U f :

𝜎 0.2 𝜌𝐿 − 𝜌𝐺 0.5
𝑈𝑓 = 𝐶𝑠𝑏 × ( ) × 𝐹𝑓 × 𝐹ℎ𝑎 × ( )
20 𝜌𝐺
12.04 0.2 711.4 − 661.3 0.5
𝑈𝑓 = 0.1128 × ( ) ×1×1×( )
20 661.3
𝑚
𝑈𝑓 = 0.028 = 330.71 𝑓𝑡/ℎ
𝑠
Assume that flooding is 80%, therefore the velocity of vapour:
𝑈𝐺 = 0.8 × 𝑈𝑓
𝑈𝐺 = 0.8 × 0.028
𝑚
𝑈𝐺 = 0.0224 = 264.57 𝑓𝑡/ℎ𝑟
𝑠
𝐴𝑑
As FLG ≤ 0.1  The ratio of downcomer area and total area = 0.1
𝐴𝑡

Determine the column diameter:

0.5
4×𝐺
𝐷𝑡 = ( )
𝐴𝑑
𝑈𝐺 × 𝜋 × (1 − 𝐴𝑡 ) × 𝜌𝐺
0.5
4 × 27920
𝐷𝑡 = ( )
264.57 × 𝜋 × (1 − 0.1) × 44.41
𝐷𝑡 = 1.833 𝑓𝑡
𝐻 131𝑓𝑡
Check the ratio of height – diameter 𝐷 = 1.833𝑓𝑡 = 71.45
𝑡
 102

3.5. Multi-pass Trays

Table 45 – Summary the liquid flow rate for column T-100 and column T-101

Column T-100 Column T-101

Liquid flow rate 13250 kg/h = 29220 591.2 kg/h = 1303 lb/hr
(lb/hr)
Density of 704.9 kg/m3 = 50.96 lb/ft3 661.3 kg/m3-= 41.28 lb/ft3
Liquid (lb/ft3)
Unit conversation from lb/hr to gallon/min (gpm)
1 ℎ𝑟 1 ℎ𝑟
The liquid flow 𝐿× (
60 min
) 𝑔𝑎𝑙 𝐿× (
60 min
) 𝑔𝑎𝑙
𝑄𝐿 = × 6.2288 (𝑓𝑡 3 ) 𝑄𝐿 = × 6.2288 (𝑓𝑡 3 )
𝜌𝐿 𝜌𝐿
rate QL
𝑙𝑏 1 ℎ𝑟 𝑙𝑏 1 ℎ𝑟
29220 ( )× ( ) 1303 ( )× ( )
(gal/min) 𝑄𝐿 = ℎ𝑟 60 min
× 𝑄𝐿 = ℎ𝑟 60 min
×
𝑙𝑏 𝑙𝑏
50.96 ( 3 ) 41.28 ( 3 )
𝑓𝑡 𝑓𝑡

𝑔𝑎𝑙 𝑔𝑎𝑙
6.2288 (𝑓𝑡 3 ) 6.2288 (𝑓𝑡 3 )

𝑄𝐿 = 59.53 𝑔𝑝𝑚 𝑄𝐿 = 2.65 𝑔𝑝𝑚

The number of tray pass can be calculated by using a plot of liquid flow rate Q L vs diameter
DT

Figure 50 – A plot of liquid flow rate (gal/min) and column diameter (ft)

Column T-100 had the liquid flow rate of 2.65 gpm and 4.33ft diameter, so the column is
single pass
Column T-101 had the liquid flow rate of 59.53 gpm and 1.833 ft diameter, so the column is
single pass.
 103

3.6. Pressure drop

First, the velocity of vapour can be found by based on total cross-sectional area.
1 4
𝑢𝑣ap = 𝐺 × ×
𝜌𝐺 𝜋 × 𝐷𝑇2
Table 46 – Vapour velocity in 2 columns

Column T-100 Column T-100

1 4 1 4
𝑢𝑣ap = 𝐺 × 𝜌 × 𝜋×𝐷2 𝑢𝑣ap = 𝐺 × 𝜌 × 𝜋×𝐷2
𝐺 𝑇 𝐺 𝑇

𝑙𝑏 1 ℎ𝑟 1 𝑓𝑡 3 𝑙𝑏 1 ℎ𝑟 1 𝑓𝑡 3
𝑢𝑣ap = 7665 (ℎ𝑟) × 3600 ( 𝑠 ) × 50.96 ( 𝑙𝑏 ) × 𝑢𝑣ap = 27920 (ℎ𝑟) × 3600 ( 𝑠 ) × 44.41 ( 𝑙𝑏 ) ×
4 1 4 1
(𝑓𝑡 2 ) (𝑓𝑡 2 )
𝜋×4.332 𝜋×1.8332
𝑓𝑡 𝑓𝑡
𝑢𝑣ap = 0.0028 𝑢𝑣ap = 0.0165
𝑠 𝑠

Hole area is 10% of total active area

Table 47 – Summary the velocity of hole for column T-100 and column T-101

Column T-100 Column T-100

𝑢𝑣ap 𝑢𝑣ap
𝑢𝑜 = 𝑢𝑜 =
0.1 0.1
0.0028 𝑓𝑡 0.0165 𝑓𝑡
 𝑢𝑜 = = 0.028  𝑢𝑜 = = 0.165
0.1 𝑠 0.1 𝑠

Then, calculating the dry tray pressure drop (Hd):

𝑈0 2 𝜌𝐺
ℎ𝑑 = 0.186 ( ) × ( )
𝐶0 𝜌𝐿
Table 48 – Summary the dry tray pressure drop for column T-100 and column T-101

Column T-100 Column T-100

0.028 2 50.96 0.165 2 44.41
ℎ𝑑 = 0.186 ( 0.66 ) × (44.01) ℎ𝑑 = 0.186 ( 0.66 ) × (41.28)

 ℎ𝑑 = 0.3876 𝑖𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠  ℎ𝑑 = 0.0125 𝑖𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠

The height of weir (hw) can be obtained from HYSYS
Table 49 – Summary the weir height for column T-100 and column T-101

Column T-100 Column T-100

Height of weir 50.8mm = 2 inches 50.8mm = 2 inches
(inches)
 104

Next is determining the equivalent head on tray (hl):

2
𝑞𝑙 3
ℎ𝑙 = 𝜑𝑒 [ℎ𝑤 + 𝐶 ( )]
𝐿𝑤 𝜑𝑒
Table 50 – Summary the equivalent head on tray for column T-100 and column T-101

