SCHOOL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

UNIVERSITI SAINS MALAYSIA

ENGINEERING CAMPUS

SEMESTER I

2018/2019

EKC 336 CHEMICAL REACTION ENGINEERING

INTEGRATED DESIGN

REACTOR DESIGN OF ETHYLENE OXIDE (EO) PRODUCTION

CHECKED BY

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR IR. DR. LEO CHOE PENG

PREPARED BY

GROUP 8

LIM XIU XIAN 133634

MUHAMAD AMMAR SYAHMI BIN MOHD ALI SHAHBANA 133643

MUHAMMAD FARIS AFIQ BIN ZAINAL AZMAN 133649

YOU JIN JIE 133695

DATE OF SUBMISSION

12TH DECEMBER 2018

 TABLE OF CONTENT

1.0 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 3

2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Direct Oxidation Method .................................................................. 6

2.2 Catalyst .............................................................................................. 6

3.0 REACTOR DESIGN

3.1 Reactor Selection .............................................................................. 10

3.2 Polymath Calculation ........................................................................ 11

4.0 ASPEN SIMULATION .............................................................................. 18

5.0 CONCLUSION .......................................................................................... 23

6.0 REFERENCES ........................................................................................... 24

2
1.0 INTRODUCTION

Global production of ethylene oxide (EO) is showing an increasing trend annually

based on the data provided by SRI international which stated that the global production
of ethylene oxide was around 18 million tonnes in 2007 and 19 million metric tons in
both 2008 and 2009. This occurrence shows that the applications of ethylene oxide in
most of the industries is high especially in the synthesis of ethylene glycols where it
covers up to 65% of the overall applications of ethylene oxide. [4] Besides, it applied in
other usage too such as the production of ethoxylates, ethanol amines, ethylene glycol
ethers and so forth.

Ethylene is a colourless flammable gas and a hydrocarbon with a formula of

C2 H4 . Because of the existence of carbon-carbon double bond inside the hydrocarbon,
it can be explosive when it reaches high concentration. There are many usages of
ethylene in our life which are the utilization of ethylene in agriculture industries as the
natural plant aging hormones to force the ripening of fruits, the production of
polyethylene, a widely used plastic containing polymer chains of ethylene units in
various chain lengths and so forth. What more, ethylene can be oxidized to ethylene
oxide, a main raw material which mostly used in the production of surfactants and
detergents. There are several ways to produce ethylene such as steam cracking where
ethane and steam are heated to high temperature at around 750 to 950 ℃ and the
ethylene is separated from the mixture of the products via repeated compression and
distillation, Fischer-Tropsch reaction, catalytic dehydrogenation and so forth.

Table 1: Physical properties of ethylene [5]

Formula H2 C = CH2
Formula weight 28.05
Form and colour Colourless gas
Specific gravity 102
0.57− 4

Melting point −169 ℃

Boiling point −103.9 ℃

Ethylene oxide is a toxic, flammable, colourless gas at temperature above

10.7 ℃ and has similar odour as ether. Ethylene oxide is considered reactive and
unstable because of its strained ring which enables it to participate in most of the
3
reaction to make the ring opens. Ethylene oxide is mainly found in the production of
solvents, antifreeze, textiles, detergents, adhesives, polyurethane foam,
pharmaceuticals while minor of it is involved in the production of fumigants, sterilant
[6]
for spices and cosmetics. Since ethylene oxide leaves no residue or traces on the
items it contacts, it is generally applied in hospitals to replace the steam sterilization of
surgical equipment. In most of the industries, ethylene oxide is produced via the direct
oxidation of ethylene by air with the assistants of silver-based catalyst.

Table 2: Physical properties of ethylene oxide [5]

Formula (𝐶𝐻2 )2 𝑂
Formula weight 44.05
Form and colour Colourless gas
Specific gravity 7
0.8874
Melting point −111.3 ℃
Boiling point 13.5747 ℃

Process Description [7]

To synthesis ethylene oxide in industries, there are two major ways which are
chlorohydrin process and direct oxidation process. The chlorohydrin process to produce
ethylene oxide is now abandoned because of the large waste effluent containing calcium
chloride, chlorinated hydrocarbons and glycols need to be treated and the cost is very
high. Thus, it is replaced by direct oxidation process. The direct oxidation process is
divided into air-based oxidation and oxygen-based oxidation.

