CHEM2002 – PROCESS SYSTEMS ANALYSIS - 2017-2018

Tutorial Sheet 1
https://web.statler.wvu.edu/~wwwche/publications/projects
Based on Figures below, give the name of each equipment and draw the equivalent
Aspen Hysys drawing

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Tutorial Sheet No.2

https://www.scribd.com/presentation/157217214/4-Description-of-Chemical-Processes

Using the flowsheet and description for production of methyl methacrylate and answer the
following questions.
1. How many reactors are there?
2. How many heat exchangers are shown?
3. How is the temperature controlled in the hydrolysis kettle?
4. How many pumps are shown?
5. Why is the inhibitor added?
6. Which streams are bypass streams (indicate by stream number)
7. Which streams are recycle streams (indicate by stream number)
8. The bottoms from the CH3OH recovery column is water. Where did this water enter the
process?
9. What are the main species present in the extraction column bottoms?
10. Is the first reaction endothermic or exothermic? How do you know?
11. How is the heat required for the second reaction supplied?
Methyl methacrylate is a mononomer used in the production of polymeric materials.
It is manufactured in a 2 step chemical process starting with acetone cyanohydrin
and 98% sulfuric acid:

Acetone cyanohydrin and concentrated sulfuric acid are pumped into a cooled hydrolysis kettle to
make the intermediate. The stream leaving the kettle is dehydrated at steam temperature. After
cooling it goes to an esterification kettle where it is reacted with methanol continuously. To
prevent polymerization inhibitors are added at various points in the process. The esterified stream
is pumped to the acid stripping column. Methyl methacrylate methanol and some water come
overhead while the residue, made up of sulfuric acid, ammonium bisulfate, and water, is sent to
the ammonium sulfate plant. The overhead stream from the acid stripping column enters a
rectifier column where methyl methacrylate with some methanol comes over the top, is
condensed, and sent to the wash column. The bottoms from the rectifier, containing methanol and
water are sent to a methanol recovery column. Recovered methanol is recylced to the
esterification kettle. The water solution leaving the bottom of the column, containing some
methyl methacrylate and methanol, is recycled to the rectifier column for recovery. Crude methyl
methacrylate (free from methanol) comes off the top of the wash column. This crude material is
shipped to another plant for further purification by distillation. The inhibitor introduced in
processing is sufficient for shipment of crude methyl methacrylate.

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Tutorial Sheet 3
QUESTION ONE
A simplified flowsheet of the process to make ethylene oxide (C2H4O) from ethylene
(C2H4) is shown in Figure Q1. Two reactions occur:
2C2H4 + O2  2C2H4O
C2H4 + 3O2  2CO2 + 2H2O

Figure Q1: Ethylene Oxide Process

Both reactions are incomplete; neither reactant is completely consumed in the reactor.
Because ethylene oxide is very soluble in water, it can be extracted by bubbling the
gaseous reactor effluent through water. Ethylene oxide is absorbed into water. Ethylene
oxide is then stripped from the water by steam.

(A) What compounds constitute stream 3

(B) What compounds constitute stream 4?
(C) What purpose is served by stream 5?
(D) What compounds constitute Stream 8 and it is a process or utility stream?

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QUESTION TWO
https://web.statler.wvu.edu/~wwwche/publications/projects
The process flow diagram shown in Figure Q2 is a part of a process for the production
of acetaldehyde (UNIT 100), read it carefully and answer the following questions :

1- What type of equipment that H-101 refers to?

2- What type of equipment that T-101 refers to?
3- Is there any recycle stream for the whole process of acetaldehyde , if there is,
what is the number of this stream?
4- What are the equipment numbers of the heat exchangers which have four
process streams?
5- How the temperature is controlled in the reactor and is the reaction exothermic
or endothermic?