Column T-100 Column T-100

𝐴𝑑 𝐴 𝐴𝑑 𝐴
= 0.1 𝐴𝑎 = 0.9 = 0.1 𝐴𝑎 = 0.9
𝐴𝑇 𝑇 𝐴𝑇 𝑇

𝑢𝑣ap 0.0028 𝑢𝑣ap 0.0165

Superficial 𝑢𝑎 = = = 0.003 𝑓𝑡/𝑠 𝑢𝑎 = = = 0.018 𝑓𝑡/𝑠
0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9
vapour
velocity
(ft/s)
Capacity 𝜌𝐺 0.5 𝜌𝐺 0.5
𝑘𝑆 = 𝑢𝑎 × (𝜌 ) 𝑘𝑆 = 𝑢𝑎 × (𝜌 )
𝐿 −𝜌𝐺 𝐿 −𝜌𝐺
parameter
50.96 0.5 44.41 0.5
(ft/s)  𝑘𝑆 = 0.003 × (50.96−44.01)  𝑘𝑆 = 0.018 × (41.28−44.41)

 𝑘𝑆 = 0.0081 𝑓𝑡/𝑠  𝑘𝑆 = 0.0678 𝑓𝑡/𝑠

0.91 ) 0.91 )
Effective 𝜑𝑒 = 𝑒 (−4257𝑘𝑠 𝜑𝑒 = 𝑒 (−4.257𝑘𝑠
relative 0.91 0.91
 𝜑𝑒 = 𝑒(−4.257𝑥 0.0081 )
 𝜑𝑒 = 𝑒(−4.257𝑥 0.0678 )

froth
 𝜑𝑒 = 0.95  𝜑𝑒 = 0.69
density
𝐶 = 0.362 + 0.317 × 𝑒 −3.5ℎ𝑤 𝐶 = 0.362 + 0.317 × 𝑒 −3.5ℎ𝑤
 𝐶 = 0.362 + 0.317 × 𝑒 −3.5×2  𝐶 = 0.362 + 0.317 × 𝑒 −3.5×2
 𝐶 = 0.362  𝐶 = 0.362
Weir 𝐿𝑊 = 073𝐷𝑇 = 0.73 × 4.33 𝐿𝑊 = 073𝐷𝑇 = 0.73 × 1.833
length  𝐿𝑊 = 3.16 𝑓𝑡 = 37.92 inches  𝐿𝑊 = 1.338 𝑓𝑡 = 16.06 inches
(inches)
2 2/3
Weir 𝑞𝑙 𝑄𝐿
ℎ𝑙 = 𝜑𝑒 [ℎ𝑤 + 𝐶 (𝐿 )]
3 ℎ𝑙 = 𝜑𝑒 [ℎ𝑤 + 𝐶 (𝐿 )]
𝑤 𝜑𝑒 𝑤 𝜑𝑒
height
2 2
2.65 3
(inches)  ℎ𝑙 = 0.95 [2 + 0.362 (37.92×0.95)]
59.53 3  ℎ𝑙 = 0.69 [2 + 0.362 (16.06×0.69)]

 ℎ𝑙 = 1.795 𝑖𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠  ℎ𝑙 = 1.127 𝑖𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠

 105

Assume that the maximum bubble diameter is equal to the diameter of dry tray pressure drop
(DB(max) = DH)
Table 51 – Summary the pressure drop due to surface tension for column T-100 and column
T-101

Column T-100 Column T-100

Bubble diameter DB(max) = DH = 6.35 mm-=6.35 x 103 DB(max) = DH = 6.35 mm-=6.35 x 103 m
(m) m
Pressure drop due 6𝜎 6𝜎
ℎ𝜎 = 𝑔𝜌 ℎ𝜎 = 𝑔𝜌
𝐿 𝐷𝐵(max) 𝐿 𝐷𝐵(max)
to surface tension
6×20.70×102 (𝑑𝑦𝑛𝑒/𝑚) 6×12.04×102 (𝑑𝑦𝑛𝑒/𝑚)
(inches) ℎ𝜎 = 𝑚 𝑙𝑏 ℎ𝜎 = 𝑚 𝑙𝑏
9.81 ( 2 )×44.01 ( 3 )×6.35×103 9.81 ( 2 )×41.28 ( 3 )×6.35×103
𝑠 𝑓𝑡 𝑠 𝑓𝑡

ℎ𝜎 = 4.53 × 10−3 𝑚 ℎ𝜎 = 2.81 × 10−3 𝑚

ℎ𝜎 = 0.17835 inches ℎ𝜎 = 0.11063 inches
The equation of total heat loss is:
ℎ𝑡 = ℎ𝑑 + ℎ𝐼 + ℎ𝜎
Table 52 – Summary the total heat loss for column T-100 and column T-101

Column T-100 Column T-100

Total heat loss ℎ𝑡 = ℎ𝑑 + ℎ𝐼 + ℎ𝜎 ℎ𝑡 = ℎ𝑑 + ℎ𝐼 + ℎ𝜎
(inches) ℎ𝑡 = 0.3876 + 1.795 + 0.17835 ℎ𝑡 = 0.0125 + 1.127 + 0.11063
ℎ𝑡 = 2.361 𝑖𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠 ℎ𝑡 = 1.250 𝑖𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠

Tray pressure drop:

Table 53 – Summary the tray pressure drop for column T-100 and column T-101

Column T-100 Column T-100

Tray pressure 𝑘𝑔 𝑘𝑔
ℎ𝑡 × 𝜌𝐿 = 2.361 (𝑖𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠) × 704.9 (𝑚3) ℎ𝑡 × 𝜌𝐿 = 1.250 (𝑖𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠) × 661.3 (𝑚3)
drop (psi)
= 1664.27 (𝑖𝑛. 𝑘𝑔/𝑚 3 ) = 826.63 (𝑖𝑛. 𝑘𝑔/𝑚 3 )
= 0.963 𝑝𝑠𝑖 = 0.478 𝑝𝑠𝑖
 106

3.7 Other dimensions

Table 54 – Summary the result of other dimensions for column T-100 and column T-101