In air-based oxidation process, the ethylene inlet stream is mixed with the purified
compressed air stream and the recycled stream and directed into the multi tubular fixed
bed reactor. Before the mixed stream enters the reactor, it is mixed with oxidation
inhibitors such as ethylene dichloride or vinyl chloride to prevent the formation of
carbon dioxide and water. The effluent from the reactor is then passing through the
ethylene oxide absorber to dissolve the ethylene oxide in the water producing dilute
aqueous solution. Then, the scrubbed gas stream is recycled back to the main reactor
with some portion of it is being purged out to surrounding to reduce the composition of
nitrogen and carbon dioxide in the gas stream.

4
 On the other hand, oxygen-based oxidation process uses high purity oxygen gas
in the inlet stream. First, it mixed with the ethylene inlet stream and the recycled stream
and directed into the multi tubular fixed bed reactor. Then, the effluent from the reactor
passes through the ethylene oxide absorber to dissolve the ethylene oxide in the water
producing dilute aqueous solution which left as the product wanted. The scrubbed gas
is then passed through the carbon dioxide absorber to produce two streams which are
carbon dioxide lean gas stream and carbon dioxide-rich solution stream. The carbonate
solution is then directed to the carbon dioxide stripper to regenerate carbon dioxide gas
which vented out through the top column to surrounding while the carbon dioxide lean
gas is recycled back to the main reactor. Some portion of the recycled stream is purged
out to reduce the composition of argon in the gas stream.

In short, the oxygen-based oxidation process gives higher yields and selectivity
of ethylene oxide compared to the air-based oxidation process. The air-based oxidation
process has high initial building cost but low running cost while the oxygen-based
oxidation process is in vice versa.

Figure 1: Schematic flow diagram of ethylene oxide process using air or oxygen as the oxidant [7]

5
2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Direct Oxidation Method

Before the introduction of direct oxidation to produce ethylene oxide from ethylene by
Charles-Adolphe Wurtz in 1863, the desired product was previously produced by the
chlorohydrin process. However, due to the generation of unwanted chlorine-containing
by-products, the process is no longer applied on an industrial scale for the sake of
environmental benefits.

The reaction scheme of ethylene oxide production through direct oxidation can
be considered to be parallel, with the two competing reactions involved, which are:

1
𝐶2 𝐻4 + 2 𝑂2 → 𝐶2 𝐻4 𝑂 (1)

𝐶2 𝐻4 + 3𝑂2 → 2𝐶𝑂2 + 2𝐻2 𝑂 (2)

A third reaction may also involve and its occurrence depends greatly on the operating
conditions.

5
𝐶2 𝐻4 𝑂 + 2 𝑂2 → 2𝐶𝑂2 + 2𝐻2 (3)

However, the occurrence of third reaction is not favourable as it transforms the desired
product into undesired products and its rate of reaction is basically much smaller than
the first two reactions. [2] Therefore, only the main reaction (1) and side reaction (2) are
involved in the discussion throughout the paper.

2.2 Catalyst

In 1931, a more efficient direct oxidation of ethylene had been invented by Lefort who
making use the metallic silver as catalyst to speed up the reaction rate. The speciality
of silver lies in the fact that oxygen can dissociatively adsorb on the metal and the
relatively weak bond strength of oxygen to silver allows the formation of epoxide upon
reaction with ethylene. [2]

To date no other metal has been discovered to replace the importance of silver as
catalyst in the direct oxidation of ethylene to ethylene oxide. [3] However, more studies
have been carried out in the recent decades regarding the modification of silver metal
to improve its performance in catalysing the direct oxidation process. The performance

6
can be improved by support selection, use of alkaline promoters, chlorine containing
compounds as feed additives and optional distribution of catalyst in pellet. [2]

