Process Eng & Analysis 212 - Project 2 (Miri Campus) 2012

September 14, 2012 Page 1

Report (15 marks) due: 12 noon, Friday 12 October 2012. Maximum 20 pages
(plus appendix and cover page). Simulation files and Report in PDF form is to be
submitted in a CD along with your report in hardcopy.
Presentation (5 marks) time: Thursday 11 October 2012. Please refer to Moodle
for presentation time and venue for each group.
All members will receive the same mark.

----------------------
General description

The process flow diagram shown in Figure 1 represents a simplified plant for the
production of ammonia at 10,000 ton/day. Two plug flow reactors in series are used with
a cold-shot strategy for temperature control to increase the conversion. Both reactors
consist of series of tubes, of 1 m length and 1 m diameter. The reaction is:

3
2
H
2
+
1
2
N
2
HN
3




Figure 1. PFD for ammonia plant.

Process Eng & Analysis 212 - Project 2 (Miri Campus) 2012

September 14, 2012 Page 2

For these particular reactors, the net rate of reaction (forward rate minus reverse rate) is
given in kgmole/(m
3
.s) and the parameters are:

Forward: A
1
= 10
4
kgmole/m
3
s
1
, E
1
= 9.110
4
kJ/kgmole,
Reverse: A
2
= 1.3 10
10
kgmole/m
3
s
1
, E
2
= 1.410
5
kJ/kgmole

Note that this rate equation applies in the vapour phase and is based on partial pressure.

The market price of NH
3
is $300/ton. The cost of feed (syngas) is $80/ton. The equivalent
cost of one tube of the reactors is $1,000,000/year, based on 7920 hours of operation
per year. The properties and constraints are given in Tables 1 and 2, respectively. The
specific data for each group is given in Table 3.

Table 1. Properties of components.
Item Value Comment
Property
package
SRK? Peng-Robinson?
Synthesis gas
(syngas)
Composition (mole %):
Nitrogen: 24.5%, Hydrogen:
75%, Argon: 0.5%.
Pressure: specified in Table 3.
Temperature is 250
o
C.


Mix-100 and
101
Mixers No pressure drop
Tee-100 Ratio between S-4 and S-2 Fraction of S-2 (
1
) can vary from 10
to 90%. Default value is 60%.
Heater-100 Heat up S-3 to temperature T1,
specified in Table 3.
delP is zero, heating duty is NOT
specified
Reactors R-1
and R-2
PFRs with fixed tube
dimensions: 1 m long with 1 m
diameter
Other parameters are at default.
The numbers of tubes are n
1
and n
2
,
respectively. Start both reactors
with 1 tube.
Cooler-1 Drop temperature to 20
o
C. Condenses ammonia. Pressure drop
is zero.
Separator 50% liquid volume
Tee-101 Ratio specified in Table 3. Purge from 2% to 8% vapour
Heater-101 Heat recycle stream to 10
o
C
higher than T1
delP is zero, heating duty is NOT
specified

Table 2. Technical constraints.
Item Value Comment
Temperature of S-7 > 290
o
C and < 425
o
C Temperature of stream
entering Reactor 2.
NH
3
purity in product > 98% (mass fraction)
Argon entering reactors < 2% (mole fraction)

Process Eng & Analysis 212 - Project 2 (Miri Campus) 2012

September 14, 2012 Page 3

Questions (1+2+3+3 marks)

Question 1. Flow-sheet structure (1 marks)
(a) How many recycle loops does the process contain?
(b) What is the minimum number of tear streams needed to tear the entire flowsheet? List
all tear options.

Question 2. HYSYS base case (2 marks)
Develop a HYSYS simulation of the process with the details in Table 1, using
1
= 60%. Please use
the same unit and stream names as given in Figure 1. For your report, provide the following:
(a) HYSYS PFD printout: aim for a neat arrangement of the flow-sheet.
(b) Input Summary.
(c) Stream tables: Showing material stream, energy stream and composition information;
must be easy to read.

Q Qu ue es st ti io on ns s 3 3 a an nd d 4 4. . S Se el le ec ct t t th he e s sp pe ec ci if fi ic c q qu ue es st ti io on ns s b ba as se ed d o on n y yo ou ur r g gr ro ou up p n nu um mb be er r. .

a. For odd group numbers:
Question 3. What is the optimal n
1
to maximize the profit? It should be less than 100 tubes.
(3 marks)
Question 4. With n
1
fixed as in Q3, what is the combination of
1
and n
2
to maximize profit?
How many local optima are there? For
1
, use an increment of 10%. (3 marks)

b. For even group numbers:
Question 3. What is the optimal n
2
to maximize the profit? It should be less than 100 tubes.
(3 marks)
Question 4. With n
2
fixed as in Q3, what is the combination of
1
and n
1
to maximize profit?
How many local optima are there? For
1
, use an increment of 10%. (3 marks)
Discussion (2 marks)

Discussion on the results:
Any technical problems encountered and how you solved them
Any modelling decisions you had to make
Any checks you performed to give you confidence that the simulations are right, with
evidence
Any observations you would like to make on the simulation results
A discussion of how your simulation might differ from reality and the top three things you
would do to improve the fidelity of the work.
Process Eng & Analysis 212 - Project 2 (Miri Campus) 2012

September 14, 2012 Page 4

Presentation of the report/HYSYS/Excel (4 marks)

For the report:
(a) State what you are going to study and why.
(b) Clearly outline your assumptions and methodology.
(c) Present evidence of your work: modified PFD(s), Input Summary file(s) and stream
table(s); manual calculations; and similar as needed.
(d) Present and discuss the results, including comments on their implications for the
process. Please draw on your knowledge gained in other units to help answer this
question.
Report and HYSYS file
Please use a standard report format, with an Executive Summary and a Conclusions and
Recommendations section. All files generated, including HYSYS simulations, spreadsheets and
the final report document itself, have to submit to BB. In the report, please very briefly describe
the contents of each simulation and spreadsheet file.

First advice: for the sensitivity study, you can convert a number of small tubes into 1 tube with a
larger diameter (e.g. a system of 4 tubes of 1 m diameter is equivalent to 1 tube of 2 m
diameter).

Last advice: be aware of the possibility of multiple steady state solutions.

--------------------------

Table 3. Group-specific data.
Group # T1 (
o
C) Purge (%) Pressure (atm)
1,10,19 270 2 150
2,11,20 280 4 160
3,12,21 275 3 150
4,13,22 280 5 140
5,14,23 270 4 135
6,15 275 3 155
7,16 280 2 145
8,17 275 3 150
9,18 285 5 150