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Dynamic Analysis of Cyclohexane Production
with Aspen HYSYS V8.0
1. Objectives

Convert previously created Aspen HYSYS process simulation to Aspen HYSYS Dynamics simulation
Become familiar with Aspen HYSYS Dynamics V8.0 user interface
Investigate the effects of a sudden changes in hydrogen feed rate on product composition and
flowrate
2. Prerequisites
Aspen HYSYS V8.0
File Dyn_003H_Cyclohexane_Start.hsc
3. Background

Aspen HYSYS is used to design new plants or model existing ones at what is considered to be the nominal
process operating conditions at steady-state. However, real processes operate at steady-states that may be very
different from the nominal one assumed by the static simulator. In particular, HYSYS Dynamics allows users to
observe how the system switches from one steady-state condition to another one, or how the process responds
to all sort of disturbancesreactant stream flowrate or purity changes, pressure or temperature variations at
different locationsand finally, the prediction of worst case scenarios in case of power loss, fires, deactivated
catalyst bed in reactors or reactors in runaway conditions, etc.
Aspen HYSYS Dynamics is also used to design the right control scheme that would minimize or better reject
the effect of severe disturbances on the plant performance and, as you may expect, process dynamics and
process control can hardly be conceived without one another.
The examples presented are solely intended to illustrate specific concepts and principles. They may not
reflect an industrial application or real situation.

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4. Aspen HYSYS Solution
In this example we will investigate the dynamic response of a small section of a cyclohexane plant to changes in
feed rate to the reactor.
4.01. Open the Aspen HYSYS file called Dyn_003H_Cyclohexane_Start.hsc.



4.02. Modify the simulation in order to enable dynamics mode in Aspen HYSYS. In the Dynamics tab of the
Ribbon, click on the Dynamics Assistant button. This will bring up the Dynamics Assistant window.



4.03. The window shows information that needs to be specified in order for the simulation to be converted to
a dynamic case. Double click on the first entry, Enable stream pressure specifications.

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4.04. The Pressure Specs form under the Streams tab will appear. There are three streams that are listed
under Set pressure specifications in these streams. These are the input and output streams. If you
double click on a stream, it will bring up the corresponding window. Move to the Dynamics tab of the
window, and check the Pressure Specification box. Activate the pressure specifications for each listed
stream.



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4.05. In the General tab of the Dynamics Assistant window, click on Analyze Again. Notice that the first item
on the list is removed.



4.06. The next item on the list is Valves not sized. Close the window, and double click on VLV-101 on the flow
sheet. In the Rating tab of the VLV-101 window, click the Size Valve button, and HYSYS will
automatically size VLV-101. The parameters that HYSYS determines are a good starting point, but they
may need to be modified once the simulation is actually run. If the tuner indicates that the valve is
completely open, but the flow is not reaching the setpoint, then Cv, the conductance, may need to be
increased. Conductance is a measure of how much flow can pass through the valve. Repeat this step
with valve VLV-100.

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4.07. If you try to click the Size Valve button for VLV-102, you will be given a message that HYSYS is unable to
size the valve because there is no flow across it. In the Sizing Methods block of the Sizing tab, make
sure the Cv radio button is selected. This valve controls the flow out the bottom of the reactor.
However, the reaction takes place almost entirely in the vapor phase, so only a negligible amount of
liquid flow is expected. Therefore, a small conductance, such as 5, is acceptable. Enter 5 in the Cv entry
of the table.
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4.08. Click on the Dynamic Assistant button again. If you click on Miscellaneous specification changes, you
will be brought to the Other tab. The Dynamics Assistant recommends that the pressure drop over
CRV-100 be set to 0. However, we are setting up a pressure driven simulation, where flow is
determined from pressure differences. In order to avoid reverse flows, we will not remove the pressure
drop from the reactor.

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4.09. The final entry on the in the General tab of the Dynamics Assistant indicates that a volume needs to be
specified. This is referring to the conversion reactor, CRV-100. Double click on the reactor in the flow
sheet, and move to the Rating tab. The Vertical and Cylinder radio buttons should be selected.
Heuristics exist that can determine what volume is necessary for a reaction to take place. We will use
1080 ft
3
.


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4.10. The Dynamics Assistant should now only display the Miscellaneous change. We are now ready to move
to Dynamics mode. Click the Dynamics Mode button in the Dynamics tab of the Ribbon, and click No
when asked whether you would like to resolve identified items in need of attention.



