Abstract
The demethanizer tower of Kavian olefin plant had a problem in more than 77% of the nominal capacity. Its performance was reduced by flooding with considering the inside pressure drop and fluctuation of the bottom liquid level increase. For this reason, a study was performed and the simulation results (with PRO II and SULCOL) were successfully implemented. Finally, troubleshooting and practical solutions were compared with simulation results. In order to tower modifications, an instruction had been issued so that all 40 trays had to be completely discharged and then the tower was refilled with 16 ton packing. According to this solution, the volume of ethylene as final product was increases about 23% and reaches the designed nominal capacity.
Acknowledgment
The corresponding author gratefully acknowledge the support of Kavian and Pantan Shimi companies.
Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
Research funding: None declared.
Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding this article.
References
Alizadeh, M., J. Towfighi, and R. Karimzadeh. 2008. “Modeling of Catalytic Coke Formation in Thermal Cracking Reactors.” Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis 82: 134–9.10.1016/j.jaap.2008.02.006Search in Google Scholar
Albright, L. F., and J. C. Marek. 1988. “Coke Formation during Pyrolysis: Roles of Residence Time, Reactor Geometry, and Time of Operation.” Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 27: 743.10.1021/ie00077a004Search in Google Scholar
Barza, A., B. Mehri, and V. Pirouzfar. 2018. “Mathematical Modeling of Ethane Cracking Furnace of Olefin Plant with Coke Formation Approach.” International Journal of Chemical Reactor Engineering 16 (9).10.1515/ijcre-2017-0243Search in Google Scholar
Barza, A., S. R. Shourije, and V. Pirouzfar. 2019. “Industrial Optimization of Multi-Effect Desalination Equipment for Olefin Complex.” Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry.10.1007/s10973-019-08279-5Search in Google Scholar
Bouck, D. 2014. “Ten Distillation Pitfalls to Avoid.” Chemical Engineering Progress 110 (2): 31–8.Search in Google Scholar
Belohlav, Z., P. Zamostny, and T. Herink. 2003. “The Kinetic Model of Thermal Cracking for Olefins Production.” Chemical Engineering and Processing 42: 461–73.10.1016/S0255-2701(02)00062-4Search in Google Scholar
Cavalcanti, S. M., and P. I. Barton. 2020. “Multiple Steady States and Nonsmooth Bifurcations in Dry and Vaporless Distillation Columns.” Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 59 (40): 18000–18.10.1021/acs.iecr.0c02328Search in Google Scholar
Collier, J. G., and J. R. Thome. 1994. Convective Boiling and Condensation, 3rd ed. 50. Oxford University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Froment, G. F. 2000. “Production of Synthesis Gas by Vapor- and CO2-reforming of Natural Gas.” Journal of Molecular Catalysis A: Chemical 163: 147–56.10.1016/S1381-1169(00)00407-6Search in Google Scholar
Heydari, S., and V. Pirouzfar. 2016. “The Influence of Synthesis Parameters on the Gas Selectivity and Permeability of Carbon Membranes: Empirical Modeling and Process Optimization Using Surface Methodology.” RSC Advances 6 (17): 14149–63.10.1039/C5RA27772HSearch in Google Scholar
Karamullaoglu, G., and T. Dogu. 2007. “Dynamic and Steady State Analysis of Low Temperature Ethane Oxidative Dehydrogenation over Chromia and Chromia-Vanadia Catalysts.” International Journal of Chemical Reactor Engineering 5 (1).10.2202/1542-6580.1513Search in Google Scholar
Kianfar, E., M. Salimi, V. Pirouzfar, and B. Koohestani. 2018. “Synthesis and Modification of Zeolite ZSM-5 Catalyst with Solutions of Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) and Sodium Carbonate (Na2CO3) for Methanol to Gasoline Conversion.” International Journal of Chemical Reactor Engineering 16 (7).10.1515/ijcre-2017-0229Search in Google Scholar
Kianfar, E., V. Pirouzfar, and H. Sakhaeinia. 2017. “An Experimental Study on Absorption/stripping CO2 Using Mono-Ethanol Amine Hollow Fiber Membrane Contactor.” Journal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers 80: 954–62.10.1016/j.jtice.2017.08.017Search in Google Scholar
Lahaye, J., P. Badie, and J. Ducret. 1977. “Mechanism of Carbon Formation during Steamcracking of Hydrocarbons.” Carbon 15: 87.10.1016/0008-6223(77)90022-7Search in Google Scholar