2.2.1 Fused Alumina Supported Silver Catalyst [1]

The catalyst consisted of fused alumina pellets coated with silver and the pellets
containing 10% of silver by weight. The catalyst is prepared by the reduction of
silver nitrate impregnated onto the alumina by hydrogen at 250 ˚C. Based on the
referred journal [1], seven sets of laboratory experiments on the direct oxidation
of ethylene have been run within the temperature range of 175 ˚C to 250 ˚C.
Among the results obtained, the highest possible conversion of 𝐶2 𝐻4 is roughly
about 11.2% with the yield of 61% of 𝐶2 𝐻4 𝑂 from the reaction carried out at
250 ˚C. Over the temperature range of 65 ˚C in the first run, the decrement in
selectivity of ethylene oxide is around 19% from 78% to 59%. Note that the
selectivity term in the article is defined in the same way as the yield. From the
perspective of reaction rate, the average rate constant for reaction (1) at 225 ˚C is
𝑘1 = 3.07 × 10−2 ± 0.94 𝑠 −1 . The researcher proposed that the oxidation of
ethylene would be pseudo-zero order in ethylene and first order in oxygen. Also,
from each set of kinetic data, the activation energy for ethylene oxide formation
is an average value of 𝐸𝑎1 = 21.4 ± 0.8 𝑘𝑐𝑎𝑙/𝑚𝑜𝑙 ≈ 89.5376 𝑘𝐽/𝑚𝑜𝑙 whereas
the activation energy of carbon dioxide formation is an average value of
𝐸𝑎2 = 29.0 ± 1.7 𝑘𝑐𝑎𝑙/𝑚𝑜𝑙 = 121.336 𝑘𝐽/𝑚𝑜𝑙.

2.2.2 α-Alumina Supported Cesium-Doped Silver Catalyst [2]

The catalyst contained of 13.54 wt% of silver (Ag) and 0.005 wt% of cesium (Cs)
based on the dried weight of the support and reduced catalyst. The catalyst is
prepared by impregnation of dried α-Al2O3 pellets with a solution of silver oxide,
cesium hydroxide, lactic acid and hydrogen peroxide. Based on the referred
journal [2], the catalytic oxidation of ethylene was carried out in fixed bed reactor
with the following experimental conditions:

Particle size : 425 – 850 μm Catalyst weight : 0.4 g of Ag-Cs/α-Al2O3

Bed length : 15 cm Inert weight : 6.8 g of α-Al2O3

Temperature : 210 – 270 ˚C

Pressure : 1 bar

7
 Note that the values of selectivity, conversion and yield are estimated from the
published experimental plot rather than exact calculations. With reference to the
experimental values of fixed bed reactor, the highest possible conversion of 𝐶2 𝐻4
is around 50% with the approximate yield of 16%. Whereas the selectivity of
ethylene oxide is within the range of 30% to 45% over the temperature range of
60 ˚C. From the sight of reaction rate, the rate constant computed at 270 ˚C is
𝑐𝑚3 𝑐𝑚3
𝑘1 = 5852 (𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙)0.5 /ℎ for the reaction (1) and 𝑘2 = 79200 (𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙)3 /ℎ for the

reaction (2). On the other hand, the activation energies of both reaction (1) and
reaction (2) are given as 𝐸𝑎1 = 60.7 𝑘𝐽/𝑚𝑜𝑙 and 𝐸𝑎2 = 73.2 𝑘𝐽/𝑚𝑜𝑙.

2.2.3 Comparison between Fused Alumina Supported Silver Catalyst and

α-Alumina Supported Cesium-Doped Silver Catalyst [1][2]

Fused Alumina Supported α-Alumina Supported Cesium-

Type of Catalyst
Silver Catalyst Doped Silver Catalyst
Temperature
175 ˚C – 250 ˚C 210 ˚C – 270 ˚C
Range, T
Maximum
11.2% at 250 ˚C ≈ 50% at 270 ˚C
Conversion, C
Selectivity
59% – 78% 30% – 45%
Range, S
Activation 𝐸𝑎1 = 89.5 𝑘𝐽/𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝐸𝑎1 = 60.7 𝑘𝐽/𝑚𝑜𝑙
Energy, Ea 𝐸𝑎2 = 121.3 𝑘𝐽/𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝐸𝑎2 = 73.2 𝑘𝐽/𝑚𝑜𝑙

