ECAI 2018 - International Conference – 10th Edition

Electronics, Computers and Artificial Intelligence

28 June -30 June, 2018, Iasi, ROMÂNIA

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I. INTRODUCTION (HEADING 1)
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II. PROPYLENE-PROPANE SEPARATION
PROCESS
Propylene is the main source for the production of
polypropylene and, implicitly, of plastics. Typically,
propylene is obtained by a process of super-fractioning a
mixture containing up to 70% propylene, the remainder up
to 100% being essentially propane. Due to the very close
boiling points of the two hydrocarbons, it is considered
difficult to separate this mixture [1]. To obtain propylene
with specified purity (usually over 99%), the fractionation
column must have a large number of trays and be operated
at high reflux rates. These characteristics result in a high Fig. 1.1. Distillation column which the condenser is
operating effort, materialized primarily by the significant located below
energy consumption of vaporization in the column. This .
consumption is achieved under the conditions in which
the heat contained in the vapor stream extracted at the top Another variant of the conventional separation column
of the column is dissipated into the atmosphere. is shown in Figure 1.2. The difference between the two
types of columns is given by positioning the condenser.
An alternative is represented by the fractionation This position determines the parameter that is used to
columns in which the recovery of the heat contained by automatically adjust the column pressure.
the vapor leaving the column and its use for vaporizing
Typically, a conventional fractionation column
the base liquid is achieved.
contains two sections, namely: grinding and stripping [3].
Next, the important functional characteristics of the In the stripping section (located below the feeder tray), by
two types of columns will be presented. mass transfer, the downward flow of liquid (L ') is
enriched in the heavy component (propane). In the
grinding section (located above the food pan), also by
A. Propylene-Propane Distillation Column mass transfer, the ascending stream of vapors (V) is
Conventional enriched in a light component (propylene)

The conventional attribute refers to a column

containing a reboiler, in Figure 1.1 being represented such
a column that is found in the gas fractionation sections of
the catalytic cracking installations in Romania.

Fig. 1.2. Distillation column which the condenser is
placed above the reflux vessel [2]
The fractionation system illustrated in Figure 1.2
contains the actual fractionation column, the reboiler, the
condenser and the reflux vessel. The material flows are
represented by: F - feed rate, B - the basic product flow
(propane), D - the peak product flow (propylene), L -
reflux, Qav - Qac - the condensing agent. The
concentrations of propylene in mixtures that are extracted
at the top and bottom of the column are xD and xB
respectively.
In the context of this paper, some energy aspects
associated with fractionation are of interest. From the
thermal energy point of view, there are flows that
introduce energy into the system, ie streams that extract
energy into the system. In the first category the flows F
and QV are included, and in the second streams B, D and
QC. A good approximation can be considered to be an
equality between the heat introduced in the fractionation
system with the feed and the heat extracted with the
separate products. In this context, there is an equality
between the heat introduced by the heat agent and that
extracted with the condensing agent.
In the context of this paper, some energy aspects
associated with fractionation are of interest. From the
thermal energy point of view, there are flows that
introduce energy into the system, ie streams that extract
energy into the system. In the first category the flows F
and QV are included, and in the second streams B, D and
QC. A good approximation can be considered to be an
equality between the heat introduced in the fractionation
system with the feed and the heat extracted with the
separate products. In this context, there is an equality
between the heat introduced by the heat agent and that
extracted with the condensing agent.
B. Propane-propylene separation columns with heat
recovery
The propane-propylene fractionation columns provided
with thermal pump are structurally different from
conventional fractionation columns. Figure 1.3 shows the
structure of such a fractionation column. Comprising the
proper fractionation column, compressor (Comp), reflux
vessel, heat exchanger S / heat exchanger, additional CS
capacitor. The main material flows and concentrations
coincide with those of the conventional column in Figure
1.2.
Fig. 1.3. Distillation column with heat pump
Direct heat recovery to conventional fractionation
columns is not practically possible because the heat
extracted in the column condenser can not be used
directly in the reboiler due to the low temperature of the
cooling agent leaving the condenser. Because of this,
cooling agent (condensation) energy is not sufficient to
achieve vaporization in the column re-blender [4].
As shown in Figure 1.3, at the heat pump fractionation
column, the condenser in the conventional structure is
removed, the vapor extracted at the top of the column
being compressed by the Compressor Compressor.
Compressed vapor is used as the heat exchanger for the
fractionator. Heat is obtained as a result of the
liquefaction of the gas. The liquid leaving the reboiler S
is collected in the reflux vessel of the column, where the
L and D streams (reflux and distillate) are formed. It is
important to emphasize that in this reboiler the
compressed gases condense. As for the base of the
column, it is similar to that of the conventional column.
Using the energy converter represented by the
compressor, which is an energy consumer, may represent
a disadvantage of using the heat pump. Energy
consumption is reduced when the temperature gradient
along the column is reduced (as is the case with the
separation of the propylene-propane mixture) [5].
The compressor is an essential component in the heat
pump system, which requires special operating
conditions, the anti-pump protection being an example in
this respect [6].
The performance of a heat pump can be characterized by
the performance coefficient (COP). This is defined in the
reference [5] as the ratio of the thermal load Q transferred
by the heat pump to the energy required for the operation
of the compressor W, respectively.
Q there are presented COP values for several mixtures [7].
COP=
W
Cu cât valoarea COP este mai mare, cu atât eficiența
pompei de căldură este mai ridicată. Utilizarea pompei de
căldură la un proces de fracţionare prezintă un potenţial
ridicat de economisire a energiei pentru separarea unui
amestec cu puncte de fierbere apropiate, unde diferenţa
de temperatură dintre baza şi vârful coloanei de
fracţionare este redusă şi puterea compresorului scade
corespunzător [5].
The relationship (1.2) can be used to calculate the COP
associated with a fractionation column provided with a
heat pump using only the temperatures corresponding to
the capacitor and the refiner respectively. In Table 1.1
In the same reference, it is considered appropriate to use
a heat pump when the COP is greater than 10.
Considering this specification, the use of the heat pump
for the propylene-propane separation system is
considered to be opportune.
TABLE I. Q / W RATIO (COP) VALUES FOR SEPARATING MULTIPLE
MIXTURES
REFERENCES