Column T-100 Column T-101

Sieve tray hole 12.7 mm 12.7 mm
(mm)
Deck thickness 3.404 mm 3.404 mm
(mm)
Weir height (mm) 50.8 mm 50.8 mm
Wire length (ft) 2.7 ft 2.885 ft
Downcomer width 0.736 ft 0.312 ft
(ft)
Flow path length 𝐹𝑝𝑙 = 𝐷𝑇 − 2 × 𝑤𝑑𝑙 𝐹𝑝𝑙 = 𝐷𝑇 − 2 × 𝑤𝑑𝑙
(ft) 𝐹𝑝𝑙 = 4.33 − 2 × 0.736 𝐹𝑝𝑙 = 1.833 − 2 × 0.312
𝐹𝑝𝑙 = 2.86 𝑓𝑡 𝐹𝑝𝑙 = 1.21 𝑓𝑡
Downcomer 38.1 mm 38.1 mm
clearance (mm)
Downcomer 0.1 0.1
clearance/ tower area
 107

Appendix 4 – Calculation procedure for HEX

Figure 51 – Overall Heat-Transfer Coefficients in Tubular Heat Exchangers

 108

Fig LMTD correction factors for heat exchangers with one shell pass, two or more tube passes.
109
110
 111

Figure 52 – Reynold number-Friction factor plot

 112

Figure 53 – Reynold number-Friction factor plot

 113

Appendix 5 – Economic Evaluation

Fixed Capital Investment

The fixed capital investment (FCI) is a total cost for all the equipment needed. All calculation
will be carried out in MS Excel 2016 and the price for all equipment needs to be convert into
current cost (2018). Moreover, necessary condition for calculation such as specified size for
reactor, separator and distillation column, duty and area of pump, heat exchanger and cooler
were determined from HYSYS. The trays and vessels which were required for operating also
defined by using HYSYS simulation
 Table 55 – Fixed Capital Cost for design process using the propylene feed stream contains 5% propane
Fixed capital investment
Pressu Total
Equipmen Pressure Materia User Input, Equipment Purchased Current
Equipment Type Material type re Utilization Installation
t Name (atm) l Factor Unit cost cost Cost
factor Cost
P-100 Carbon Steel 13.4 0.6 0 power, kW 5.028 $630 $1,202 $1,182 $5,439
Pump
P-101 Carbon Steel 23.68 3 0 power, kW 12.71 $630 $1,742 $1,714 $11,995

Heat exchanger E-100 Stainless Steel 0 0 4 area, m2 21.87 $1,030 $6,558 $6,451 $51,610

E-101 Carbon Steel 0 0 0 area, m2 17.84 $1,030 $5,803 $5,709 $22,837

Heater/cooler
E-102 Carbon Steel 0 0 0 area, m2 4 $1,030 $2,366 $2,328 $9,312

Furnace FH-100 Carbon Steel 0 0 0 duty, kW 1797.32 $635 $254,961 $250,826 $1,003,303

Stainless Steel pressure, bar 0.071

Reactor PFR-100 - - 4 height, m 10.45 - $42,997 $42,300 $338,397

diameter, m 1.6

Stainless Steel pressure, bar 1.013

Vessel V-100 - - 4 height, m 5.95 - $21,036 $20,695 $165,559

diameter, m 1.09

Stainless Steel pressure, bar 1

T-100 - - 4 height, m 41.5 - $138,774.64 $136,524 $1,092,190

vessel
1.3
diameter, m
Tray Tower
Stainless Steel pressure, bar 2.3

T-102 - - 4 height, m 44.5 - $110,305.03 $108,516 $868,127

vessel
0.55
diameter, m

Total FCI $3,568,768

95
Table 56 – Fixed Capital Cost for design process using the propylene feed stream (99%)

96
Labor Costs
The labour costs for both pathways is similar, which is show in the table below:
Table 57 – Operating labour

Operating Labor

Equipment Number of equipment Operators per Shift Total operators per shift
Auxiliary Facilities
Air Plants 0 1 0
Boilers 0 1 0
Chimneys and Stacks 0 0 0
Cooling Towers 0 1 0
Water Demineralizers 0 0.5 0
Electric Generation Plants 0 0.5 0
Portable Generation Plants 0 3 0
Electric Substations 0 0 0
Incinerators 0 2 0
Mechanical Refrigeration Units 0 0.5 0
Waste Water Treatment Plants 0 2 0
Water Treatment Plants 0 2 0
Process Equipment
Evaporators 0 0.3 0
Vaporizers 0 0.05 0
Furnaces 0 0.5 0
Fans 0 0.05 0
Blowers and Compressors 0 0.15 0
Heat Exchangers 6 0.1 0.6
Towers 2 0.35 0.7
Vessels 1 0 0
Pumps 2 0 0
Reactors 1 0.5 0.5
(3 weeks’ time off for vacation
A single operator works on average 49 weeks per year and sick leave)
8-hour shifts per week: 5
Total shift per year 245
Process plant normally 3 shifts per day
Plant operates 330 days
Total operators required for the
operation in a given shift 4.04
Total Number of Operators Needed 7.27 8
Expected Annual Salary $63,800
Annual Cost of Operating Labor $510,400.00

97
Moreover, it is important to evaluate other costs associates to Labour operating costs such as:
employee oncost, Operating supervision, Laboratory labour. Each type of these factors is
calculated by multiplying corresponding percentage with the operating labour cost. All
specified information is provided in the design brief. The detail calculation on annual cost is
presented by the Table 59:
Table 58 – Detail calculation on annual cost

Labour Costs %
Operating labour cost 100% $510,400
Employee oncost 20% $102,080
Operating supervision 115% $586,960
Laboratory labour 115% $586,960
Total $1,786,400

98
 Utilities

The information of mass and energy flows is summarized from the HYSYS simulation and the cost of each utility type is give in the design
brief. All utilities information are shown in the Tables below:
Table 59 – Summary of utilities required in the process with propylene feed stream contain 5% propane
Equipment Name Energy stream Utility Type Utility per unit Operating hours (h) Quanlity per year Price per unit Annual Utility Cost Current cost
P-100 Q1 Electricity 5.03E+00 kW 7920 3.98E+04 $0.06 kWh $2,429 $ 2,389.73
P-101 Q2 Electricity 1.27E+01 kW 7920 1.01E+05 $0.06 kWh $6,140 $ 6,040.86
E-102 Q100 Cooling Water 3.96E+05 Kg/h 7920 3.14E+06 $0.02 m3 $62,790 $ 61,771.32
E-103 Q106 Cooling Water 9350 Kg/h 7920 7.41E+04 $0.02 m3 $1,481 $ 1,457.02
PFR-100 Q3 Cooling Water 3.23E+05 Kg/h 7920 2.55E+06 $0.02 m3 $51,100 $ 50,271.01
T-100 Condenser Q101 Cooling Water 1.51E+05 Kg/h 7920 1.20E+06 $0.02 m3 $23,950 $ 23,561.61
T-101 Condenser Q8 Cooling Water 2.95E+05 Kg/h 7920 2.34E+06 $0.02 m3 $46,776 $ 46,016.83
T-100 Reboiler Q6 LP Steam 2691 Kg/h 7920 2.13E+07 $0.00 kg $63,938 $ 62,901.09
T-101 Reboiler Q9 LP Steam 2759 Kg/h 7920 2.19E+07 $0.00 kg $65,554 $ 64,490.56
DIPB disposal Bottom B2 Waste Treatment 5.95E+02 Kg/h 7920 4.71E+06 $1 kg $4,712,400 $ 4,635,965.31
Total Utility Cost per Year $5,036,558 $4,954,865