The difference in temperature range of both catalysts is most probably due to the
nature of supported catalysts and deformation of catalysts may occur at
temperatures out of the range boundaries either lower or higher. The second
catalyst (α-alumina supported cesium-doped silver catalyst) aids the reaction to
achieve a higher conversion of reactant than the first catalyst (fused alumina
supported silver catalyst) at almost similar temperatures. As usual, higher
conversion corresponds to lower selectivity for the second catalyst but the values
still considered as acceptable. Moreover, it can be found that the activation energy
of the second catalyst is lower than that of the first catalyst and it means that the
second catalyst is more energy-efficient. This is because less energy is required
for the reaction to occur if the second catalyst is taking place. However, one of
8
the deficiencies in comparison of both catalysts is that the feed conditions in both
articles are different from one another and this might result in the contrast of
conversion and selectivity. The deficiency may also lead to inaccuracy when
making justification. In overall, the most suitable catalyst for the direct oxidation
of ethylene to ethylene oxide is α-alumina supported cesium-doped silver
catalyst.

9
3.0 REACTOR DESIGN

3.1 Reactor Selection

Generally, the catalytic ethylene epoxidation should be carried out in multi-tubular

fixed bed reactor. Multi-tubular fixed bed reactor is a reactor comprising of a
cylindrical shell and a plurality of reaction tubes located in the shell. Each of the
reaction tubes are filled with the catalysts and the reactants allowed to pass through the
fixed bed and being converted into products. Generally, the fixed bed reactor is known
to have high conversion per weight of catalyst than other catalytic reactor because it
improves contact between two phases of the reactants in a chemical or similar process.
Also, in fixed bed reactor, the reaction rate is solely depended on the amount of solid
catalysts rather than the volume of the reactor.

It is known that ethylene oxide is very explosive and reactive, thus all its reactions
should be carried out in mild and controlled conditions. Moreover, the silver-based
catalyst which used in the epoxidation reaction usually works under relatively mild
conditions. Thus, multi-tubular fixed bed reactor is selected due to its available space
between adjacent reaction tubes that enables it to be filled with suitable types of cooling
medium. The cooling medium inside the reactor may help to remove some of the heat
released from the exothermic epoxidation reaction. What more, the multi-tubular
reactor has high surface area for heat transfer per unit volume because of the existence
of high number of tubes inside the reactor and thus very good for temperature control.
The mentioned advantages of the reactor help to prevent the thermal degradation of
catalyst and the runaway situations from occurring.

For instance, by comparing the multi tubular fixed bed rector and the adiabatic
fixed bed reactor, it is observed that both reactors have almost same conversion of
ethylene at around 10% but the adiabatic reactor experiences a runaway, with reactor
exit temperatures near 800 °C causing no ethylene oxide in the final product. [8]

In short, multi tubular fixed bed reactor is the improved version of fixed bed
reactor and has advantages of high conversion of reactant per weight of catalysts and
good temperature control compared to other catalytic reactors.

10
3.2 Polymath Calculation

Reaction Scheme:

The main reaction scheme of catalytic ethylene epoxidation to produce ethylene oxide
which will be included in the simulation software is listed as below:

1
C2 H4 + 2 O2 → C2 H4 O (1)

A+B→C

C2 H4 + 3O2 → 2CO2 + 2H2 O (2)

A+B→D+E

Assumption:

a) There is no variation in the pressure and the temperature throughout the packed bed
reactor i.e the pressure and temperature remained constant in packed bed reactor.
Thus, it does not bring any impacts onto the process itself.
b) It is assumed that the reactions follow elementary rate law.
c) There is no side reactions occur inside the reactor other than the reactions mentioned
in previous section.
d) There is no fouling in the packed bed reactor.
e) There is no mass accumulation in the reactor i.e the inlet mass flow rate is equal to
outlet mass flowrate.
f) The volumetric flow rate remained constant throughout the reactor.

Calculation:

a) Representing each element with a symbol

1
C2 H4 + O2 → C2 H4 O
2

1
A + B → C … … … … … … (1)
2

C2 H4 + 3O2 → 2CO2 + 2H2 O

A + 3B → 2D + 2E … … … (2)