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Tutorial Sheet No.4

QUESTION ONE
In the MOGD process a gasoline recycle stream is mixed with a light alkene feed and preheated
in a gas-fired furnace. This is then fed at 200-300C and 30-100-bar pressure to the top of the
first of three vertical fixed-bed reactors in series with intermediate intercooling. The outlet from
the bottom of one reactor is fed to the top of the next via an intercooler. These three reactors
operate adiabatically and are referred to as the oligomerization reactors. The outlet from the
bottom of the last reactor is cooled and fed to a gas-liquid separator. The liquids are sent to a
hydrotreating unit and the gases are sent to another gas-liquid separator. The gaseous
components are liquefied petroleum gases (LPG) which represent one product stream and the
liquid stream is gasoline, some of which is recycled to the alkene feed and the remainder
represents the second product stream.
1. Draw a block flow diagram of the process
2. Draw an Aspen-HYSYS simulation PFD of the process using standard symbols
listed in the corresponding table.

QUESTION TWO
Cyclohexanol Process Description
4.5 kgmol/hr of fresh cyclohexanol raw material is mixed with 4.5 kgmol/hr of recycled
stream of unreacted cyclohexanol and fed to a conversion reactor.
Cyclohexanol reacts as follows:
Cyclohexanol(liq)  cyclohexanone(liq) + hydrogen(gas)
Cyclohexanol(liq) + cyclohexanone(liq)  higherboiler(liq)
The H2 is removed as a gas from the reactor. The conversion of cyclohexanol is 50% by
mole. The liquid withdrawn from reactor is fed to a flash drum where the high boiler is
taken out as a liquid and most of the cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone are removed as
vapor. The vapor product is fed to a distillation column where the cyclohexanone product
is removed as a distillate. The unreacted cyclohexanol is removed as the bottoms product
from this distillation column. It is the split into two streams: 90% of the bottoms is
recycled back to the reactor and 10% is taken off and sent to storage
1. Draw a block flow diagram of the process
2. Draw an Aspen-HYSYS simulation PFD of the process using standard symbols
listed in the corresponding table.

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Tutorial Sheet 5
QUESTION ONE
Next we investigate the details of the separation system. First we try to do a phase split
to remove the fuel gas. Assume the product from the second reaction are
32.5 kmole/hr Fuel Gas
225 kmole/hr Acetone
100 kmole/hr Acetic Acid
20 kmole/hr Acetic Anhydride

The products from reactor 2 is cooled and sent to a flash separation unit.

Assume the flash temperature and pressure are adjusted so that

100% of Fuel Gas
1% of Acetone
1% of Acetic Acid
1% of Anhydride
entering the flash drum leaves with the vapor. This is a reasonable guess. We will have
to do more precise calculations later using a simulator.
Compute flow rate of each component in each of the vapor and liquid streams, V1
and L1.

QUESTION TWO

Consider the cyclohexanone process simulation. A student notices that the waste
stream containing (C) is small. So she decides to eliminate the (high boiler stripper)
unit and sets-up a process as shown in Figure Q2:

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Figure Q2

However, this simulation fails to converge on the recycle calculations. Increasing

the number of iterations does not help. Explain why the simulation cannot
converge?

QUESTION THREE

The problem shown in Figure Q3 was simulated using Hysys but the calculations fail
to converge. Explain why it cannot converge.
Design specification: Mole fraction of C in vapour = 1%.
Vary: Temperature of flash.

Figure Q3

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Tutorial Sheet 6

QUESTION ONE
https://classes.engineering.wustl.edu/2009/spring/che478a/homeworks/ps9_synth.doc
Chlorinated decanes are used heavily in the manufacture of detergents. It is desired to set
up a process for the manufacture of monochlorodecane from readily available raw materials. In
this case study we shall examine the alternative processes available and then synthesize an
economically viable flowsheet by applying the techniques of process synthesis.
1. Reaction path screening
Three reaction paths to the manufacture of monochlorodecane (MCD) are given below:
Path 1
C10H22 + Cl2 light > C10H21Cl + HCl
(Decane) (MCD)
with side reaction
C10H21Cl + Cl2  C10H20Cl2 + HCl
(MCD) Dichlorodecane (DCD)
The ratio of DCD to MCD in the reaction products is 1 mole:4 mole.
Path 2
C10H20 + HCl catalyst  C10H21Cl
(Decene)
Path 3
C10H21OH + HCl  C10H21Cl + H20
(Decanol)