Table 60 – Summary of utilities required in the process with propylene feed stream (99%)
Equipment Name Energy stream Utility Type Utility per unit Operating hours (h) Quanlity per year Price per unit Annual Utility Cost Current cost
P-100 Q1 Electricity 4.986 KJ/h 7920 3.95E+04 $0.06 kWh $2,409 $ 2,369.77
P-101 Q2 Electricity 15.9 KJ/h 7920 1.26E+05 $0.06 kWh $7,682 $ 7,557.01
E-102 Q100 Cooling Water 5.24E+05 Kg/h 7920 4.15E+06 $0.02 m3 $82,954 $ 81,608.57
E-103 Q106 Cooling Water 29560 Kg/h 7920 2.34E+05 $0.02 m3 $4,682 $ 4,606.36
PFR-100 Q3 Cooling Water 3.20E+05 Kg/h 7920 2.54E+06 $0.02 m3 $50,736 $ 49,912.59
T-100 Condenser Q101 Cooling Water 2.66E+05 Kg/h 7920 2.11E+06 $0.02 m3 $42,134 $ 41,450.98
T-101 Condenser Q8 Cooling Water 3.01E+05 Kg/h 7920 2.39E+06 $0.02 m3 $47,726 $ 46,951.81
T-100 Reboiler Q6 LP Steam 3883 Kg/h 7920 3.08E+07 $0.00 kg $92,260 $ 90,763.63
T-101 Reboiler Q9 LP Steam 2840 Kg/h 7920 2.25E+07 $0.00 kg $67,478 $ 66,383.91
DIPB disposal Bottom B2 Waste Treatment 1.17E+03 Kg/h 7920 9.23E+06 $1 kg $9,226,800 $ 9,077,142.15
Total Utility Cost per Year $9,624,861 $9,468,747

99
 Raw materials and profits

The cost for purchasing raw material and the profit from selling the product are calculated.
Moreover, DIPB is unexpected product, which needs to be disposed. This means company have
to considers cost of waste treatment and the cost of each utility type is give in the design brief.
All raw material cost and profit information are shown in the Table below:
Table 61 – Estimation of raw material cost and Profits (Propylene feed stream contain 5%
propane impurity)

Raw Materials and Profits

Raw Materials Quantity (kg/h) Operating hours Quanlity per year (kg/year)
Price per kg Annual Cost
Benzene 8,920 7920 70,646,400 1.12 $79,123,968
Propylene with 5% propane 5,063 7920 40,098,960 0.88 $35,287,085
Catalyst 16,800 2.52 $42,336
Total Annual Raw Material Cost $114,453,389
Profit Materials Quantity (kg/h) Operating hours Quanlity per year (kg/year)
Price per kg Annual Profit
Cumene 12,635 7920 100,069,200 1.434 $143,499,233
Fuel gas 283 7920 2,241,360 0.63 $1,412,057
Total Annual Profits $144,911,290

Table 62 – Estimation of raw material cost and Profits (Propylene feed stream (99%)
Raw Materials and Profits
Raw Materials Quantity (kg/h) Operating hours Quanlity per year (kg/year)
Price per kg Annual Cost
Benzene 8,920 7920 70,646,400 1.12 $79,123,968
Propylene 5,063 7920 40,098,960 1.57 $62,955,367
Catalyst 16,800 2.52 $42,336
Total Annual Raw Material Cost $142,121,671
Profit Materials Quantity (kg/h) Operating hours Quanlity per year (kg/year)
Price per kg Annual Profit
Cumene 12,669 7920 100,338,480 1.434 $143,885,380
Fuel gas 152 7920 1,203,840 0.63 $758,419
Total Annual Profits $144,643,800

99
Summary of all costs
Table 63 – Summary of all costs

% of FCI
5% propane impurity feed > 99% propylene
Fixed Capital Investment 1 $ 3,568,768 $ 3,821,281
Land 0.04 $ 142,751 $ 152,851
Maintenance and Repairs 0.07 $ 249,814 $ 267,490
Total $ 3,961,333 $ 4,241,622
Utilities $ 4,954,865 $ 9,471,338
Labour Costs $ 1,786,400
Material cost $ 114,453,389 $ 142,121,671
Profit $ 144,911,290 $ 144,643,800
Contigencies 15%
Capex $ 4,246,834 $ 4,547,325
Opex $ 121,444,468 $ 153,646,899
Savings $ 23,466,822 -$ 9,003,099
Total Capital Investment $ 125,691,302 $ 158,194,223
Capex, Opex and savings cost are calculated following these equation:

 Capex cost = Contingencies* ( Fixed Capital Investment)+ Land hiring cost

 Opex cost = Maintenance and Repair cost+ Total (Utilities cost+ Labour cost + Raw
material cost)

 Savings = Profit from selling product – Opex cost

100
Net Present Value calculation tables

101
 Table 64 – Summary of NPV and other economic indicator for pathways 1

NPV Calculations
Year Capital Savings Pre-tax cashflow Depreciation Taxable savings Tax paid After-tax cashflow
0 $4,246,834 -$4,246,834 $0 $0 $0 -$4,246,834
1 0 $23,466,822 $23,466,822 $424,683 $23,042,138 $8,064,748 $15,402,073
2 0 $23,466,822 $23,466,822 $424,683 $23,042,138 $8,064,748 $15,402,073
3 0 $23,466,822 $23,466,822 $424,683 $23,042,138 $8,064,748 $15,402,073
4 0 $23,466,822 $23,466,822 $424,683 $23,042,138 $8,064,748 $15,402,073
5 0 $23,466,822 $23,466,822 $424,683 $23,042,138 $8,064,748 $15,402,073
6 0 $23,466,822 $23,466,822 $400,000 $23,066,822 $8,073,388 $15,393,434
7 0 $23,466,822 $23,466,822 $400,000 $23,066,822 $8,073,388 $15,393,434
8 0 $23,466,822 $23,466,822 $400,000 $23,066,822 $8,073,388 $15,393,434
9 0 $23,466,822 $23,466,822 $400,000 $23,066,822 $8,073,388 $15,393,434
10 0 $23,466,822 $23,466,822 $400,000 $23,066,822 $8,073,388 $15,393,434
Total $4,246,834 $234,668,217 $230,421,383 $4,123,417 $230,544,800 $80,690,680 $149,730,703
NPV $94,576,560.34 Taxation rate 35%
PWPI Index 22.27 Discount rate 9%
Pre Tax Payback 0.18
Atfter Tax Payback 0.21
IRR 363%