11
b) Using elementary rate law for every reaction

r1A = −k1A CA CB0.5 … … … . (1)

r2A = −k 2A CA CB3 … … … … (2)

c) Relative rates for every reaction

Reaction 1:

r1A r1B r1C

= =
−1 − (1) 1
2

r1A k1A
r1B = =− C C0.5
2 2 A B

r1C = −r1A = k1A CA CB0.5

Reaction 2:

r2A r2B r2D r2E

= = =
−1 −3 2 2

r2B = 3r2A = −3k 2A CA CB3

r2D = −2r2A = 2k 2A CA CB3

r2E = −2r2A = 2k 2A CA CB3

d) Net rates of the reaction

rA = r1A + r2A = −k1A CA CB0.5 − k 2A CA CB3

k1A
rB = r1B + r2B = − C C0.5 − 3k 2A CA CB3
2 A B

rC = r1C = k1A CA CB0.5

rD = r2D = 2k 2A CA CB3

rE = r2E = 2k 2A CA CB3

12
e) Expression of the concentration for gas phase reactions

F F F F F
CA = CTo FA , CB = CTo FB , CC = CTo FC , CD = CTo FD , CE = CTo FE
T T T T T

FT = FA + FB + FC + FD + FE

P
CTo =
RT

f) Mole balances

For PFR,

dFA dFB dFC dFD dFE

= rA , = rB , = rC , = rD , = rE
dV dV dV dV dV

The catalyst weight and reactor volume are related by the catalyst bulk density (g/dm3).

W = ρb ∗ V where W in g and V in dm3

For PBR,

dFA dFB dFC dFD dFE

= rAA , = rBB , = rCC , = rDD , = rEE
dW dW dW dW dW

The reaction rate per unit volume and the reaction rate per unit catalyst weight are also
related by the bulk density, 𝜌𝑏 .

𝑟𝐴 = 𝜌𝑏 ∗ 𝑟𝐴𝐴

g) Rate constant at specific temperature range

Arrhenius equation:

Ea
k = Ae− RT

E 1 1
− a( − )
k = koe R T To where k o is the rate constant at temperature To

13
Firstly, it is assumed that the production rate of ethylene oxide equals to 140000 tonne
per year based on the data obtained from Malaysia’s Petronas Chemicals Group (PCG)
at Kerteh, Terengganu. [9] By doing unit conversion, the rate of production of ethylene
oxide is equal to 101 mol per second as shown below:

𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒 1000000𝑔 1 𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒 1 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑙

𝐹𝐶 = 140000 ( )( )( 7
) = 100.7675
𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 1 𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒 44.05𝑔 3.154 × 10 𝑠 𝑠

Based on the article, the experiments are done in four sets at different temperature
which are 210 ˚C, 230 ˚C, 250 ˚C and 270 ˚C. From the article, the activation energy
for epoxidation reaction is 60700 J/mol while the activation energy for complete
combustion of ethylene is 73200 J/mol. The rate constant at standard temperature
270 ˚C for epoxidation, k1 obtained from the article is 5852 (𝑐𝑚3 /𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙)0.5 /ℎ while
the rate constant at standard temperature (270 ˚C) for complete combustion, 𝑘2 is 79200
(𝑐𝑚3 /𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙)3 /ℎ. The unit conversion calculation for rate constant is as shown below:

0.5
𝑐𝑚3
()
𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙
𝑘1 = 5852
ℎ
0.5
𝑑𝑚3
( ) 1ℎ
𝑚𝑜𝑙
= 5852 (3600𝑠)
ℎ

0.5
𝑑𝑚3
( )
𝑚𝑜𝑙
= 1.6256 𝑠

3
𝑐𝑚3
( )
𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙
𝑘2 = 79200
ℎ

𝑑𝑚 3
( ) 1ℎ
𝑚𝑜𝑙
= 79200 (3600𝑠)
ℎ

3
𝑐𝑚3
( )
𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙
= 22 ℎ

For the reactions to be carried out at other temperature, the rate constant is modified by
Arrhenius equation with respect to the rate constant at standard temperature (270℃)
and the calculations are as shown below:

60700 1 1
k1 = 1.6256 ∗ e− 8.314 (T−543)

14
 73200 1 1
k 2 = 22 ∗ e− 8.314 (T−543)

Based on the article, the volume of tube is 6.6 cm3 and the weight of catalyst is
0.4 g, thus the bulk density of the catalysts in bed can be calculated as shown below.