Lide, D. R., eds. 1992. Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. 73rd ed. Boca Raton: CRC Press.Search in Google Scholar
Mackenzie, A. l., P. D. Pacey, and J. H. Wimalase. 1983. “Induction Periods in the Formation of Ethane from the Pyrolysis of Ethylene.” Canadian Journal of Chemistry 61 (9): 2033–6.10.1139/v83-351Search in Google Scholar
Malang, J., P. Kumar, and A. Saptoro. 2015. “Computational Fluid Dynamics-Based Hydrodynamics Studies in Packed Bed Columns: Current Status and Future Directions.” International Journal of Chemical Reactor Engineering 13 (3): 289–303.10.1515/ijcre-2014-0121Search in Google Scholar
Nieuwoudt, I., P. Quotson, J. Juarez, and N. Yeh. 2018. “Improving the Performance of Towers with Random Packing.” Chemical Engineering Transactions 69: 511–16.Search in Google Scholar
Olsen, T. 2018. “Turnarounds: Strategic Opportunities to Improve.” Chemical Engineering Progress 114 (8): 46–50.Search in Google Scholar
Patel, S., and S. Majumder. 2011. “Non-Newtonian Flow Behavior on Frictional Pressure in Packed Bed.” International Journal of Chemical Reactor Engineering 9 (1).10.1515/1542-6580.2482Search in Google Scholar
Perry, R. H., and D. W. Green. 2005. Perry’s Chemical Engineering Handbook, 8th ed. New York, NY: Don, McGraw-Hill. ISBN: 978-0-07-142294-9.Search in Google Scholar
Pirouzfar, V., and M. Omidkhah. 2016. “Mathematical Modeling and Optimization of Gas Transport through Carbon Molecular Sieve Membrane and Determining the Model Parameters Using Genetic Algorithm.” Iranian Polymer Journal 25 (3): 203–12.10.1007/s13726-016-0414-zSearch in Google Scholar
Pirouzfar, V., A. Zarringhalam Moghaddam, and B. Mirza. 2012. “Physicochemical Properties and Combustion Performance of Gas Oil–Fuel Additives. ASME.” Journal of Energy Resources Technology 134 (4): 041101.10.1115/1.4007483Search in Google Scholar
Rahimpour, M. R., O. Dehghani, M. R. Gholipour, M. S. ShokrollahiYancheshmeh, S. Seifzadeh Haghighi, and S. Raeissi. 2013. “Modeling of Ethane Pyrolysis Process: A Study on Effects of Vapor and Carbon Dioxide on Ethylene and Hydrogen Productions.” Chemical Engineering Journal 215–216: 550–60.10.1016/j.cej.2012.10.078Search in Google Scholar
Saleh, S., V. Pirouzfar, and A. Alihosseini. 2019. “Performance Analysis and Development of a Refrigeration Cycle through Various Environmentally Friendly Refrigerants.” Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry 136: 1817–30.10.1007/s10973-018-7809-3Search in Google Scholar
Soleymanipour, S. F., A. H. S. Dehaghani, V. Pirouzfar, and A. Alihosseini. 2016. “The Morphology and Gas‐separation Performance of Membranes Comprising Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes/polysulfone–Kapton.” Journal of Applied Polymer Science 133 (34).10.1002/app.43839Search in Google Scholar
Sundaram, K. M., and G. F. Froment. 1977. “Modeling of Thermal Cracking Kinetics—I: Thermal Cracking of Ethane, Propane and Their Mixtures.” Chemical Engineering Science 32: 601–8.10.1016/0009-2509(77)80225-XSearch in Google Scholar
Thome, J. R. 2009. Wolverine Engineering Data Book III. Lausanne, Switzerland: Wolverine Tube Inc.Search in Google Scholar
Technip Operating Manual. 2003. Rev.: 1, Chapter: 3 Page: 32.Search in Google Scholar
Technip Process Description. Doc No: 6465C-30-NM-0000-001_rev2 Page:89.Search in Google Scholar
Uwitonze, H., K. S. Hwang, and I. Lee. 2020. “Improving NGL Recovery Process with Dividing-Wall Column for Offshore Applications.” Chemical Engineering and Processing – Process Intensification 147: 107747.10.1016/j.cep.2019.107747Search in Google Scholar
Virla, L. D., M. Mahmoudkhani, B. Hargrove, R. Pellegrin, R. Adamson, and N. Mahinpey. 2020. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 59 (25): 11767–76.10.1021/acs.iecr.0c00844Search in Google Scholar
Zarinabadi, S., E. Ziarifar, M. SadeghMarouf, and A. Samimi. 2010. “Modeling and Simulation for Olefin Production in Amir Kabir Petrochemical.” Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering and Computer Science Vol II.Search in Google Scholar
Zou, R., Q. Lou, S. Mo, and S. Feng. 1993. “Study on a Kinetic Model of Atmospheric Gas Oil Pyrolysis and Coke Deposition.” Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 32: 843–7.10.1021/ie00017a011Search in Google Scholar
© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