4.11. The controllers are currently set to manual. Double click on H2-TUNE and move to the Parameters
window. Select Auto for Mode, and make sure that SP is set to 310 lbmole/hr. Do the same for BZ-
TUNE, but make sure SP is set to 100.
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4.12. Click on the flowsheet and type Shift+F on the keyboard. This will display the molar flow of every
stream. Click the Run button in the Dynamics tab on the Ribbon, and again choose not to resolve the
items the Dynamics Assistant identified. Allow the simulation to run until the flows have stabilized, then
click the Stop button next to the Run button. The flow sheet should look as displayed below.
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4.13. The goal of this simulation is to observe the effect that a sudden changes in the hydrogen feed will have
on the reaction. We will now construct a strip chart for that purpose. Click on the Strip Charts folder in
the Navigation Pane, and click Add to create a strip chart named DataLogger1.



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4.14. Double click on DataLogger1, and then click Add to select the variables that will be displayed on the
chart. Add the Molar Flow and Master Comp Mole Frac (Cyclohexane) for the FLASH-IN stream. Click
the Display button to create the plot.


4.15. Right click on the black plot area of DataLogger1 and select Graph Control. In the Axes window, check
the Automatic Auto Scale and Show All boxes.


4.16. Move to the Time Axis tab. Click the Set-up Logger button, and enter 900 in the Logger Size field. This
will cause the logger to keep 900 points, taken at 20 second intervals, which translates to 5 hours of
runtime.
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4.17. We will be running the following sequence:

Run the simulation for 1 hour.
Over the course of 1 hour, ramp the hydrogen feed from 310 lbmole/hr to 300 lbmole/hour.
Run the simulation for 1 hour.
Over the course of 1 hour, ramp the hydrogen feed up to 320 lbmole/hr.
Run the simulation of an additional hour.

4.18. Click on the Integrator button in the Dynamics tab of the Ribbon.



4.19. The first step in the sequence is to run the simulation for 1 hour. In the End Time field, enter 1 hour (60
minutes). First hit the Reset button in the Dynamics ribbon to reset the integrator, then click Run to run
the simulation.

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4.20. DataLogger1 should show constant flow and mole fraction, as shown as shown below. The scale of the
time axis can be changed by dragging the red arrow at the bottom of the window.



4.21. The next step is to ramp the hydrogen feed down to 300 lbmole/hr over an hour. Double click on H2-
TUNE and move to the Parameters | Advanced page. In the Set Point Ramping section, click Enable to
enable ramping of the tuner. Change the Target SP to 300 lbmole/hr and Ramp Duration to 1 hour (60
minutes).

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4.22. Open the Integrator window again, and change the End Time to 2 hours. Run the simulation. Right
click on DataLogger1 and select Graph Control. In the Axes tab, uncheck the Automatic Auto Scale box.
Axis2-Mole Fraction should be selected in the list on to the left. Under Scaling, enter .9 for Low Range
Value and .95 for High Range value. To the left, select Axis1-Molar Flow, and enter 94 for the Low
Range and 103 for the High. DataLogger1 should now be easier to read.

4.23. The simulation must now be run for 1 hour. Open the Integrator, and change End Time to 3 hours. Run
the simulation.
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4.24. Next, we will Ramp up the hydrogen feed to 320 lbmole/hr over an hour. Set the SP of H2-TUNER to
Ramp up to 320 lbmole/hr in 1 hour. Open the Integrator window, and change End Time to 4 hours,
then Run the simulation. Resize the axes on DataLogger1 so that you can observe the full range of
values.
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4.25. The simluation needs to run for 1 hour. Set the Integrator to end after 5 hours. Run the simulation and
resize DataLogger1.
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5. Conclusion

You can see that when the hydrogen flowrate decreases, the mole fraction of cyclohexane in the product stream
significantly decreases. This is because there is not enough hydrogen in the feed to convert all the benzene,
which results in unreacted benzene in the product stream. From a business standpoint, this is not good for
several reasons. There is money being lost by throwing away benzene in the product stream, and the product
stream may not even meet composition specifications anymore. This means you will be forced to recycle and
process the product stream which leads to extra costs, or you may be forced to sell the product at a much lower
price than desired. When the flowrate of hydrogen was increased, all the benzene was reacted and excess
hydrogen was being fed into the system. This is the reason for the increased product flowrate and decreased
fraction of cyclohexane when the hydrogen feed increased. The excess hydrogen represents another cost, as
larger equipment will be needed to transport and separate the stream.
6. Copyright

Copyright 2012 by Aspen Technology, Inc. (AspenTech). All rights reserved. This work may not be
reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of
AspenTech. ASPENTECH MAKES NO WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATION, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, WITH
Dyn-003H Revised: Nov 20, 2012
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RESPECT TO THIS WORK and assumes no liability for any errors or omissions. In no event will AspenTech be
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