102
 Table 65 – Summary of NPV and other economic indicator for pathways

NPV Calculations
Pre-tax Taxable
Year Capital Savings cashflow Depreciation savings Tax paid After-tax cashflow
0 $4,547,325 -$4,547,325 $0 $0 $0 -$4,547,325
1 0 ($9,003,099) -$9,003,099 $454,732 -$9,457,832 -$3,310,241 -$5,692,858
2 0 ($9,003,099) -$9,003,099 $454,732 -$9,457,832 -$3,310,241 -$5,692,858
3 0 ($9,003,099) -$9,003,099 $454,732 -$9,457,832 -$3,310,241 -$5,692,858
4 0 ($9,003,099) -$9,003,099 $454,732 -$9,457,832 -$3,310,241 -$5,692,858
5 0 ($9,003,099) -$9,003,099 $454,732 -$9,457,832 -$3,310,241 -$5,692,858
6 0 ($9,003,099) -$9,003,099 $400,000 -$9,403,099 -$3,291,085 -$5,712,014
7 0 ($9,003,099) -$9,003,099 $400,000 -$9,403,099 -$3,291,085 -$5,712,014
8 0 ($9,003,099) -$9,003,099 $400,000 -$9,403,099 -$3,291,085 -$5,712,014
9 0 ($9,003,099) -$9,003,099 $400,000 -$9,403,099 -$3,291,085 -$5,712,014
10 0 ($9,003,099) -$9,003,099 $400,000 -$9,403,099 -$3,291,085 -$5,712,014
-
Total $4,547,325 ($90,030,991) -$94,578,315 $4,273,662 $94,304,653 -$33,006,629 -$61,571,687
NPV -$41,130,566.23 Taxation rate 35%
PWPI Index -9.05 Discount rate 9%
Pre Tax Payback -0.51
-
After Tax Paypack 0.58
IRR #NUM!

103
Appendix 6 – HAZOP

Consequenc
Line no Description Guide Word Deviation Possible Causes es / Concern Action Required

Feed flow No feed input No reaction Add feed

None
Pressure Not feasible

Temperature Not feasible

Increase
malfunctioned reaction Install flowmeter and flow alarm
rate,
increase
pressure,
Benzen increase
Feed 26
feed temperature,
Feed flow
product
Too much feed input deterioration Monitor feed input
More of , risk of
catastrophic
thermo
runaway
reaction
Pipeline
Pressure malfunctioned Perform regular valve inspection and maintenance
leak/burst
Product Reduce feed temperateure
Increased feed
Temperature deterioration
temperature Monitor feed temperature
,

104
 catastrophic
thermal
runaway
reaction
Check, perform regular valve/line inspection and
malfunctioned Low
Feed flow maintenance
efficiency
feed line blocked Install flowmeter and flow alarm
Less of Low Install flowmeter and flow alarm, perform regular valve
Pressure malfunctioned
efficiency inspection and maintenance
Temperature Not feasible
Impurities in input Decrease
Ensure feed quality, filter feed properly
feed reaction
efficiency,
product
Impurities
contaminati
Feed line corroded Perform regular valve/line inspection and maintenance
on, risk of
More than leak or
explosion
Decrease
reaction
Feed temperature
Phase efficiency, Monitor feed temperature
changed
side
reactions
Reactor
No power Power outage Shut off system and wait for restart
inactive
Other than
Start-up Control system Reactor Check system, perform regular system inspection and
failed malfunction inactive maintenace
Benzen
25 recovery None Feed flow No feed input No reaction check recovery line
feed

105
 Pressure Not feasible

Temperature Not feasible

Increase
malfunctioned reaction Install flowmeter and flow alarm
rate,
increase
pressure,
increase
temperature,
Feed flow
product
Too much recovery deterioration Monitor feed input
, risk of
catastrophic
More of thermo
runaway
reaction
Pipeline
Pressure Malfunctioned Perform regular valve inspection and maintenance
leak/burst
Product Reduce feed temperateure
deterioration
,
Increased
Temperature catastrophic
temperature Monitor feed temperature
thermal
runaway
reaction
Check, perform regular valve/line inspection and
Malfunctioned Low
Feed flow maintenance
efficiency
Less of Feed line blocked Install flowmeter and flow alarm
Low Install flowmeter and flow alarm, perform regular valve
Pressure Malfunctioned
efficiency inspection and maintenance

106
 Temperature Not feasible
Impurities in input Decrease
Ensure feed quality, filter feed properly
feed reaction
efficiency,
product
Impurities
contaminati
Feed line corroded Perform regular valve/line inspection and maintenance
on, risk of
More than leak or
explosion
Decrease
reaction
Feed temperature
Phase efficiency, Monitor feed temperature
changed
side
reactions
Reactor
Other than No power Power outage Shut off system and wait for restart
inactive
Reactor
Power outage Shut-off all valves and wait for restart
inactive
Product
flow Reactor check feed line, performen regular valve/line inspectrion
No feed output
None inactive and maintenance
4 Mixed line
Pressure Not feasible

Temperature Not feasible

Product Increase
More of High flow rate Install flowmeter and flow alarm
flow reactor

107
 pressure,
increase
reactor
temperature,
product
deterioration
and risk of
catastrophic
thermal
runaway
reaction
Damage the
structural
integrity of
the reactor Install mixer pressure monitor, pressure alarm, pressure
Pressure High output pressure vessel and high trip and automatic relief valve, install flowmeter and
its flow alarm
components,
risk of leak
or explosion
Damage the
structural
integrity of
Cooling coil Install vessel temperature monitor, temperature alarm and
the reactor
malfunctioned temperature high trip
vessel and
its
Temperature
components
Increase
reactor
Insufficient cooling
pressure,
water supply
increase
reactor