The cost of raw materials are as shown:

$/Kgmol
Decane 10.56
Decene 26.4
Decanol 30.8
Chlorine 3.9
Hydrogen Chloride 2.2 (buying or selling)
Monochlorodecane 35.2
Dichlorodecane 0.00
Which process should be selected for further study? Why? Explain with calculations.

QUESTION TWO
Acetone (C2H6CO) is made from Isopropanol, IPA, (C2H6CHOH) by the vapour phase
catalytic reaction :
C2H6CHOH  C2H6CO + H2 (96% conversion)

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Reaction is carried at 400 C, 1 atm. It is desired to design a plant to manufacture 22.7

kmol/hr of acetone. Assume plant operates 340 days/year. Raw material used is an
azeotropic mixture of 70 mole% IPA and 30 mole% water. Water is an acceptable
impurity in the reactor.
Costs
Raw material (70% IPA, 30% H2O) = $22.2/ kgmol of mixture
Acetone = $34.5/kgmole
Hydrogen = $0.176/kgmole
Water = negligible cost

a) Draw an input/output structure of the flowsheet. Show the flow of all material into
and out of the blackbox representing the plant (in kmol/hr).
b) Calculate the economic potential of the plant in $/year assuming all the unreacted
IPA is recycled back to the reactor.

QUESTION THREE
The cyclohexanol reactor is operated at certain conditions where 80% of the
cyclohexanol fed to the reactor is converted.
The stoichometry is given as

A  B + H2
2A C + H2
Where A = cyclohexanol
B = cyclohexanone
C = high boiler

90% of the A converted yields the desired product while the remaining goes to produce
the byproduct C.
Assume a basis : 45 kmol of raw material entering the process.
Feed raw material is a mixture of 95% A, 5% B by mole.
Assume product is 100% pure B.
Given the costs below, what is the economic potential in $/hr for the raw material
entering the process?

Product = $260/kgmole
Feed = $ 130/kmole
C = no value
H2 = no value

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QUESTION FOUR

In the manufacturing process for aromatics, the separated toluene is converted to

benzene. The benzene produced is used later for the production of linear alkyl benzene
(LAB) which is the raw material for the production of detergents. The main reactions for
the process are:
C6H5CH3 + H2  C6H6 + CH4
Toluene Benzene

2C6H5CH3  C6H6 + C6H4(CH3)2

Toluene Benzene Xylene

The ratio of moles of xylene to benzene in the reaction products is 1 : 5. The The cost of
raw materials and products are; Benzene : $ 0.349/kg, Toluene : $ 0.332/kg, Hydrogen :
$ 0.721/kg, Xylene : $ 0.35/kg, and Methane : $0.293/kg.
a. Draw an input/output structure of the flowsheet. Show the flow of all material into
and out of the black-box representing the plant (in kmol/hr).
b. Calculate the economic potential of the plant per 20 kmole/hr of benzene produced.

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Tutorial Sheet 7
David M. Himmelblau James B. Riggs, Basic Principles and Calculations in Chemical
Engineering Eighth Edition, 2012
QUESTION ONE

QUESTION TWO

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Tutorial Sheet 8
David M. Himmelblau James B. Riggs, Basic Principles and Calculations in Chemical
Engineering Eighth Edition, 2012.
QUESTION ONE

QUESTION TWO

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Tutorial Sheet 9
QUESTION ONE

QUESTION TWO

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Tutorial Sheet 10
Consider the flowsheets given below. Find all irreducible groups and write down a valid
precedence order (calculation sequence) of these flowsheets comprising these irreducible
groups :
a)

b)

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C)

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