Modelling and simulation of reactive distillation column for Ethyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (ETBE) synthesis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pranav K Narayanan ◽  
Manilal A M
1970 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ismail Mohd Saaid Abdul Rahman Mohamed and Subhash Bhatia

A process simulation stage-wise reactive distillation column model formulated from equilibrium stage theory was developed. The algorithm for solving mathematical model represented by sets of differential-algebraic equations was based on relaxation method. Numerical integration scheme based on backward differentiation formula was selected for solving the stiffness of differential-algebraic equations. Simulations were performed on a personal computer (PC Pentium processor) through a developed computer program using FORTRAN90 programming language. The proposed model was validated by comparing the simulated results with the published simulation results and with the pilot plant data from the literature. The model was capable of predicting high isobutene conversion for heterogeneous system, as desirable in industrial MTBE production process. The comparisons on temperature profiles, liquid composition profile and operating conditions of reactive distillation column also showed promising results. Therefore the proposed model can be used as a tool for the development and simulation of reactive distillation column.Keywords: Modeling, simulation, reactive distillation, relaxation method, equilibrium stage, heterogeneous, MTBE


2008 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zuzana Švandová ◽  
Jozef Markoš ◽  
L’udovít Jelemenský

AbstractComparison of the performance of a reactive distillation column with three different hardware configurations is presented. As a reaction system the methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) synthesis has been chosen. The sieve tray columns with catalyst (encased inside wire gauze envelopes) placed along the liquid flow path differ in the number of reactive trays. The column simulations have been performed using the nonequilibrium model. The steady state behaviour of the three different hardware configurations was studied regarding the three input parameters; feed flow rate of methanol, feed flow rate of butenes, and reflux ratio. It has been shown that by varying the location of the methanol feed stage, the columns exhibit significantly different solution diagrams using the butenes feed flow rate as a continuation parameter. Using dynamic simulations, different perturbations of the manipulated variables were found to cause transitions between multiple steady states and these were also investigated. The major objective of this paper is to demonstrate the importance of the hardware choice in the performance of a reactive distillation column e.g. during the start-up or if occasional variations of the operating parameters occur.


2013 ◽  
Vol 284-287 ◽  
pp. 409-413
Author(s):  
Sudibyo Sudibyo ◽  
Muhamad Nazri Murat ◽  
Norashid Aziz

MTBE is a chemical that can be used as anti-knock additive to replace lead additive (tetra ethyl lead) which can be efficiently produced using reactive distillation process. It has been established in the literature that MTBE reactive distillation poses a highly nonlinear behavior due to the combination of reaction and separation processes. A reliable model for predicting the behavior is required especially for the control purposes. In this work, a Neural Wiener model which is one of the available types of oriented block model was utilised to develop the MTBE reactive distillation model. The required data for the Neural Wiener model were generated using a validated Aspen dynamics model for the MTBE reactive distillation process. It is found that the Neural Wiener model is capable to predict the MTBE purity and isobutene conversion with accuracy of 98.55% and 96.95%, respectively. Those values are quantitatively better in comparison to the state space model which gives lower values for prediction accuracy of 87.86% and 82.90%, respectively.


2012 ◽  
Vol 550-553 ◽  
pp. 947-952
Author(s):  
Wu Xiao ◽  
Yan Yan Zhou ◽  
Shou Cheng Du ◽  
Gao Hong He

Because of the large number of operating and equipment parameters of the reactive distillation(RD) and a strong coupling between them, it is difficult to find the optimal process parameters. A novel hybrid method on process parameters optimization of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) RD was developed in the paper. MTBE RD process was firstly simulated with Aspen Plus. Then based on the MTBE RD model, sensitivity analysis of various parameters was accomplished to determine the key decision parameters. After that, the orthogonal numerical tests were performed in feasible fields to obtain nearly optimal parameters. Finally, with the orthogonal numerical test results, the least square method was used to regress equation, which showed the relationship between objective function and the key decision parameters, thus determining the optimal operating parameters and equipment parameters. Results of analysis indicated that the combination of orthogonal numerical test and the least square method can be attractive since the number of tests was reduced substantially while the specification of the products can be met.


Author(s):  
Herry Santoso ◽  
Jie Bao ◽  
Peter L Lee

It has been understood for decades that process operability does not depend entirely upon the control system but also on the inherent properties of the process itself. For example, the decision on the size of equipment or the use of a highly integrated process may have a significant impact on the overall operability. Ignoring operability during process design may lead to a very difficult to control process. In this paper, a dynamic operability analysis of a Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE) reactive distillation column is presented. The effects of two design parameters, i.e. the reboiler duty and the reflux ratio, on the operability of the reactive distillation system are studied. Process operability is defined as the ability of the process to return to the steady-state in spite of unknown but bounded disturbances. The nonlinearity of the process is represented using a Hammerstein model, which can be easily obtained during process design from the steady-state model combined with some limited information on the process dynamics. The recent operability analysis method proposed by Rojas et al. (2007) is extended such that it can be implemented conveniently as one extra step after the flowsheet simulation using a process simulator. Based on this approach, an optimal controller for this highly nonlinear process is determined by solving a linear matrix inequality (LMI) optimization problem.


Mathematics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (16) ◽  
pp. 1947
Author(s):  
Vladimir Klimchenko ◽  
Andrei Torgashov ◽  
Yuri A. W. Shardt ◽  
Fan Yang

The paper deals with the problem of developing a multi-output soft sensor for the industrial reactive distillation process of methyl tert-butyl ether production. Unlike the existing soft sensor approaches, this paper proposes using a soft sensor with filters to predict model errors, which are then taken into account as corrections in the final predictions of outputs. The decomposition of the problem of optimal estimation of time delays is proposed for each input of the soft sensor. Using the proposed approach to predict the concentrations of methyl sec-butyl ether, methanol, and the sum of dimers and trimers of isobutylene in the output product in a reactive distillation column was shown to improve the results by 32%, 67%, and 9.5%, respectively.


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