108
 temperature,
product
deterioration
and risk of
catastrophic
thermal
runaway
reaction
Stirrer Local
Perform regular vessel inspection and maintenance
malfunctioned overheating
Thermocouple Perform regular thermocouple inspection and
malfunction maintenance
Increase
reactor
pressure,
increase
reactor
temperature,
Product
Mixed line blocked damage the Perform regular inspection and maintenance
flow
structural
integrity of
Less than the reactor
vessel and
its
components
Potential
hazardous
for the Check and maintain vessel routinely
Pressure Mixer leaked
environment Install vessel pressure monitor, pressure alarm
and
employees

109
 Risk of
explosion
Line 4 partualy Low
Install flowmeter and flow alarm
blocked efficiency
Unknown
side
Temperature Feed flow too high Install temperature alarm
reactions
may occur
Decrease
reaction
efficiency,
Reactor components product Perform regular pipe line and reactor vessel inspection
corroded contaminati and maintenance
on, risk of
leak or
explosion
Side
More than Impurities
reactions,
Perform regular pipe line and reactor vessel inspection
Mixer leaked product
and maintenance
contaminati
on
Side
reactions,
Impure feed product Monitor feed quality
contaminati
on

110
Line Guide Possible
Description Deviation Consequences / Concern Action Required
no Word Causes
No feed No feed line in Add feed
none flow rate
input
Too much increase pressure, increase Perform regular inspection and
flow rate flow rate temperature maintenance
High flow pipe leak/brust Perform regular inspection and
rate maintenance
more pressure Carbon Product deterioration, Perform regular inspection and
of deposit catastrophic thermal runaway maintenance
propene
and reaction
2 increase Product deterioration, Monitor feed temperature
propane
feed line temperature feed catastrophic thermal runaway
temperature reaction
feed line low efficiency install flowmeter and flow alarm
flow rate
blocked
low low efficiency install flowmeter and flow alarm, preform
less of pressure regular inspection and maintenance
pressure feed line
leak in feed install presuremeater
line
No feed No feed line in Check feed line
flow rate
output
None pump Unchange pressure, unchange check pump duty
none pressure
duty temperature
after pumb None pump Unchange pressure, unchange check pump duty
3 temperature
line duty temperature
Too much increase pressure, increase Perform regular inspection and
flow rate flow rate temperature maintenance
more
of High flow pipe leak/brust Perform regular inspection and
pressure rate maintenance

111
 Carbon Product deterioration, Perform regular inspection and
deposit catastrophic thermal runaway maintenance
reaction
high output Product deterioration, Monitor output temperature
temperature temperature catastrophic thermal runaway
reaction
output line low efficiency install flowmetar and flow alarm
flow rate
less of blocked
pressure leak in pipe low efficiency install presuremeater

Line Possible
Description Guide Word Deviation Consequences / Concern Action Required
no Causes
no feed No feed in line check feed line
none flow rate
input
Too much Increase pressure, increase monitor feed input
feed input temperature, product
flow rate deterioration, risk of
catastrophic thermo
runaway reaction
High flow pipe leak/brust Perform regular inspection and
cool rate maintenance
mix More of
stream in
pressure Carbon Product deterioration, require pipe lines maintenance
deposit catastrophic thermal
runaway reaction
increase Product deterioration, Perform regular inspection and
temperature feed catastrophic thermal maintenance
temperature runaway reaction
feed line low efficiency install flowmeter and flow alarm
less than flow rate
blocked

112
 low low efficiency install flowmeter and flow alarm, preform
pressure regular inspection and maintenance
pressure feed line
leak in feed install presuremeter
line
no feed No feed in line Check feed line
flow rate
input
none pipe Perform regular inspection and
blocked maintenance
Flow control increase pressure on pipes install FAH, FAHH
Flow rate
failure
High output pipe leak/brust install FAH, FAHH on pipe
Pressure
flow rate
more of
Machine Product deterioration, Monitor output temperature, install TAH,
cool performent catastrophic thermal TAHH
5 temperature
stream out failure runaway reaction, change
product purity
output line low efficiency install FAH, FAHH on pipe
flow rate
blocked
leak in feed low efficiency Install PAH,PAHH to mornitor pressure
pressure line on pipe
less than
Machine Product deterioration, install TAH, TAHH to monitor output
performent catastrophic thermal temperature
temperature
failure runaway reaction, change
product purity
pipe no output stream Perform regular inspection and
nore flow rate blocked maintenance
hot steam Flow control increase pressure, reduce install FAH, FAHH
14 flow rate
out failure product purity
More of
High flow increase pressure on pipes install FAH, FAHH on pipe
Pressure
rate

113
 wrong Product deterioration, Perform regular inspection and
temperature machine catastrophic thermal maintenance
funtrion runaway reaction
output line low efficiency install flowmeter and flow alarm
flow rate
blocked
less than
leak in feed low efficiency install presuremeter
pressure
line

114
115
Line Possible
Description Guide Word Deviation Consequences / Concern Action Required
no Causes
flow No reaction install FAL
control
none flow rate failure
No input check feed line
feed
high input decrease product quality, changes install FAH,FAHH on the product
flowrate product composition line
flow rate air control install air flow controller, perform
failure regular inspection and
maintenance
more of Phase Damage the structural integrity of the Install reactor vessel pressure
change reactor vessel and its components, risk monitor, pressure alarm,
after heat pressure of leak or explosion pressure high trip and automatic
6
line relief valve
equipment reaction speed rises, side reaction can install TAH, TAHH on the vessel
temperature
failure occurs
output line low efficiency install flowmeter and flow alarm
flow rate
blocked
equipment Product deterioration, catastrophic Perform regular inspection and
less than failure thermal runaway reaction maintenance, install TAL
temperature
air control
failure
operator incoract reaction, Change product stant operation, test plant design
incorrect errors, purities and simluation
other than
feed speed design
errors

116
 Guid
Lin Descriptio Possible
e Deviation Consequences / Concern Action Required
e no n Causes
Word
flow control No product gain, damage structural install FAL,
failure integrity of separator vessel
reactor Perform regular inspection
operator and maintenance,
none flow rate failure
pipe blocked

power outage reactor inactive shutdown process and wait

for restar
flow control reduce product yield, reduce reactor install FAH, FAHH, perform
flow rate failure efficiency regular inspection and
maintenance
reactor high flow rate Damage the structural integrity of the install FAH, FAHH
7 product reactor vessel and its components, risk of
line leak or explosion
high reaction
pressure
rate
more
increase Damage the structural integrity of the shutdown process and wait
of
product reactor vessel and its components, risk of for restar, perform
voidage leak or explosion maintenance
increase feed reduce product yield, reduce reactor install TAHH, TAH, perform
stream efficiency, risk of leak or explosion, regular inspection and
temperature damage the structural integrity of the maintenance
temperatue reactor vessel and its components
high reaction
rate
side reaction reduce poduct purities

