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Energy, exergy, and economic analyses and optimization of a deethanizer tower of a petrochemical plant

  • Mingguang Yao EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: October 11, 2023
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Chemical Product and Process Modeling
From the journal Chemical Product and Process Modeling Volume 19 Issue 1

Abstract

The distillation tower’s reboiler is one of the largest energy consumers in petrochemical facilities, and reducing its energy consumption is a crucial issue. This study proposes two optimal methods, namely Direct Vapor Recompression (DVR) and External Vapor Recompression (EVR), to reduce the consumption of cold and hot utilities in a petrochemical deethanizer tower. The Pars petrochemical in Iran is taken as a case study, and the proposed methods are compared with the base case using energy, exergy, and economic approaches, simulated through Aspen HYSYS software in the steady-state design conditions. Exergy analysis reveals that the EVR and DVR methods reduce the exergy destruction of the deethanizer tower by about 70.06 % and 67.29 %, respectively, compared to the base case. Moreover, the EVR method allows for complete recycling of low-pressure vapor, reducing the total exergy destruction rate from 0.871 to 0.261 GJ/tethane. The feed separation cost for the base case, DVR, and EVR are estimated to be around 28 $/kgfeed, 21.57 $/kgfeed, and 21.14 $/kgfeed, respectively. The EVR method results in reduced utility and ethane separation cost rates from 5.153 to 3.274 $/tethane and 17.64 to 15.78 $/year. Overall, the findings suggest that both DVR and EVR methods are effective in reducing the energy consumption and costs associated with deethanizer tower operations. Moreover, real-time optimization techniques can be developed to monitor and adjust the deethanizer tower’s operating parameters, such as feed flow rate, reboiler duty, and reflux ratio.

Keywords: structural optimization; deethanizer tower; direct vapor recompression; external vapor recompression; energy and exergy; economic
Corresponding author: Mingguang Yao, School of Economics, Shanghai University, 200444, Shanghai, China; and School of Tourism & Leisure Management, Shanghai Institute of Tourism, 201418, Shanghai, China, E-mail:

  1. Research ethics: Not applicable.

  2. Author contributions: The author has accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.

  3. Competing interests: The author state no conflict of interest.

  4. Research funding: None declared.

  5. Data availability: Not applicable.

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Received: 2023-01-24
Accepted: 2023-09-02
Published Online: 2023-10-11

© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Research Articles
  3. Removal efficiency of organic chloride from naphtha fraction using micro and nano-γ-Al2O3 sintered adsorbents
  4. Energy, exergy, and economic analyses and optimization of a deethanizer tower of a petrochemical plant
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https://doi.org/10.1515/cppm-2023-0012
Keywords for this article
structural optimization; deethanizer tower; direct vapor recompression; external vapor recompression; energy and exergy; economic

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Research Articles
  3. Removal efficiency of organic chloride from naphtha fraction using micro and nano-γ-Al2O3 sintered adsorbents
  4. Energy, exergy, and economic analyses and optimization of a deethanizer tower of a petrochemical plant
  5. Solar driven desalination system for power and desalination water production by concentrated PVT and MED system
  6. Energy and exergy analysis of primary steam superheating effects on the steam ejector applied in the solar renewable refrigeration cycle in the presence of spontaneous nucleation
  7. Numerical investigation of the effects of dry gas model and wet steam model in solar-driven refrigeration ejector system
  8. Numerical investigation of different biomass feedstock on syngas production using steam gasification and thermodynamic analysis
  9. Numerical and experimental study of the baffle-based split and recombine chamber (B-SARC) micromixers
  10. Direct synthesis based sliding mode controller design for unstable second order with dead-time processes with its application on continuous stirred tank reactor
  11. Classification and authentication of operating conditions in different processes using Partial Least Squares
  12. Enhancing heat exchanger efficiency with novel perforated cone-shaped turbulators and nanofluids: a computational study
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