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Design and simulation of 30 000 tons per year of cumene plant from natural gas field

  • Ojong Elias Ojong ORCID logo EMAIL logo , Omeke Chimene Wosu ORCID logo , Aguma Emenike and Paschal Ateb Ubi ORCID logo
Published/Copyright: February 29, 2024
Pure and Applied Chemistry
From the journal Pure and Applied Chemistry Volume 96 Issue 6

Abstract

The research considers the design and simulation of 30 000 tons per year of cumene plant using Aspen HYSYS as the simulation tool. The feed (material content) used is the characterized natural gas from Utorogu Gas Field with composition of 0.9019 methane, 0.0694 ethane, 0.0209 propane, 0.00361 n-butane, 0.00414 i-butane, 0.00005 n-pentane and 0.00007 i-pentane. The cumene plant consist of the cryogenic distillation column, de-hydrogenator (Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor), Alkylator (Plug Flow Reactor), storage tanks, separators, pumps, heat exchanger and mixers. The size/design models of basic plant units such as de-hydrogenator, alkylator, separators, storage tanks and distillation column were developed using the principles of mass and energy balance. The result of design or size specifications in terms of equipment diameter of basic plant units obtained from HYSYS simulation are 0.8 m and 0.319 m for the cryogenic and cumene columns; 1.931 m, 2.244 m and 1.366 m for the propane, propene and cumene storage tanks; 1.868 m and 2.076 m for the de-hydrogenator and alkylator; 1.931 m and 2.146 m for propene and cumene separators respectively. The power or capacity of propane and propene pumps configured in the plant are 0.02 kW and 0.005 kW respectively. The result of the reactor and distillation column thickness specification to withstand corrosion, pressure or stress during plant operation in terms of cylindrical shell and ellipsoidal doomed head are 17.36 mm and 4.31 mm respectively. The economic evaluation (overall cost) including the cost of utilities, catalyst, operating, and maintenance for entire plant is $ 3.004 M.

Keywords: 8th Annual Symposium ACS Nigeria Chapter; IUPAC African Early Career Chemists Workshop; Aspen HYSYS; cumene; design; simulation and thickness; units
Corresponding author: Ojong Elias Ojong, Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, University of Calabar, Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria, E-mail:
Article note: A collection of invited papers based on presentations at the African Early Career Chemists Workshop and 8th ACS Nigerian Chapter Symposium.

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Supplementary Material

This article contains supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2023-1135).

Published Online: 2024-02-29
Published in Print: 2024-06-25

© 2024 IUPAC & De Gruyter

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. In this issue
  3. Preface
  4. African Early Career Chemists Workshop & 8th Annual Symposium of the American Chemical Society, Nigeria International Chapter 2023
  5. Conference papers
  6. Design and simulation of 30 000 tons per year of cumene plant from natural gas field
  7. Activity profiling of natural and synthetic SARS-Cov-2 inhibitors using molecular docking analysis
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https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2023-1135
Keywords for this article
8th Annual Symposium ACS Nigeria Chapter; IUPAC African Early Career Chemists Workshop; Aspen HYSYS; cumene; design; simulation and thickness; units

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. In this issue
  3. Preface
  4. African Early Career Chemists Workshop & 8th Annual Symposium of the American Chemical Society, Nigeria International Chapter 2023
  5. Conference papers
  6. Design and simulation of 30 000 tons per year of cumene plant from natural gas field
  7. Activity profiling of natural and synthetic SARS-Cov-2 inhibitors using molecular docking analysis
  8. Efficiency of green synthesised carbon nanotubes from Moringa oleifera leaf extract as potential toxic metals adsorbent in polluted water
  9. Elucidating the interaction of FCC catalyst components: the discrete roles of matrix and binder on zeolite structure
  10. Coconut shell-derived green synthesised carbon nanotubes for clean-up of crude oil spills
  11. Electrodeposition behaviour of samarium in 1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidone solvent
  12. Special topic paper
  13. Importance of dielectric friction effect on polyelectrolytes conductivity
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