117
 flow control low product output, pipes burst, intall FAL, Perform regular
failure pipe line and reactor vessel
flow rate
less pipe partial inspection and
of blocked maintenance
reduce reduce product purity, reduce reaction Check reactor duty
temperatue
reactor duty rate
Reactor Decrease reaction efficiency, product Perform regular pipe line
components contamination, risk of leak or explosion and reactor vessel
More
Impurities corroded inspection and
than maintenance
Impure feed Side reactions, product contamination Monitor feed quality
Guid Possible Consequences / Concern Action Required
Lin Descriptio
e Deviation Causes
e no n
Word
pump failure No separation process, no production, install FICA to feed line,
pump damage perform regular inspection
flow rate and maintenance
level valve
none
failure
pressure No feasible
temperatur No feasible
feed line e
16
separator too much Increase reaction rate, increase pressure, Mornitor feed input
feed input increase temperature, product
deterioration, risk of catastrophic thermo
more runaway reaction
flow rate
of level control fall in reaction rate, rate of separation install independent level
failure fall/reduce transmitter and FAH
partial failure turbulence flow occurs, install automatic pump
pump shutdown

118
 feed line Damage the structural integrity of the install flowmeter and flow
pressure blocked reactor vessel and its components, risk of alarm
leak or explosion
temperatur increase feed Product deterioration, catastrophic Mornitor feed input
e temperature thermal runaway reaction temperature
pipe leaked rate of production reduces, rate of Perform regular inspection
separation reduces, level fall. and maintenance, install
FAL
blocked in
flowrate pipe
partial failure
less
pump
than
control inlet
valve failure
leaked in Low efficiency install flowmeter and flow
pressure
steam alarm
temperatur No feasible
e
Power outage Separator inactive Shut-off all valves and wait
for restart
LIC failure No product gain, damage structural install LIC control, FAL,
integrity of separator vessel perform regular inspection
flow rate
and maintenance
underline none valve blocked
18 separator feed line
stream blocked
pressure No feasible
temperatur No feasible
e
more level control reduce product purity, low separation Install FAH, FAHH, install
flow rate
of failure efficiency automatic pump shutdown

119
 partial failure
pump
value fully
open
Pipe blocked Damage the structural integrity of the Perform regular inspection
reactor vessel and its components, risk of and maintenance, install
pressure leak or explosion PAHH,PAH
value fully pipes broken, leaked, reduce product install PAH, PAHH
open yield
Stirrer local overheat Perform regular inspection
temperatur
malfunctione and maintenance, install
e
d TAH, TAH
stream Damage the structural integrity of the install flowmeter and flow
blocked reactor vessel and its components, risk of alarm
flow rate leak or explosion
valve partial
less
blocked
than
leaked in Product deterioration, catastrophic install pressuremeter
pressure
steam thermal runaway reaction
temperatur high water Decrease reaction rate install flowmeter and flow
e flowrate alarm

Line Guide Possible

Description Deviation Consequences / Concern Action Required
no Word Causes
Product feed No feed in line check feed line,Install
pump failed flowmeter and flow alarm
column flow rate
isolating
20 under none
valve jammed
stream
pressure no feasible
temperature no feasible

120
 high feed flow Increase reaction rate, increase Mornitor feed input
rate pressure, increase temperature,
flow rate
product deterioration, risk of
catastrophic thermo runaway reaction
high flow rate pipe leak/burst Perform regular valve inspection
pressure and maintenance
high reboiler decrease product purity Install vessel temperature monitor,
more temperature temperature alarm and
of temperature (high and low) trip
high column loss of feed
temperature
temperature expantion of brust pide preform regular inspection and
hot product maintenance

hot product high temperature in furnace install pyrometer in furance

load on
column
Product feed temperature rise in column, drop in Install flowmeter and flow
pump failed liquid level in column, overheating alarm, perform regular valve
flow rate inspection and maintenance
isolating
less valve jammed
than leaked Potential hazardous for the Check and maintain reactor vessel
column environment and employees routinely
pressure Risk of explosion Install vessel pressure monitor,
pressure alarm

water form water turns steam and explodes locate tank to be in hot system,
more atmosphere stream vent at high point in pipe
contamination
than through vent system

121
 LIC failed pump damage Install flowmeter and flow
alarm, perform regular valve
none flow rate valve failed inspection and maintenance

over flow feed more feed in condenser, lower product Install flowmeter and flow
flow rate yield alarm
failure in increase pressure on condenser valve install pressure indicator on
more condenser column, install high pressure
of alarm
column pressure
19 upper failed flow excress pressure install thermocouple on valve
stream stream
cooling of suck back air into column on cooling
condenser
more
reverse flow and column
than
after
shutdown
LIC failed pump damage Install flowmeter and flow
less alarm, perform regular valve
flow rate
than valve jammed inspection and maintenance

feed pump temperature rise in column, drop in install TIC to the vessel to
none flow rate failed liquid level in column, overheating control temperature
valve jammed
flow controller level risen in column,hence install independent high flow
feed fault temperature fall, reboiler capacity alarm
18 flow rate
stream reached, column stop operating
more
of feed Product deterioration, catastrophic Mornitor feed input, install TAH
temperature temperature thermal runaway reaction and TIC to control feed
increase temperature

122
 valve pipe line leak/burst preform regular inspection and
pressure malfunctioned maintenance
feed pump temperature rise in column, drop in install TIC to the vessel to
blocked liquid level in column, overheating control temperature, FIC to
flow rate
less valve blocked control feed flow
than
valve Low efficiency install FICA, perform regular
pressure malfunctioned inspection and maintenance

123
Appendix 7 – Date of meeting

Date of meeting 15/09/2018

Time & location 12 pm – 1 pm at Hub central

Present Hieu Nguyen, Nhut Nguyen, Phuc Truong, Thanh Le, Trang Tran
Absent No
Facilitator Nhut Nguyen
Recorder Thanh Le
Next meeting scheduled 20/09/2018

Points to be discussed Decisions made Responsibilities assigned- Points discussed - Pending

