(525f) Sustainability Assessments for Three High-Volume Chemical Processes
AIChE Annual Meeting
2022
2022 Annual Meeting
Sustainable Engineering Forum
Process Design: Innovation for Sustainability
Wednesday, November 16, 2022 - 1:45pm to 2:00pm
The sustainability of ethylene manufacture was evaluated in a comparative manner using both the ethane cracking and the methanol to olefins (MTO) processes. Both processes were modeled for a total annual ethylene production of 615 thousand tons per year. For the MTO process, a 58% savings in annual utility costs was determined when heat integration was used as compared to a base case with no heat integration, while for the ethane cracking process, a 38% savings in annual utility costs was determined when heat integration was used as compared to a base case with no heat integration. The additional capital cost required in both cases was approximately 5 % in the heat integrated case compared to the base case.
The sustainability of acetone manufacture was evaluated through both the cumene process and the dehydrogenation of isopropanol process. The processes were modeled for a total annual acetone production of 37 thousand tons per year. The cumene process results in a valuable by-product of phenol. For the cumene process, a 54% savings in annual utility costs was determined based upon heat integration, while for the isopropanol process, a 66% savings in annual utility costs was determined. Additionally, savings in water use were realized by virtue of the heat integration, as cooling water or steam requirements decreased. The water utility demand was decreased by 31% in the case of heat integration for the cumene process, while it was decreased by 94% in the case of heat integration for the isopropanol process. The capital cost increased by 20% in the heat integration case of the cumene process, and similarly only 10% in the heat integration case of the isopropanol process. Similar calculations are in progress for the triethanolamine manufacturing process