https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7959-5283
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ABSTRACT
In this work, a partial heat-integrated reactive distillation process was studied to yield n-propyl acetate. To optimize the operating parameters of two distinct processes, the sequential iteration optimization method was employed. The heat exchanger network (HEN) is an effective approach for the heat-integrated design of a distillation process. Compared with the conventional reactive distillation process, the total annual cost, CO2 emissions and total energy consumption of the partial heat-integrated reactive distillation process decreased by 20.7%, 31.1%, and 32.2%, respectively. The thermodynamic efficiencies of reactive distillation process and partial heat-integrated reactive distillation process were 4.33% and 9.86%, respectively. The significance of this paper is crucial in guiding the process of partial heat-integrated reactive distillation for the production of n-propyl acetate.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Credit authorship contribution statement
Xiaoxin Gao contributed to the conceptualization and methodology of the study. Xinlan Weng is responsible for software development and writing the original draft. Yi Yang specializes in software, writing, validation, and data curation. Zhiwei Zhou contributed to the supervision and conceptualization.
Supplementary material
Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/15567036.2024.2302960.
Nomenclature
| C1 | = | The first column |
| C-1 | = | The condenser of the first column |
| C2 | = | The second column |
| C-2 | = | The condenser of the second column |
| CI | = | Capital investment [$] |
| CL | = | Cooler |
| [CO2]Emiss | = | CO2 emissions [kg/h] |
| EX | = | The process’s exergy [kJ/kmol] |
| EXQ | = | The process’s actual work[kW] |
| H | = | Enthalpy [kJ/kmol] |
| HEN | = | Heat exchanger network |
| HT | = | Heat exchanger |
| hProc | = | Enthalpy of utility steam [kJ/kg] |
| MeAc | = | Methyl acetate |
| MeOH | = | Methanol |
| NC2 | = | The C2’s total number of stages |
| Nr | = | The rectifying section’s number of stages |
| Nrec | = | The reacting section number of stages |
| Ns | = | The stripping section’s number of stages |
| NFPROH | = | The PROH feed stage |
| NFMeAc | = | The MeAc feed stage |
| NF2 | = | The C2’s feed stage |
| OC | = | Operating cost [$/year] |
| PROH | = | N-propanol |
| PRAc | = | N-propyl acetate |
| PHI-RD | = | Partial heat integrated reactive distillation |
| QC | = | The condenser’s heat duty [kW] |
| Qcomp | = | the compressor’s duty [kW] |
| QFuel | = | The amount of fuel burnt [kW] |
| QR | = | The reboiler’s heat duty [kW] |
| R-1 | = | The first column’s reboiler |
| R-2 | = | The second column’s reboiler |
| RD | = | Reactive distillation |
| S | = | Entropy [kJ/kmol·K] |
| TAC | = | Total annual cost [$] |
| TC | = | The condenser’s temperature [K] |
| TEC | = | Total energy consumption [kW] |
| TFTB | = | The flame temperature of the boiler flue gases [K] |
| TStack | = | The stack temperature [K] |
| T0 | = | The ambient temperature [K] |
| TR | = | The reboiler’s temperature [K] |
| Wmin | = | The minimum work of separation [kW] |
| η | = | The thermodynamic efficiency |
| λProc | = | The utility steam’s latent heat [kJ/kg] |
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Xiaoxin Gao
Dr. Xiaoxin Gao is an Assistant Professor in the College of Petrochemical Engineering, Changzhou University, Changzhou, China. He completed the doctoral degree in chemical engineering from Nanjing TECH University. His current research interests include separation, chemical engineering process simulation and save energy.
Xinlan Weng
Miss Xinlan Weng is a masterstudent. Their studies are focused on the chemical engineering process simulation.
Yi Yang
Yi Yang is a masterstudent. Their studies are focused on the chemical engineering process simulation.
Zhiwei Zhou
Dr. Zhiwei Zhou is an Assistant Professor in the College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, China. His studies are focused on heat transfer, separation and chemical engineering.