Simulation of the Evaporation Tube Banks in the Convection Section of a Steam Cracking Furnace Using an Evaporation Model

Abstract

Simulation of the evaporation process of a naphtha feedstock in the convection section of a steam cracking furnace is reported in this article. A two-step evaporation model was developed to determine component changes in the vapor and liquid phases. First, a feedstock-simplifying method, based on the work of Eckert and Vaněk (Comput. Chem. Eng.200530343356), was developed in which the original hydrocarbon mixture is represented by a system of real components. Second, the component distribution was determined by vapor–liquid equilibrium theory, using an activity coefficient method. The group contribution method (GCM) was employed to calculate the interaction parameters in the activity coefficient method. Using a mechanistic heat-transfer method, a comparison was made between the evaporation model developed in this work and a simplified evaporation model. The simulation results are in good agreement with industrial data. Some parameter profiles for the heat-transfer process are provided, as are the flow patterns of the naphtha feedstock.

Thermal Cracking of Hydrocarbons for the Production of Light Olefins; A Review on Optimal Process Design, Operation, and Control

“…The hot section includes firebox, tubular reactors, convection section, and TLE, which are interconnected as illustrated in Figures and . Rigorous mathematical models are developed by various researchers to estimate the behaviors of firebox, , tubular reactors, TLE and quench section, , and convection section. , For more references, the reader is referred to our survey on the mathematical modeling and simulation of the olefins production plants . Depending on the scale of the models, they are very useful for detailed understanding and investigation of either the units operations or the whole plant.…”