REDUCING GLOBAL WARMING BY

PROCESS INTEGRATION
Being a Paper Presentation
at the
Global Conference on Global Warming – 2012
by

Abdulwahab GIWA and Süleyman KARACAN

Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of
Natural and Applied Sciences, Ankara University,
Ankara, Turkey
July, 2012
 INTRODUCTION
Top Products

Inputs
Outputs Feed

Bottom Products

Fig. 1. Some chemical engineering processing units

 Top Products

Inputs
Reactor Outputs Column Input

Bottom Products

Fig. 2. Classical process

 Top Products

Feed

Bottom Products

Fig. 3. Integrated process

 Top Products

Feed 1

Feed 2

Bottom Products

Fig. 4. Reactive packed distillation column

 Why Reactive Distillation?

• Reduction of energy consumption and energy

released;

• Reduction of equipment units;

• Reduction of the costs of production;

• Increment in the yield of a reversible reaction;

• Breaking of azeotropes.
Applications of Reactive Distillation
• Acetylation
• Alkylation
• Amination
• Dehydration
• Esterification
• Etherification
• Hydrolysis
• Transesterification
Esterification Reaction
RCOOH  ROH   RCOOR  H 2O
K eq …………….....
.
(1)

• Equilibrium reaction;

• Highly reversible;

• Slow in the absence of a catalyst.

 Ethyl Acetate Production
CH 3COOH  C2 H 5OH   CH 3COOC2 H 5  H 2O ..…... (2)
K eq

Table 1. Properties of the components

Property Acetic Acid Ethanol Ethyl Acetate Water

Molecular formula CH3COOH C2H5OH CH3COOC2H5 H2O

Molecular weight (kg/kmol) 60.05 46.07 88.11 18.02

Boiling point (oC) 117.95 78.25 77.15 100.00

Density (kg/m3) 1051.50 795.98 904.86 997.99

Source: Aspen (2003)

Uses of Ethyl Acetate

• Surface coating and thinners;

• Pharmaceuticals;

• Flavors and essences;

• Flexible packaging;

• Adhesives;
 Uses of Ethyl Acetate Contd.
• Cleaning fluids;
• Inks;
• Nail-polish removers;
• Coated papers;
• Explosives;
• Artificial leather;
• Photographic films & plates.
 HYSYS
MODELING
Why Aspen HYSYS
Modeling?
B e c a u s e::
it can be used to design rigorous
steady state and dynamic models of
many processes;

pre-pilot experiments can be

simulated with it;
after a reliable validation, it can be

used to estimate composition

because chromatographic analysis is

very expensive.
Ethyl Acetate Classic Process Aspen Hysys modeling

Fig. 5. Aspen HYSYS modeling for the classical method of ethyl

acetate production
 Ethyl Acetate Integrated Process Aspen HYSYS Modeling

Fig. 6. Aspen HYSYS modeling for the integrated production

method of ethyl acetate
 Table 2. HYSYS modeling specifications for the conventional and the integrated processes.
Conventional Process Integrated Process
Acetic acid feed
Flow rate (L/hr) 0.75 0.75
Temperature (oC) 25 25
Pressure (atm) 1 1

Ethanol feed
Flow rate (L/hr) 0.75 0.75
Temperature (oC) 25 25
Pressure (atm) 1 1

Reactor
Reaction type Equilibrium Equilibrium
Keq source Fixed, 6.68 at 55 oC Gibbs Free Energy
Volume (L) 3
Level (%) 50

Distillation column
Type Packed Packed
Packing type Raschig ring Raschig ring
No of stage 17 17
Feed stage 6 6
Reflux ratio 2 2
Distillate rate (L/h) 1.041 1.041
Condenser pressure (atm) 1 1
Reboiler pressure (atm) 1 1
EXPERIMENTAL
SETUP
Fig. 7. Reactive packed distillation column
Fig. 8. Reactive packed distillation column in action
RE
SU
LT
S

AN
D

DIS
CU
SS I
ON
S
Table 3. HYSYS simulation desired product mass fraction

Desired product mass

Description fraction
Conventional Process 0.8227
Integrated Process 0.9351
 Simulation Profiles
Conventional process
88 Integrated process

86

84

82
Temperature ( C)
o

80

78

76

74

72

70
Cond 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Reb
Segment

Fig. 9. Temperature profiles of the processes.

 2.9 Conventional process
Integrated process
2.8

2.7
Specific heat capacity (kJ/(kg C))

2.6

2.5

2.4

2.3

2.2

2.1

2
Cond 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Reb
Segment

Fig. 10. Specific heat capacity profiles of the processes.

 0.45 Conventional process
Integrated process

0.4
Thermal conductivity (W/(m K))

0.35

0.3

0.25

0.2

0.15
Cond 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Reb
Segment

Fig. 11. Thermal conductivity profiles of the processes.

 920 Conventional process
Integrated process

910

900

890
Density (kg/m )
3

880

870

860

850

840

830
Cond 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Reb
Segment

Fig. 12. Density profiles of the processes.

Table 4. Product temperature and heat involved in the processes.