0.4 𝑔 1000𝑐𝑚3 1𝑘𝑔 𝑘𝑔

𝜌𝑏 = 3
( 3
)( ) = 0.06061
6.6 𝑐𝑚 1 𝑑𝑚 1000𝑔 𝑑𝑚3

To ease the calculations, the POLYMATH software is utilised. Before running

the coding, some of the assumptions are made by inserting the suitable values of
pressure, the amount of feed inlet, and the weight of catalyst. In our case, we assume
the pressure is 20 bar, the feed inlets are 250 mol/s for ethylene inlet and 115 mol/s for
oxygen inlet and the weight of catalyst is 650 kg. The coding of the polymath is shown
as below:

Figure 2: Coding for POLYMATH

15
 Table 3: Results from POLYMATH with Fb = 115 mol/s
Outlet Concentration (𝒎𝒐𝒍/𝒅𝒎𝟑 ) Overall
Temperature Conversion Selectivity Yield
(K) 𝐂𝟐 𝐇 𝟒 𝐎𝟐 𝐂𝟐 𝐇 𝟒 𝐎 𝐂𝐎𝟐 𝐇𝟐 𝐎 of 𝑪𝟐 𝑯𝟒 (%) (%)
(%)
483 0.2722 0.0747 0.0763 0.0374 0.0374 25.88 102.22 18.11
503 0.2397 0.0527 0.1015 0.0421 0.0421 33.84 120.52 26.95
523 0.2102 0.035 0.1256 0.0446 0.0446 41.31 140.68 37.55
543 0.1849 0.0213 0.1456 0.0455 0.0455 47.67 159.84 48.97

From Table 3, it is observed that the overall conversion of ethylene, selectivity

and yield increase with temperature. This is because the greater the thermal energy
supplied to the system, the greater the ability for the reactants to overcome the
activation energy needed for the reaction. High selectivity for the process is observed
due to the limited supplied of oxygen. This causes the uptake of the oxygen for the
complete combustion of ethylene is insufficient and thus increasing the possibility of
the formation of ethylene oxide is higher than its by-products i.e high selectivity value.

Table 4: Results from POLYMATH with Fb = 450 mol/s

Outlet Concentration (𝒎𝒐𝒍/𝒅𝒎𝟑 ) Overall
Temperature Conversion Selectivity Yield
(K) 𝐂𝟐 𝐇 𝟒 𝐎𝟐 𝐂𝟐 𝐇 𝟒 𝐎 𝐂𝐎𝟐 𝐇𝟐 𝐎 of 𝑪𝟐 𝑯𝟒 (%) (%)
(%)
483 0.1041 0.1844 0.0375 0.0861 0.0861 43.62 21.76 8.13
503 0.0811 0.1494 0.0486 0.0996 0.0996 54.82 24.4 11.31
523 0.0611 0.1218 0.0593 0.1089 0.1089 65.05 27.24 14.81
543 0.0443 0.1006 0.0689 0.1146 0.1146 74.00 30.07 18.41

From Table 4, it is observed that when the molar flow rate of oxygen inlet is
higher, the selectivity and yield is lower. This is because the oxygen is not the limiting
reactant and the rate constant for complete combustion is greater than the rate constant
of epoxidation which results in complete combustion reaction happen faster than the
epoxidation reaction. Thus, more formation of carbon dioxide and water compared to
ethylene oxide. It should be noted that the outlet molar flow rate of ethylene oxide is
the same at 100 mol/s for both condition (𝐹𝑏 = 115 𝑚𝑜𝑙/𝑠 & 450 𝑚𝑜𝑙/𝑠) .

16
 In short, it can be concluded that the process should be carried out at high
temperature provided that the temperature is suitable for the reaction and runaways will
not occur. Also, it should be carried out in high ratio of amount of ethylene inlet to
amount of oxygen inlet so that high yield and selectivity of ethylene oxide can be
obtained based on the results obtained from POLYMATH.

17
4.0 ASPEN SIMULATION

The main concern of a chemical plant is always the production rate of the desired
product, as in this case, the ethylene oxide. Hence, the conversion of reactants to
products and the selectivity of the desired product to undesired product play important
roles in generating profits from the plant. Also, temperature greatly affects the rate of
production either in a higher rate or lower. Therefore, an operating condition with an
optimum temperature is always the crucial element that the chemical engineers looking
for. To study the effect of temperature on the production of ethylene oxide, process
simulator such as Aspen Plus is applied to forecast the favourable generation from the
reactor chosen.

