Simulation-Based Superstructure Optimization for the Synthesis Process of Aromatics Production from Methanol

Abstract

This work develops a novel superstructure considering a reaction−separation system for aromatics production from methanol, which consists of methanol aromatization, water removal, product separation, and light hydrocarbon aromatization units. On the basis of rigorous simulation of these units in Aspen HYSYS, a multiobjective simulation−optimization model is established for synthesis of methanol to aromatics process to simultaneously optimize the net present value and unit ReCiPe score. A matrix-based method is proposed to determine the Pareto-optimal curve and identify the optimal production routes through data interaction between MATLAB and Aspen HYSYS. The most profitable production route generates a net present value 39.0% higher than the lowest one, and the most environmentally sustainable production route shows a unit ReCiPe score 66.42% lower than the worst one. Monte Carlo simulation is used to investigate the effects of uncertain economic parameters on the three obtained Pareto-optimal production routes, which present robustness in the face of fluctuations of raw material and product prices as well as capital investment. Besides, the optimal production routes for variant reaction effluents are also analyzed to show the insight in production route selection.

Integral techno-economic comparison and greenhouse gas balances of different production routes of aromatics from biomass with CO2 capture

“…i The TIC of the bio-oil filters was assumed to be the same for each bio-based route (Jones et al, 2013). j The TIC of water removal unit was assumed to be consistent with (Zhang et al, 2021a).…”

“…These studies have analyzed the production cost of p-xylene from starch via CP and from lignocellulosic biomass via catalytic hydrolysis. The net present value (NPV) of methanol based BTX 1 has been investigated by (Jiang et al, 2020) and (Zhang et al, 2021a). (Vural Gursel et al, 2019) and (Corredor et al, 2019) investigated the NPV of bio-based aromatics from lignin and that of benzene converted from methane.…”