Description HYSYS Simulation Experimental

Conventional Integrated Conventional Integrated
Process Process Process Process

Ttop (oC) 71.24 71.62 71.32 71.70

Qrxn (kJ/h) 134.74 375.21 129.27 402.04

Qcond (kJ/h) 1562.17 1386.63 1593.70 1402.90

Qreb (kJ/h) 1638.29 1245.70 1764.00 1260.00

Qreleased (kJ/h) 1696.92 1386.63 1722.97 1402.90

 CONCLUSION
The results obtained from the investigations carried
out in this work have confirmed that process
integration can be used to reduce global warming
because, using the integrated process, the heat
released to the surroundings from the production of
ethyl acetate that was used as the case study process
of this work was found to be less than the one
released when conventional process was used.
 CONCLUSION contd.

This fact was proved both theoretically using

HYSYS simulation and experimentally using the
reactive packed distillation pilot plant setup.
Therefore, integrated process should be
employed in all the processes in which it is
possible so as to reduce the effects of global
warming on our environments.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Abdulwahab Giwa wishes to acknowledge the support
received from the Scientific and Technological
Research Council of Turkey (Türkiye Bilimsel ve
Teknolojik Araştırma Kurumu - TÜBİTAK) for his
PhD Programme. In addition, this research was
supported by the Scientific Research Project Office of
Ankara University (A. Ü. BAP) under Project No.
09B4343007.
 APPRECIATION

I would also like to express my sincere

appreciation to my supervisor, Prof. Dr.

Süleyman KARACAN, for his guidance and

suggestions towards the successful

completion of this work.

 References
Alexiadis, A. 2007. Global warming and human
activity: A model for studying the potential
instability of the carbon dioxide/temperature
feedback mechanism. Ecological Modelling 203:
243-256.

Almeida-Rivera, C. P., Swinkels, P. L. J. and J.

Grievink. 2004. Designing reactive distillation
processes: present and future. Computers and
Chemical Engineering 28:1997-2020.

Aspen T. 2003. HYSYS v3.2 (Build 5029). Aspen

Technology, Inc. United States.
 References Contd.
Deming, D. 1995. Climatic warming in North
America: analysis of borehole temperatures. Science
268: 1576-1577.

Dunn, R. F. and G. E. Bush. 2001. Using process

integration technology for CLEANER production.
Journal of Cleaner Production 9: 1-23.

Durmayaz, A., Kadioglu, M. and Z. Sen. 2000. An

application of the degree-hours method to estimate
the residential heating energy requirement and fuel
consumption in Istanbul. Energy 25:1245-1256.
 References Contd.
Friedler, F. 2010. Process integration, modelling and
optimisation for energy saving and pollution
reduction. Applied Thermal Engineering 30: 2270-
2280.

Giwa, A. and S. Karacan. 2012a. Modeling and

simulation of a reactive packed distillation column
using delayed neural networks. Chaotic Modeling
and Simulation 1:101-108.

Giwa, A. and S. Karacan. 2012b. Simulation and

optimization of ethyl acetate reactive packed
distillation process using Aspen Hysys. The Online
Journal of Science and Technology, Volume 2, Issue
2, 57-63.
 References Contd.
Giwa, A. and S. Karacan. 2012c. Black-Box
modelling of ethyl acetate reactive packed
distillation column. AU Journal of Technology
15(3): 172-178.

Goyal, R. K. 2004. Sensitivity of evapotranspiration

to global warming: a case study of arid zone of
Rajasthan (India). Agricultural Water Management
69: 1-11.

Harris, R. N. and D. S. Chapman. 1997. Borehole

temperatures and a baseline for 20th century global
warming estimates. Science 275: 1618-1621.
 References Contd.
Jantharasuk, A., Gani, R., Górakc, A. and S.
Assabumrungrat. 2011. Methodology for design and
analysis of reactive distillation involving
multielement systems. Chemical Engineering
Research and Design 8:1295-1307.

Kharseh, M., Altorkmany, L. and B. Nordell. 2011.

Global warming’s impact on the performance of
GSHP. Renewable Energy 36: 1485-1491.

Klemes, J., Friedler, F., Bulatov, I. and P. Varbanov.

2010. Sustainability in the Process Industry:
Integration and Optimization (Green Manufacturing
& Systems Engineering). New York: McGraw-Hill.
 References Contd.
Liley, P. E., Thomson, G. H., Friend, D. G., Daubert,
T. E. and E. Buck. 1999. Perry’s Chemical
Engineers’ Handbook, 7th Edition, New York:
McGraw-Hill.

Morar, M. and P. S. Agachi. 2010. Review:

Important contributions in development and
improvement of the heat integration techniques.
Computers and Chemical Engineering 34: 1171-
1179.

Nordell, B. 2003. Thermal pollution causes global

warming. Global and planetary change 38: 305-312.
 References Contd.
Nordell, B. and B. Gervet. 2009. Global energy
accumulation and net heat emission. International
Journal of Global Warming 1:373-391.

Patel, J., Uygun, K. and Y. Huang. 2008. A path

constrained method for integration of process design
and control. Computers and Chemical Engineering
32: 1373-1384.

Radhi, H. 2009. Evaluating the potential impact of

global warming on the UAE residential buildings - A
contribution to reduce the CO2 emissions. Building
and Environment 44: 2451-2462.
 References Contd.

Singh, B. P., Singh, R., Kumar, M. V. P. and N.

Kaistha. 2005. Steady state analysis of reactive
distillation using homotopy continuation. Chemical
Engineering Research and Design 83:959-968.

Zevenhoven, R. and A. Beyene. 2011. The relative

contribution of waste heat from power plants to
global warming. Energy 36: 3754-3762.
THANK YOU
VERY MUCH
FOR
LISTENING