Pleşu a introdus în lucrarea [7] , pentru a aprecia
adecvanța unei pompe de căldură la un sistem de
fracționare, un criteriu bazat pe dependenţa dintre
randamentul unui ciclu Carnot şi coeficientul de
performantă a unei pompe de căldură, respectiv
Q 1 Tc
COP= = = [4]
W ηCarnot T r −T c
where:
- Q is the thermal load of the reboiler;
- W - the energy consumed by the compressor;
- Carno - the yield of the Carnot cycle;
[1] Nicholas Alsop, JoséMaria Ferrer, What Dynamic Simulation
brings to a Process Control Engineer: Applied Case Studyto a
Propylene/Propane Splitter .2004.
[2] Marinoiu V., Paraschiv N. , Automatizarea proceselor chimice,
Editura Tehnică, București, 1992
[3] Strătulă C., Fracționarea principii și metode, București, Editura
Tehnică 1986.
D. F. Sneider, Heat Integration Complications Heat Pump
Troubleshoting, Don Sneider, 2001.
[5] De Rijke A, Development of a concentric internally heat
integrated distillation Column,PhDThesis, Technische Universiteit
Delft, The Netherlands; 2007.
C. Patrascioiu, Cao Minh Anh, Characterization and Control of the
[6]

Distillation Column with Heat Pump, Proc. 8th International

- Tr - absolute temperature in the reboiler (at atmospheric Conference –Electronics, Computers and Artificial Intelligence,
pressure); 30 June -02 July, 2016, Ploiesti, România.
- Tc - absolute temperature in the condenser (at [7] V. Plescu , Simple Equation for Suitability of Heat Pump Use,
atmospheric pressure); 2014.
.

Tr Tr Tc Tc
Amestecul COP
[°C] [k] [°C] [k]
Apă/ 100 373.1 64,7 337 9.57
Metanol 5 .85
Apă/ 100 373.1 78 351 15.9
Etanol 5 .15 6
Apă/ 100 373.1 55.9 329 7.46
Acetonă 5 .05
Acid 117. 391.0 99.4 372 20.1
acetic/Apă 9 5 .55 3
Toluen/ 110. 383.7 80.1 353 11.5
Benzen 6 5 .25 8
Xilen/ 140 413.1 136.2 409 107.
Etilbenzen 5 .35 72
Stiren/ 145 418.1 136.2 409 46.5
Etibenzen 5 .35 1
Propan/ -42 231,1 -47.7 225 39.5
Propilene 5 .45 5

Butan/ -0.5 272.6 -11.7 261 23.3

Izobutan 5 .45 4
[8]