In the following section, Aspen Plus is applied to simulate the effect of

temperature, ranged from 210 ˚C to 270 ˚C, on the production of ethylene oxide by
using plug flow reactor (PFR) and SRK (Soave-Redlich-Kwong) as the thermodynamic
model. The key steps in performing the simulation are explained further as follows:

i. The input stream of PFR is first set as shown in Figure 3. The temperature is
varied from simulation to simulation (210 ˚C, 230 ˚C, 250 ˚C and 270 ˚C) while
keeping the pressure similar at 20 bar. Besides, the total feed flow rate is fixed as
1500 kmol/hr with the mole fraction of 0.45 for ethylene, 0.3 for oxygen, 0.05 for
argon and 0.2 for methanol. Note that both argon and methanol act as inert and
not involving in the reaction proposed. Their presence in the feed is purposely to
remove the heat generated from the highly exothermic reactions.

Figure 3: Conditions of the input stream

18
ii. The reactions carried out in PFR are reactive, therefore, the stoichiometric
equations is definitely essential for the simulation of the reactor. The
stoichiometry of both reactions (1) and (2) are inserted including the reactants,
the products and the stoichiometric coefficients.

Figure 4: Stoichiometric equation of reaction (1)

Figure 5: Stoichiometric equation of reaction (2)

19
 [2]
iii. The kinetic data as extracted from the preferred journal are input into the
kinetic details of the simulation. The kinetic data including rate constant (k) and
activation energy (Ea) are inserted separately for reaction (1) and (2). It is
important that convert the units of kinetic data into the selection choice for the
simulation. Beware that both the reactants and products of the reactor are in
vapour phase.

Figure 6: Kinetic data of reaction (1)

Figure 7: Kinetic data of reaction (2)

20
iv. In the simulation, the multi-tubular reactor is chosen to advance the production
rate of ethylene oxide. Therefore, in the configuration of reactor, the number of
tubes is set to 5000 which is reasonable in an industrial scale with the tube
dimension of 15 m long and 0.05 m in diameter.

Figure 8: Configuration of plug flow reactor

v. After choosing the appropriate method of calculation, the simulation is allowed

to run and the stream results are reviewed. To ease the understanding of stream
results obtained at different operating temperature, the important elements are
extracted and tabulated.

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 Table 5: Important data extracted from stream results simulated by Aspen Plus

Inlet Flowrate (kmol/h)

Temperature (K)
𝐂𝟐 𝐇 𝟒 𝐎𝟐 𝐂𝟐 𝐇 𝟒 𝐎 𝐂𝐎𝟐 𝐇𝟐 𝐎 𝐂𝐇𝟑 𝐎𝐇 Ar

483
503
675 450 0 0 0 300 75
523
543

Outlet Flowwrate (kmol/h) Overall

Temperature Conversion
(K) 𝐂𝟐 𝐇 𝟒 𝐎𝟐 𝐂𝟐 𝐇 𝟒 𝐎 𝐂𝐎𝟐 𝐇𝟐 𝐎 𝐂𝐇𝟑 𝐎𝐇 Ar of 𝑪𝟐 𝑯𝟒
(%)
483 603.291 413.244 71.3479 0.721687 0.721687 300 75 10.6236

503 557.404 389.771 117.024 1.14489 1.14489 300 75 17.4216

523 494.042 357.442 180.127 1.66273 1.66273 300 75 26.8086

543 414.217 316.855 259.682 2.20286 2.20286 300 75 38.6345

From the results of Aspen Plus simulation software, it can be observed that when the
temperature of the reactor increases, the overall conversion of ethylene increases. This
is due to the facts that when higher thermal energy applied to the reactor, the greater
the ability for the activation energy of the reaction to be overcome. Thus, the kinetic
energy of the particles inside the reactor and the rate of collision between the particles
are greater in higher temperature. Also, it can be observed that the selectivity of the
reaction increases with temperature showing that more formation of ethylene oxide
product compared to undesired products.

As compared to the results obtained from POLYMATH, the results from the
Aspen Plus simulation shows a relatively low overall ethylene conversion value. This
is probably because the Aspen Plus includes the info of the parameter for designing the
reactor while POLYMATH does not.