What/Who/When/Where decisions

Background information Research information about 5 chemical
components
Assessment tasks Review assessment tasks to understand all
requirements and the process of project
Everyone – upload files into
group chat on Facebook –
due date 20/09/2018
Everyone – at this meeting
– in Hub central

124
Literature reviews Look for literature articles relating to Everyone – upload files into
cumene production group chat on Facebook –
due date 20/09/2018
Record meeting minutes One of member will record all minutes of Thanh Le – record every
meetings for project
meeting
Problems encountered Solutions
Communication New group chat is created on Facebook to contact with each
members

125
Date of meeting 20/09/2018
Time & location 12pm – 7pm – Cat suite B.23
Present Hieu Nguyen, Nhut Nguyen, Phuc Truong, Thanh Le, Trang Tran
Absent No
Facilitator Hieu Nguyen
Recorder Thanh Le
Next meeting scheduled 28/09/2018

Points to be discussed Decisions made Responsibilities assigned- Points discussed - Pending

What/Who/When/Where decisions

Means-End Analysis - The analysis will begin to work after Everyone – at this meeting
researching for background information. – in Cat suite B.23
- Calculation overall mass balance, the
flow rate reactants and products
required, and Eliminate differences in
composition ( Step 1, 2 and 3 )
Process flow diagram Discussed about draft PFD Everyone – at this meeting - Create a draft PFD and compare
(PFD)
– in Cat suite B.23 with others from published
literature articles.
- Make a decision for a final PFD.
Problems encountered Solutions

126
Find a suitable parameter of flow rate, temperature and pressure for - Base on the Mean – End analysis to decide on these parameter
PFD - Read articles and lectures

127
Date of meeting 28/09/2018
Time & location 12pm – 1pm, Cat Suite B.24
Present Hieu Nguyen, Nhut Nguyen, , Thanh Le,
Absent No
Facilitator Phuc Truong
Recorder Trang Tran
Next meeting scheduled 03/10/2018

Points to be discussed Decisions made Responsibilities assigned- Points discussed - Pending

What/Who/When/Where decisions

Means-End Analysis - Complete remain steps of this section. Hieu Nguyen – due date
03/10/2018
Build a base case - Began to create a base case on HYSYS Everyone – due date 03/10/2018 Decide to choose only one
base case for group
Problems encountered Solutions

128
Date of meeting 03/10/2018
Time & location 2pm – 3pm, Cat Suite 2.35
Present Hieu Nguyen, Nhut Nguyen, Phuc Truong, Thanh Le, Trang Tran
Absent No
Facilitator Hieu Nguyen
Recorder Thanh Le
Next meeting scheduled 12/10/2018

Points to be discussed Decisions made Responsibilities assigned- Points discussed -

What/Who/When/Where Pending decisions

Build a base case - Chose Nhut Nguyen’s Base case to work - Everyone – at this meeting – Cat
on Suit 2.35
- Nhut Nguyen & Hieu Nguyen –
Reactor – Due date 14/10/2018
- Phuc Truong & Thanh Le – Need to repair on data for
- Divided into small group. Separation Columns – Due date Distillation Columns to
Process design
- Each group has responsible for each part 14/10/2018 match with the
of project. requirement of project

- Hieu Nguyen & Trang Tran – Heat

exchanger – Due date 14/10/2018

129
Problems encountered Solutions

130
Date of meeting 12/10/2018
Time & location 3pm – 9pm Cat Suite G.20
Present Hieu Nguyen, Nhut Nguyen, Phuc Truong, Thanh Le, Trang Tran
Absent No
Facilitator Hieu Nguyen
Recorder Trang Tran
Next meeting scheduled 19/10/2018

Points to be discussed Decisions made Responsibilities assigned- Points discussed -

What/Who/When/Where Pending decisions

The desired purity of - Re-run the column with another - Phuc Truong & Thanh Le – at that
cumene does not parameters of temperature and pressure. meeting
achieve - Accept the difference between calculated
and displayed results in HYSYS.
Problems encountered Solutions

131
Date of meeting 19/10/2018
Time & location 2 pm – 7 pm, Cat Suite 2.35
Present Hieu Nguyen, Nhut Nguyen, Phuc Truong, Thanh Le, Trang Tran
Absent No
Facilitator Trang Tran
Recorder Thanh Le
Next meeting scheduled 22/10/2018

Points to be discussed Decisions made Responsibilities assigned- Points discussed -

What/Who/When/Where Pending decisions

Contents of report Made a draft table of contents Phuc Truong

Introduction Trang Tran – due date 24/10/2018 – upload to
Literature review group chat on Facebook
Mean - Ends Analysis Nhut Nguyen – due date 24/10/2018 – upload
Base case design to group chat on Facebook
Process design: Reactor Hieu Nguyen – due date 24/10/2018 – upload
Group report
Process optimization: Reactor to group chat on Facebook
Calculation procedure for Reactor
Process design: Separation column Thanh Le – due date 24/10/2018 – upload to
Process optimization: Separation column group chat on Facebook
Calculation procedure for column

132
 Process design: heat exchanger Trang Tran – due date 24/10/2018 – upload to
Process optimization: Heat exchanger group chat on Facebook
Calculation procedure for heat exchanger
Hazard Phuc Truong – due to 24/10/2018 – upload to
group chat on Facebook
Problems encountered Solutions

133
Date of meeting 22/10/2018
Time & location 3pm – 5-pm, Cat Suite 2.35
Present Hieu Nguyen, Nhut Nguyen, Phuc Truong, Thanh Le, Trang Tran
Absent None
Facilitator Thanh Le
Recorder Phuc Truong
Next meeting scheduled 24/10/2018

Points to be discussed Decisions made Responsibilities assigned- Points discussed -

What/Who/When/Where Pending decisions

Hazop meeting Estimated the potential risks related to Everyone – in this meeting – Cat suite 2.35
operating condition of cumene production
plant
Hazop record All ideas are recorded to complete the Phuc Truong – in this meeting – Cat suite
HAZOP assessment 2.35
Project report All contents were almost done Everyone
Problems encountered Solutions

134
Date of meeting 24/10/2018
Time & location 5pm – 9pm, Cat Suite 2.35
Present Hieu Nguyen, Nhut Nguyen, Phuc Truong, Thanh Le, Trang Tran
Absent None
Facilitator Hieu Nguyen
Recorder Trang Tran
Next meeting scheduled

Points to be discussed Decisions made Responsibilities assigned- Points discussed -

What/Who/When/Where Pending decisions

Project report Combine all the parts of project report Everyone – in this meeting – Cat suite 2.35
Problems encountered Solutions

135