Heat Integration of an Industrial Unit for the Ethylbenzene Production

Abstract

This paper presents both the results of a study of the existing heat exchanger network (HEN) of an industrial unit for ethylbenzene (EB) production by the alkylation of benzene with ethylene, and an analysis of four different HEN retrofit projects carried out using process integration methods. The project of modernization of HEN was carried out using classical methods of Pinch analysis. For this case, the value of ΔTmin is determined, which is limited by the technological conditions of the process. Additionally, two different heat pump (HP) integration options and the joint retrofit Pinch project with HP integration are under consideration. The economic analysis of each of the projects was carried out. It is shown that the best results will be obtained when implementing the joint project. As a result, steam consumption will be reduced by 34% and carbon dioxide emissions will be decreased by the same amount.

Novel Short Process for p-Xylene Production Based on the Selectivity Intensification of Toluene Methylation with Methanol

“…For the effective utilization of toluene and methanol, we obtained values of 96.27 and 95.50%, and these values were the highest among the six cases. In addition, both kinetic models did not consider the related deactivation problems of carbon deposition, − and carbon deposition was expected in cases 1–4 due to the very little excess oxygen and hydrogen in the feed, while the diluents of H 2 O and H 2 would reduce the probability of methanol to olefins and carbon accumulation . Therefore, the short process would have greater advantages since they already have better feed utilization and the atomic economy than the existing processes in addition to simplifying the overall process.…”

“…p -Xylene (PX) is an important intermediate for the polyester, pharmaceutical, chemical fiber, and pesticide industries with an annual global market compound growth rate of 12.05% between 2016 and 2022. , PX is mainly produced via aromatic extraction, toluene disproportionation, C8 aromatic isomerization, and transalkylation of heavy aromatics. − These methods are typically accompanied by adsorptive separation, crystallization, and reactive distillation technologies for C8 isomers with relatively low m -xylene (MX) and o -xylene (OX) values. These separation technologies require more energy and expensive raw materials, which increases the production costs due to very similar boiling points of xylene isomers, low PX selectivity, and the considerable amount of byproducts that are produced. , Correspondingly, toluene methylation with methanol offers a potential molecular engineering process for the production of PX, based on shape-selective catalysts. ,− …”

Main directions of engineering theory of energy and resource efficient chemical-technological systems in the conditions of digital economy

“…В работе [11] предложены методы оптимальной интеграции теплоты в рекуперативных теплообменных систем. Применение метода пинч-анализа при реконструкции установок гидроочистки дизельного топлива позволило сократить энергопотребление на 50% [12,13].…”

Energy Optimization through Heat and Power Integration on a Chlorobenzenes Production Plant

“…Ulyev et al applied heat integration on an industrial plant that produces ethylbenzene by reacting ethylene with benzene. They retrofitted four heat exchanger networks and determined a reduction of 34% for both steam consumption and carbon dioxide emissions for the best one [14]. López-Fernández et al designed and applied pinch analysis on a system that produces biojet fuel from plastic wastes and biomass that uses gasification and Fischer-Tropsch processes.…”