In short, the ethylene epoxidation reaction is best to carried out at higher

temperature with catalyst so that high selectivity of the reaction and high conversion of
ethylene may be achieved provided that the temperature does not cause the thermal
degradation of the catalyst and runaway’s situation.

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5.0 CONCLUSION

This integrated design is mainly focused on the production of ethylene oxide via the
direct oxidation of ethylene. Throughout the whole integrated design, the factors
affecting the ethylene oxide production rate are the types of catalyst, the types of reactor,
and the temperature for the reaction. Two types of catalyst for the ethylene epoxidation
reaction selected are fused alumina supported silver catalyst and α-alumina supported
cesium-doped silver catalyst. Ag-Cs/α-Al2O3 is selected as the comparable suitable
catalyst with the reason of promotion of higher conversion from reactants to products
and lower activation energy for the reaction to be energy-efficient. The temperature
range applied for the use of Ag-Cs/α-Al2O3 is normally between 210 ˚C to 270 ˚C.

Through the calculations from the POLYMATH software, it can be observed that
the overall conversion of ethylene, selectivity, and yield of ethylene oxide increases
with temperature. Also, when the ratio of ethylene feed inlet to oxygen inlet is higher,
the selectivity of the reaction is higher. This occurrence is probably due to the limiting
condition of oxygen supplies. Thus, from the POLYMATH software, it can be
concluded the reaction should be carried out at higher temperature. The Aspen Plus
simulation software also shows similar responses as POLYMATH i.e. the conversion
of ethylene and its selectivity increases with temperature. The deviations in the
conversion values between Aspen Plus and POLYMATH is probably due to the
consideration of the parameter for designing the reactor in Aspen Plus.

In short, the ethylene oxidation reaction should be carried out at slightly higher
temperature with the catalysts such as α-Alumina Supported Cesium-Doped Silver
Catalyst provided that the runaways do not occur so that the selectivity and the yield of
the product is higher.

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6.0 REFERENCES

[1] Rober E. Kenson, M. Lapkin (1969). Kinetics and Mechanism of Ethylene

Oxidation. Reactions of Ethylene and Ethylene Oxide on a Silver Catalyst. The
Journal of Physical Chemistry, 74(7), 1493-1502

[2] David Lafarga, Mohammed A. Al-Juaied, Christina M. Bondy, Arvind Varma

(2000). Ethylene Epoxidation of Ag-Cs/α-Al2O3 Catalyst: Experimental Results
and Strategy for Kinetic Parameter Determination. Industrial & Engineering
Chemistry Research, 39, 2148-2156

[3] Siegfried Rebsdat, Dieter Mayer (2012). Ethylene Oxide. Retrieved on 10th
December 2018, from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/c071/354159e9f76f1736
26e01fab503148031842.pdf.

[4] Ethylene Oxide Production. Retrieved on 10th December 2018, from Global CCS
Institute: https://hub.globalccsinstitute.com/publications/ccs-roadmap-industry-
high-purity-co2-sources-sectoral-assessment-–-final-draft-report-2.

[5] Yogender Malik (15 September 2009). Ethylene Oxide – An Intrinsic

Intermediate in Manufacturing. Retrieved on 10th December 2018, from
GasWorld: https://www.gasworld.com/ethylene-oxide-an-intrinsic-intermediate-
in-manufacturing/4135.article.

[6] Perry R.H., Green D.W. (2008). Perry’s Chemical Engineers’ Handbook: 8th
Edition. New York: McGraw Hill.

[7] Hanna Perzon (2015). A Simulation Model of a Reactor for Ethylene Oxide
Production. Retrieved on 10th December 2018, from http://lup.lub.lu.se/luur/
download?func=downloadFile&recordOId=7363439&fileOId=7368695.

[8] Christopher DiGiulio (2018). Ethylene Oxide Production: Why Tubular

Reactors?. 25th International Symposium on Chemical Reaction Engineering,
Florence, Italy. Retrieved on 10th December 2018, from
www.aidic.it/iscre25/review/papers/639digiulio.pdf.

[9] Malaysia’s Petronas Resumes Production at Ethylene Oxide Unit. Retrieved on

10th December 2018, from ICIS News: https://www.icis.com/explore
/resources/news/2015/06/03/9891612/malaysia-s-petronas-resumes-production-at-
ethylene-oxide-unit/.
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