In this work the influence of some operating parameters of a medium pressure nitric acid plant producing 54,000 t/year was studied in order to evaluate its influence over the absorption column efficiency. The target is to increase nitric acid production and reduce NO_x emissions. The nitric acid plant was simulated using ProSimPlus HNO₃. The parameters considered in the analyses were: secondary air molar flow rate; absorption column operating pressure; cooling water temperature and absorption water molar flow rate. Parameters were evaluated individually and the best results were combined in a multi-parameter analysis evaluating different optimized scenarios, including the possibility of increasing the amount of ammonia injected in the system and the addition of a plug flow reactor (PFR), which is a new approach to improve NO oxidation. Considering a base case, the best scenario obtained was able to reduce NO_x emissions in 55 % while increasing nitric acid production in 18 %, using the following set of parameters: 20 kmol.h ^− 1 of additional ammonia; a 40 m³ PFR; cooling water at 5 °C; 172 kmol.h ^− 1 of absorption water and 345 kmol.h ^− 1 of secondary air. The results obtained in this work contribute to provide practical insights for optimum absorption stage operation in a real nitric acid plant.

在这项工作中，研究了年产 54,000 吨中压硝酸装置的一些操作参数的影响，以评估其对吸收塔效率的影响。目标是增加硝酸产量并减少氮_氧化物排放。_{使用 ProSimPlus HNO 3}模拟硝酸厂。分析中考虑的参数有：二次空气摩尔流量；吸收塔操作压力；冷却水温度和吸收水摩尔流量。单独评估参数，并在多参数分析中结合最佳结果，评估不同的优化方案，包括增加注入系统的氨量的可能性以及添加塞流反应器（PFR），这是一种新的反应器改善NO氧化的方法。考虑到基本情况，获得的最佳方案能够使用以下参数组将 氮_{氧化物排放量减少 55%，同时将硝酸产量增加 18%：20 kmol.h} ^{-  1}额外的氨；40 m ³ PFR；5℃冷却水；172 kmol.h  ^{−  1}吸收水和 345 kmol.h  ^{−  1}二次空气。这项工作中获得的结果有助于为实际硝酸厂中的最佳吸收阶段操作提供实用见解。